Abstract: This essay discusses Jeff Hadler's activist ethics and how it relates to knowledge production and academic theory.
Abstract: The author describes how Jeff Hadler's mentorship led her to become an activist against sexual harassment within the academy.
Abstract: A narrative of Jeff Hadler's introductory lecture course on Southeast Asia at UC Berkeley.
Abstract: Introduction: A short piece about Jeff Hadler's life, written by his parents
Abstract: A reflection on the academic importance of Area Studies and on Jeff Hadler as a mentor.
Abstract: This essay contextualizes Nashar's Night Letters within Southeast Asian Studies and the visual arts of Southeast Asia.
Abstract: Prior to the failed 1926–27 rebellions and the suppression of the anticolonial movement, the print revolution, such as it emerged in the Dutch colony in the first two decades of the twentieth century, offered a powerful vehicle for the expression of ideas around emancipation, not excepting anticolonial nationalism. By way of introduction of several of the key protagonist-authors, and with special reference to former Soviet archival sources, this article focuses on the advent and development of the revolutionary press in Indonesia, outstanding in the sense that it predated cognate developments in Vietnam and even China. Moving beyond the mere printing and local circulation of this press, and with certain works produced on the outside under Communist International sponsorship, the article also seeks to assay its readership and impacts notwithstanding colonial censorship. As the article argues, in an environment of low literacy and with the development of a shared language still in the making, the actual translation into print of the Marxist canon into local idiom remained little advanced in this first stage although, at the same time, translation/transliteration in literary production or oral communication did become part and parcel of the revolutionary press process.
Abstract: This article examines transformations of local political authority in the Javanese “margins,” specifically Gunung Kidul, from the period preceding the 1965 communist massacre until Suharto’s regime ended in 1998. Prior to 1965, the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) strategically established itself in Javanese rural areas, notably Gunung Kidul, through education and arts, mobilizing local elites. This politicization led to an intrusion into the sociopolitical hamlet space, resulting in an overlapping of regional administrations, political parties, and schools—where partisan affiliations began to shape “traditional authority” relationships. The 1965 “anti-communist” massacre brutally ended this integrative dynamic. Gunung Kidul, severely affected by state violence, witnessed decimation of its intellectual and ritual elites, largely PKI-affiliated. Following analysis of the 1965–66 killings and their local configurations, the article examines how Suharto’s regime (1966–98) targeted local sociopolitical organizations in Javanese margins. This period featured systematic de-structuring of local authority through countryside re-Islamization, recasting of ritual and cultural practices, and economic policies reinforcing state centralism. Adopting a margins-centered rather than power-centers approach, this research highlights how nation-state construction operated to these territories’ detriment. Gunung Kidul illustrates this process: after post-independence political integration, this marginal region endured anti-communist massacres, then forced depoliticization and economic peripheralization, precipitating rural exodus and “underdeveloped” classification. This evolution reveals state centralization through successive coercion: subtly infiltrative under Sukarno and communists, overtly military and violent under Suharto, then progressive imposition of administrativo-economic ideology since Reformasi—consistently to the detriment of the intrinsic logics of Javanese ruralities and “proximate” political margins.
Abstract: Between 1950 and 1965 Sobsi, one of the four major mass organizations connected to the Indonesian Communist Party, was the dominant labor union federation in Indonesia. Sobsi and its affiliated unions had to raise their own money to build their organizations and sustain their industrial, social, educational, and political activities. This article discusses the sources and extent of Sobsi’s income and argues that its insistence that fundraising was a core function for its unions was a prerequisite for their dominance of the post-independence labor movement. While it never raised as much money as it wanted, its constant focus on what it called “the problem of money” ensured that it raised enough to build an extensive national network of offices and increase its employment of people to monitor, support, and educate local union activists. Sobsi’s success in fundraising ensured that both it and its unions had far more money than their rivals, enabling them to develop deeper linkages into workplaces and to set the industrial agenda.
Abstract: Between 1950 and 1965 Sobsi, one of the four major mass organizations connected to the Indonesian Communist Party, was the dominant labor union federation in Indonesia. Sobsi and its affiliated unions had to raise their own money to build their organizations and sustain their industrial, social, educational, and political activities. This article discusses the sources and extent of Sobsi’s income and argues that its insistence that fundraising was a core function for its unions was a prerequisite for their dominance of the post-independence labor movement. While it never raised as much money as it wanted, its constant focus on what it called “the problem of money” ensured that it raised enough to build an extensive national network of offices and increase its employment of people to monitor, support, and educate local union activists. Sobsi’s success in fundraising ensured that both it and its unions had far more money than their rivals, enabling them to develop deeper linkages into workplaces and to set the industrial agenda.
