The early twentieth century labour movement in colonial Java provided the stage where many battles between colonizer and colonized took place. In this thesis I argue that understanding the dynamics...Show moreThe early twentieth century labour movement in colonial Java provided the stage where many battles between colonizer and colonized took place. In this thesis I argue that understanding the dynamics of this particular part of colonial history requires an approach based on the concept of class. Using three case studies, the railway workers, the sugar workers and the pawnshop workers, I aim to show that class moved these workers to join the nascent labour movement and their organizations. My goal is to show that class is a useful concept in understanding colonial Indonesia.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in...Show moreThis thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in Yogyakarta. The history of 1965-66, a history of mass killings and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of alleged communist Indonesians, has for a long time been silenced and mystified by anti-communist myth-making that was created under Suharto’s authoritarian rule. Despite the end of Suharto’s regime in 1998 and numerous attempts to counter the state propaganda, this master-narrative that labels victims as perpetrators deserving of their fate is still widely available in contemporary Indonesian state and society. This thesis examines how and why master- and counter-narratives of “1965” continue to exist and circulate in Indonesia today. By combining a focus on contestations of the past in public space with research into the perceptions of the younger generation in particular, it explores how the politics of memory work in everyday practice. A survey conducted among 170 high school pupils in Yogyakarta provides unique insight into the highly complex and problematic ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered by a group of young Indonesians today. Thereby, this thesis provides further insight into the lasting legacies of mass violence in post-authoritarian Indonesia.Show less
