Seeing the Communist past through the lens of a CIA consultant: Guy J. Pauker on the Indonesian Communist Party before and after the ‘1965 Affair’     

Budiawan 《Inter-Asia Cultural Studies》2013,14(4):650-662

Abstract

This paper explores Guy J. Pauker’s works on Indonesia in the 1960s, particularly the ones concerning the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) before and after the killing of six top Army officers on 30 September 1965 (called the ‘1965 Affair’ for short). Of Western scholars working on Indonesia in 1960s, Pauker was indeed infamous. Being a consultant for the CIA‐sponsored RAND Corporation has made his academic integrity doubtful. In addition, his active roles in several historical events in Indonesia in the 1960s have given his scholarship a bad reputation. Consequently, it is his name, rather than his works, that has often been mentioned and associated with what happened in Indonesia in the 1960s. However, this paper argues that precisely because of such a position, his pre‐‘1965 Affair’ works were to give a cool report and analysis of the current history, through which one can understand better the PKI before it was exterminated due to being accused of masterminding the killing of six top Army officers. Through these works the narrative of the Communist past can ironically be freed from the demonizing image constructed by the New Order regime. Yet, his post‐‘1965 Affair’ works were not only in parallel with, but also a part – if not the core – of the demonization as such. Through his ways of seeing the PKI in 1960s, one can see the shift from Baconian knowledge/power to Foucaultian power/knowledge relations.  相似文献   

How do Indonesians remember Konfrontasi? Indonesia–Malaysia relations and the popular memory of “Confrontation” after the fall of Suharto     

Budiawan 《Inter-Asia Cultural Studies》2017,18(3):364-375

After the fall of Suharto in May 1998, mass rallies yelling anti-Malaysia sentiment broke out several times in a number of major cities in Indonesia. The rallies were triggered by various conflicting issues involving the two countries. Every time a mass rally against Malaysia happens, memory of “Konfrontasi” is recalled, as is seen in the use of “Ganyang Malaysia” (Crush Malaysia) rhetoric, whereas during the Suharto era, the narrative of the historical episode of “Konfrontasi” was constructed in the tone of criticizing Sukarno’s “Crush Malaysia” campaign as an escape from the internal economic crisis, rather than as an expression of nationalist sentiment. However, as this article addresses, there is a gap between the “national memory” as is constructed by the history school textbook and “popular memory” as is embodied in society. Beneath this “popular memory,” as this paper contends, there is a sort of nationalist sentiment in the sense of longing for “national pride” as projected upon the “persona” of Sukarno.  相似文献