Introduction: Gender, Resistance and Transnational Memories

Abstract

This study takes its starting point in three interrelated conflicts: the Japanese occupation of Indonesia during WWII (1942–1945), the Indonesian war of independence from Dutch colonial rule (1945–1949) and the Indonesian mass violence of 1965. Successive Dutch and Indonesian governments have denied responsibility for human rights abuses and the historical injustices that took place in relation to these conflicts. Organized resistance to denials has been constrained. The question is: why do silences and denials about these conflicts continue, despite an increased acceptance of global norms on transitional justice? The aim of this study is to investigate how gender and resistance to silences and denials are relevant in personal, social and strategic narratives about transnational memories of the three violent conflicts in Indonesia (1942–2015). This chapter introduces the study and provides an overview of the book.