Revisiting the Indonesian National Revolution Through a Post-Authoritarian Lens

Abstract

Studies on the Indonesian National Revolution in the Anglosphere have long been dominated by the Cornell University “school,” and with Dutch language studies mainly remaining untranslated. Under the long authoritarian rule of the military-dominated Suharto regime, the Leftist current in the revolution was written out of Indonesian-language works, just as military heroes were substituted. Nevertheless, the nation remained united around the August 17, 1945 proclamation of independence, made under Japanese auspices, outside of any formal decolonisation process, and with the Dutch going on to mount a full-scale militarised invasion of its former colony. The hard lines in national historiographies have proved resilient until recent times. Hence, Revolutionary Worlds: Local Perspectives and Dynamics During the Indonesian Independence War, 1945–1949 (Purwanto et al. 2023), a book that brings together Dutch and Indonesian scholars in English translation, is a welcome historiographical advance. It is an exemplar of a new shift in thinking facilitating a joint two-nation interrogation of violence during the revolution. The article seeks to evaluate the contribution this important book makes.