Abstract: This article explores the adaptation and indigenization of the Chinese White Snake narrative in Indonesia. While Liang Luo’s work has mapped the story’s transformations across East Asian and Anglophone contexts, this study highlights Indonesia’s significant role as transformer of Chinese cultural narratives such as White Snake. Tracing the White Snake story in the archipelago from the late nineteenth century, the article examines early Malay translations in Indonesia as well as the narrative’s migration into Indonesian popular culture through print, stage, and cinema. By situating the White Snake legend within the broader context not only of Sino-Indonesian culture but also of global reception of Chinese narratives, the article underscores Indonesia’s creative agency and challenges the marginalization of Southeast Asian adaptation in accounts of Chinese culture as a global phenomenon.
Abstract: “From the Men they Took their Labor, From the Women they Took Everything” is a translation of the testimony of Sarbinatun (1947–2010), a Javanese woman who was one of the many thousands of political prisoners detained in the wake of the purported coup of September 30, 1965. Sarbinatun had been active in both Lekra and IPPI in her native city of Surakarta, Central Java. Both were left-wing organizations that were associated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI): Lekra, an organization of cultural workers, and IPPI, a union of high school students. She was also the newlywed wife of a PKI cadre. Only seventeen years old at the time of her capture, Sarbinatun was incarcerated without trial for fourteen years. Over those years she was moved from camp to camp across a series of detention centers in Central Java. Sarbinatun’s testimony details the conditions in these camps and the brutal torture, including sexual violence, that she and her fellow prisoners suffered at the hands of their captors. In addition to chronicling her experiences over those years of imprisonment, Sarbinatun’s testimony also includes recollections of her life as a teenaged activist in the early 1960s and of the decades of deprivation she endured following her release from prison. The translation is introduced and annotated to facilitate the readers’ understanding of this remarkable woman’s testimony.
Abstract: Social media platforms have become essential in the lives of many, providing a space for individuals to express themselves and connect with others. Particularly for women, including survivors of violence, these platforms can serve as tools for empowerment and a means to obtain social support. This article aims to determine the potential of social media to create safe spaces for women in Indonesia through the lens of feminist ethical principles. Through an analysis of Instagram accounts, specifically Mubadalah.id and Perempuan Berkisah and interviews with the editorial team members, this article aims to investigate the utilization of social media in establishing safe spaces that adhere to feminist ethical principles and cater to the distinctive needs of women. The article also scrutinizes the factors influencing the contextualization of feminist ethics and the structure of safe spaces created on these platforms. It explores how women can access and benefit from these safe spaces while remaining protected from threats posed by social media, unrestricted access, and a digital system that transcends time and place. This study reveals that although the two platforms grasp the notion of a safe space as a secure and inclusive environment for exchanging diverse perspectives on gender justice without confrontation or judgment, the implementation of safe spaces varies to accommodate the unique requirements of women and align with the feminist movement's context on each social media platform. Creating a safe space is fundamentally relational, involving an understanding of how its creators manage and bridge important differences. Notably, religious values appear to play a pivotal role in interpreting feminist ethics in Indonesia, a nation characterized by a Muslim-majority population.
Abstract: This article examines the concept of "information abundance" in the context of Indonesia's democratic decline. Indonesia has long been known for ubiquitous use of online platforms, and is sometimes referred to as the "social media capital" of the world. However, information abundance is now seen as problematic, with the term "infodemic" based around concerns of "too much information." Following Indonesian scholarly ideas around critical communication, this article explains how practices of information abundance manipulate and undermine citizen approaches to information, especially via social media. Specifically, I examine how certain actors "flood" social media and online platforms in order to distort messaging and shape narratives. Research for this paper comes from fieldwork in Indonesia throughout the Jokowi government administration (2014-2024), including meetings and personal interviews with social media campaigners, journalists and public relations strategists.
Abstract: The 2016 far-right Islamist demonstrations in Jakarta, known as the "Action to Defend Islam," are largely regarded as the largest in Indonesian history since the fall of Suharto in 1998. Despite being historically marginalized and operating largely outside mainstream politics, the farright Islamist movement was able to mobilize an extraordinarily large crowd. While some argue that the demonstrations indicate a growing anti-pluralist and illiberal sentiment among Indonesian Muslims, others credit social media for enabling the successful mobilization, comparable to its role in the Arab Spring. In this article, I argue that these demonstrations are best understood through the lens of participatory propaganda, facilitated by digital platforms. Departing from prior studies focusing on the Western world and specific political actors, this research examines the potential connection of participatory propaganda to protest movement mobilization. Identifying six digital tactics employed by far-right actors and supporters, I illustrate how they seed and shape participatory propaganda cascades, ultimately leading to and sustaining their mobilization. I posit that the unprecedented mobilization during the Jakarta election is not solely due to growing conservatism among Indonesians but is rather a result of the new information environment that has drastically altered the ways individuals engage with and are influenced by public information. By examining both social media content and delivery, the study reveals how digital media affordances enable varying degrees of awareness for propaganda, turning individuals into both producers and spreaders, ultimately unveiling a hybrid form of propaganda that illustrates the interplay of new and traditional media, as well as online and offline activism.
