Indonesia's Postcolonialism: Absent, Misrecognised or Suppressed?

This project investigates the alleged absence of postcolonialism by doing an ethnographic study of members of three communities: Indonesians of European, Chinese and Indian descent. It will explain why no strong postcolonial consciousness in Indonesia has asserted itself forcefully in public discussion as it has done elsewhere. It specifically investigates the possibility that Indonesian postcolonial voices existed but escaped the attention of scholars and whether the absence (or misidentification) of postcolonialism in Indonesia has something to do with the unique features of the Dutch colonialism. The research outcomes will also describe and analyse the experience of being inauthentically Indonesian in the aftermath of Dutch colonialism.