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eBook details
- Title: Dynamics of Dissent in Indonesia
- Author : David Bourchier
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Asia,Books,History,Politics & Current Events,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 656 KB
Description
The New Order era in Indonesia is often viewed in retrospect as a political desert, with Soeharto pulling all the strings until forced from office in 1998. Yet power in Indonesia was always contested, and the grip of the president was never complete.
This book tells the story of Sawito Kartowibowo, the mystically-inclined public servant who became a cause célèbre in Indonesia after being accused of attempting to topple President Soeharto in 1976. After giving a two day defence speech chronicling the corruption and crimes of the Soeharto family, Sawito was sentenced to eight years jail.
The puzzle at the heart of the Sawito Affair was why Soeharto was spooked enough by the hitherto unknown Sawito to have him arrested for subversion. Speculation centred on the notion that Sawito, in his spiritual wanderings around the sacred caves and mountains of Java, had inherited the wahyu, the divine radiance, which, according to traditional Javanese cosmology, a legitimate ruler must possess. A classic historical pattern of political challenge seemed to be repeating itself, with Sawito in the role of the messianic Just King or Ratu Adil.
Drawing on interviews with lawyers, journalists and Sawito’s friends and family as well as confidential court records, David Bourchier peels back the layers of the enigma in the style of a mystery novel. While giving due attention to cultural explanations, he presents a more prosaic but equally intriguing political analysis involving factional rivalry and growing middle class dissent. He reveals Sawito’s close ties with prominent political, military and religious figures, including founding father Mohammad Hatta, and argues that it was their collective and public condemnation of Soeharto that his regime sought to defuse with its dramatic announcement of a “dark conspiracy” led by Sawito.
The author deserves full marks as scholar, defence attorney and detective. - John A MacDougall
David Bourchier is an Associate Professor in Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia.
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