Takeoff or Self-Sufficiency? Ideologies of Development in Indonesia, 1957–1961

Abstract

Takeoff or Self-Sufficiency? Ideologies of Development in Indonesia, 1957-1961 SUZANNE M. MOON In June 1958, the Indonesian minister of public works, Dr. Mo­ hammed Noor, sent a memo to James Baird, director of the U.S. International Cooperation Administration (ICA) mission in Indone­ sia, requesting a loan to buy tractors for a major Indonesian land development project. The memo contained the following remark­ able passage: The [Indonesian] cabinet, in its efforts to increase agriculture production is making extensive plans to bring new lands into production and need mechanical equipment. I am coming to you as a friend and not (rpt not) as a minister to ask if U.S. will sell us 500 tractors on credit. We know you and Russia are the only nations in position to supply such a number quickly and we want American equipment. In making this request we are not (rpt not) asking your opinion as to what you think of the program—details such as exact plan application, technical help and financing can be dealt with later. Our resources are ade­ quate to service a loan and we are prepared to take risks and even material losses in embarking on this program—But embark upon it we will, with or without your help [emphasis added].1 Despite Baird’s recommendation that the United States respond favorably to Noor’s request, his superiors in Washington refused to supply tractors or approve loans for their purchase. The episode re­ veals something of the evolving ideologies of, and conflicts about, Ms. Moon is a graduate student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. She is completing a dissertation on the history of ag­ ricultural change in late colonial Indonesia. She thanks Ronald Kline, the Technology and Culture referees, and the editor for sharing their comments and insight, and her fellow graduate students in the Department of Science and Technology Studies for their advice and encouragement. ‘Quoted in ICA/Indonesia to ICA/Washington, 19 June 1958, Record Group (RG) 469 (Records of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies), Office of Far East Opera­ tions (cited hereafter as O/FE), Indonesian Subject Files 1953-1959, Box 48, U.S. National Archives, Washington D.C.© 1998 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/98/3902-0001$02.00 187 188 Suzanne M. Moon international economic and technological “development” in the volatile era of decolonization and the early cold war. This article explores the struggle over farm mechanization in Indonesia as a way to address the larger question of how domestic and inter­ national political concerns informed approaches to international, government-sponsored development. The factors that prompted Noor’s aggressive stance and that underlay the U.S. refusal to sup­ port this project point to broader questions about the meaning and direction of development. The history of international economic development policies and projects since World War II remains, unfortunately, largely unex­ plored by historians oftechnology.2 The amount ofeffort spent theo­ rizing, planning, and executing development projects has been enormous, easily comparable to the growth of “big science,” a sub­ ject that has rightfully received much attention from historians of technology. National governments and nongovernmental organiza­ tions alike have increasingly adopted (and adapted) a discourse of 2Although development literature is vast, few critical historical studies (as opposed to policy studies) of development focus on technology issues. Several works, how­ ever, take on the questions of technology transfer under conditions of unequal power. Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization (Cambridge, 1990), and Daniel Headrick, especially Tentacles ofProgress: Technology Transfer in the Age ofImperialism, 1850-1940 (Oxford, 1981), explore the relationship between technological change and technology transfer (for Headrick) or technological dialogue (for Pacey), with special attention to unequal power relationships like that of colonies and their colo­ nizers. Headrick argues that the origins of underdevelopment can be found in the colonial past, but he does not critique the concept of underdevelopment in his discussion. Michael Adas, Machines as the Measure ofMen: Science, Technology and Ideolo­ gies of Western Dominance (Ithaca, 1989), discusses how ideologies of superiority and technical difference became connected and provides a valuable historical perspec­ tive on development by...