Indonesian Politics since Suharto

The Indonesia Programme announces a guest lecture / mini-seminar with Dr Damien Kingsbury – a Senior Lecturer in International Development Studies at School of Social & International Studies, Deakin University, Australia.

Time: Thursday 4 November 12.00-14.00
Venue: the seminar room at NCHR (seminarrommet, 4. etg.)
Subject: Indonesian Politics since Suharto

The fall of Suharto in May 1998 ushered in what many Indonesians hoped would be an era of reform, in which there were significant changes to the Indonesian state, including increasingly open and direct elections, questioning of military authority, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners and greater local autonomy. However, since around 2001, there has been a backlash to reform, including real limitations on local autonomy, especially in the troubles provinces of Aceh and Papua along with the jailing of new political prisoners, attacks against the media, worsening corruption and judicial compromise, the reassertion of military authority in specific areas, and an electoral process that still divides the elites and elite interest from the largely depoliticised 'little people'. The political prospects under the new president offer elements of both reform and reaction, reflecting both the aspirations of the reform movement as well as the limitations imposed by continuing elite authority.

Dr Damien Kingsbury is Senior Lecturer in International Development Studies at School of Social & International Studies, Deakin University, Australia. Kingsbury has also been teaching and supervising PhD students and military officers at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in Canberra.

Dr Kingsbury has written and edited or co-edited a number of books on Indonesia, including Power Politics and the Indonesian Military (RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2003), Autonomy and Disintegration in Indonesia (co-edited with Harry Aveling), (RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2002) and The Politics of Indonesia, 2nd edition (2002, Oxford) (a new and updated 3rd edition is currently in press).