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Chinese Identity in Post-Suharto Indonesia
Culture, Media, Religion and Language
| Chang-Yau Hoon |
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| Chang-Yau Hoon conducted fieldwork in Jakarta in 2004 during which he was also a visiting scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Jakarta. He currently lectures in Asian Studies and Indonesian at the University of Western Australia. His publications in 2006 include “Assimilation, Multiculturalism, Hybridity: The Dilemma of the Ethnic Chinese in Post-Suharto Indonesia”, Asian Ethnicity; and “‘A Hundred Flowers Bloom’: The Re-emergence of the Chinese Press in post-Suharto Indonesia”, in Media and the Chinese Diaspora, Wanning Sun (ed.), Routledge. |
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“Hoon’s
study especially fits neatly into an emerging scholarship by overseas
or ethnic Chinese exploring and studying ‘Chineseness’
… Hoon’s own personal experience as an ethnic Chinese
Southeast Asian (Brunei), who is able to pass as a local ethnic
Chinese, gives him a unique insight and point of view into what
it is like to be Chinese in Indonesia, how these stereotypes work
in the everyday, and the ways they influence behaviors.” Indonesia
“It takes a linguistically gifted and culturally cosmopolitan,
diasporic Chinese—born in Malaysia, raised in Brunei, educated
in Western Australia—with finely-tuned insider-outsider sensibilities,
to lift the veil on the long suppressed Chinese community of Jakarta,
Indonesia. It is a revelation to follow C.Y. Hoon as he skillfully
navigates the treacherous waters of post-Suharto (1998) ethnic politics
in Jakarta. After decades of being rendered near voiceless and faceless,
Chinese-Indonesians are reclaiming their cultural and citizenship
rights, and reconceptualizing their identity in the face of persistent
stereotypes and essentialist constructions.
… Well trained in scientific participant-observer ethnographic
methods, Hoon demonstrates convincingly that identity is mutually
constituted in constantly changing and unfolding relationships between
migrant and host. This engrossing study heralds a new generation
of Chinese diaspora scholarship.” Evelyn Hu-Dehart, Director
of Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America; Professor
of History and Ethnic Studies, Brown University
“This theoretically sophisticated, informative and highly
readable book is the best thing I have read on what it means to
be ‘Chinese’ in Indonesia since the fall of President
Suharto in 1998.” Charles A. Coppel, author of Indonesian
Chinese in Crisis (1983), and Studying Ethnic Chinese in
Indonesia (2002)
“This is an important and thoughtful book on the identity
of the Chinese in Indonesia since the fall of Suharto. It makes
an important contribution not only to Indonesian studies but also
to studies of the ‘overseas Chinese’ elsewhere and of
ethnic minorities generally. It is theoretically sophisticated:
it problematizes Chinese identity and uses theories of identity,
multiculturalism and hybridity to make sense of Chinese identities
in Indonesia. At the same time, it takes into account the history
and particular situation of the Chinese in Indonesia. The representation
of Chinese and ‘pribumi’ subjectivities and the analysis
of the ways stereotypes function in real life in the constitution
of identities are particularly engaging. Best of all, the book presents
sophisticated concepts and complex processes in a clear and readable
way.” Lyn Parker, author of From Subjects to Citizens:
Balinese Villagers in the Indonesian Nation-State (2003), and
editor of The Agency of Women in Asia (2005) and Women
and Work in Indonesia (2007)
“May 1998 saw both the student movement that toppled Suharto
and some of the worst anti-Chinese violence in Indonesian history,
explains Hoon, and Chinese residents responded by organizing to
become more visible and legal. He looks at the situation a decade
later, asking how Chinese-Indonesians self-identify, how important
it is to recognize the potential for Chinese identity to transform
and change, and other questions.” Reference & Research
Book News
During Suharto’s New Order (1966–1998),
the ethnic Chinese expanded the nation’s economy (and their
own wealth), but, paradoxically, were marginalised and discriminated
against in all social spheres: culture, language, politics, entrance
to state-owned universities, and public service and public employment.
Following the fall of Suharto, and the anti-Chinese riots in May
1998, Indonesia underwent a process of “Reformasi”and
democratisation, whereby for the first time in several decades Chinese
culture became more visible. Many ethnic Chinese took advantage
of the new democratic space to establish political parties, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) and action groups to fight for the abolition
of discriminatory laws, defend their rights and promote solidarity
between ethnic groups in Indonesia. They utilised the Reformasi
atmosphere to promote pluralism and multiculturalism, and to liberate
their long-suppressed identity and cultural heritage.
… This book sets out to unpack
the complex meanings of “Chineseness” in post-1998 Indonesia,
including the ways in which the policy of multiculturalism enabled
such a “resurgence”, the forces that shaped it and the
possibilities for “resinicisation”. The author examines
how ethnic Chinese self-identify, and investigates how the pribumi
“Other” has contributed to identifying the ethnic boundary
in terms of “race”and class. A unique aspect of the
study is its discussion of the complexities of cultural crossing,
borrowing and mixing experience of Chinese-Indonesians through localisation
and globalisation.
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List of Contents to follow |
Publication Details
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ISBN: |
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978-1-84519-268-6 h/b |
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Page Extent / Format: |
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256 pp. / 229 x 152 mm |
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Release Date: |
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August 2008 |
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Illustrated: |
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No |
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Hardback Price: |
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£49.95 / $69.95 |
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