Geography 484

1

• Geography 484
• Southeast Asia
• Jim Glassman
• Lecture 11b
• November 12, 2008

2
Differing responses to crisis

• Malaysias refusal to go to the IMF, statist
  economic policies
• Capital controls
• Re-pegging of currency
• Thailands neo-liberal response, nationalist
  backlash
• Indonesias temporizing and descent into social
  crisis

3
Indonesian politics

• 1950s Internal struggles over direction of
  nationalist movement Sukarno dominant force
• 1960-65 Increasing tension between Sukarno and
  other groups in coalition
• 1962-69 Indonesia incorporates West Papua
  through staged referendums and force
• 1965-66 Sukarno sidelined Suharto and military
  destroy PKI, killing 500,000 or more

4
Indonesian politics (cont.)

• 1966-1990s New order regime places strict
  controls on all political opposition
• 1976 Indonesia invades East Timor, killing
  200,000 over first decade of occupation
• 1970s Emergence of Free Aceh movement (Gerakan
  Aceh Merdeka, GAM)
• 1976-99 Indonesian occupation of East Timor,
  Indonesian transmigration program
• 1989 Reemergence of GAM after apparent 1982
  military defeat

5
Indonesian politics (cont.)

• 1997 Economic crisis forces Suharto regime to
  seek IMF support
• 1998 Suharto-IMF conflict political upheaval
  forces Suharto out Habibie appointed
• 1999 Struggle in East Timor intensifies, leading
  to Timorese independence political struggles
  force Habibie to step aside Wahid and Megawati
  take power increased political struggle and
  violence in Aceh, Moluccas, West Papua

6
Indonesian politics (cont.)

• 2000 Continued struggles over political control,
  regional autonomy
• 2001 Megawati takes over political leadership
  from Wahid
• 2002 Bali night club bombing kills 180 people,
  primarily Australians
• 2003-05 Indonesia increasingly involved in war
  on terrorism
• 2004 Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono elected
  President
• 2004-05 Tsunami destroys much of Aceh

7
Some lessons from Indonesia

• Crises are never merely economic nor merely
  political the two are intertwined and interact
  with each other
• Crises are never merely national or
  international national and international factors
  interpenetrate and interact with each other
• Crises always have cultural dimensions, as when
  regional ethnic/religious differences become
  openly relevant to struggle

8

• Video Indonesia at the Crossroads

9
Discussion question 1

• What has been the role of Islam in political
  movements in Indonesia up to the present? Is it
  identified with one or another political
  position? Do you think that it matters to the
  character of opposition political movements in
  Indonesia that they have often been influenced by
  Islam, or would they have had the same basic
  character if Indonesia was, e.g., a Buddhist or a
  Christian country?

10
Discussion question 2

• In Indonesia, how does Islam influence gender
  relations? How does it influence relations
  between Muslims and non-Muslims? Is this the
  same sort of image of Islam that you are used to
  seeing in discussions of Islam in the Middle East?

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Discussion question 3

• Based on the video, do you think that Islamic
  groups played a basically constructive or
  destructive role in Indonesia in the wake of the
  economic crisis?