This book deals with two major issues: how Indonesian NGOs survived under Suharto's authoritarian rule; and how NGOs contributed to the promotion of democracy in the post-Suharto era. If NGOs are to change from 'development' to 'movement' in democratic post-Suharto Indonesia, they must adjust not only their management and working style, but also their very ideology. This comprehensive study will be an important book for scholars interested in Asian studies, Indonesian politics and development studies.

This book deals with two major issues: how Indonesian NGOs survived under Suharto's authoritarian rule; and how NGOs contributed to the promotion of democracy in the post-Suharto era. If NGOs are to change from 'development' to 'movement' in democratic post-Suharto Indonesia, they must adjust not only their management and working style, but also their very ideology. This comprehensive study will be an important book for scholars interested in Asian studies, Indonesian politics and development studies.

Non-governmental organisations have proved crucial to political and social development in developing countries and perhaps none more so than Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest country. This book deals with two major issues: how Indonesian NGOs survived under Suharto's authoritarian rule and how NGOs contributed to the promotion of democracy in the post-Suharto era. NGOs are often perceived as the cornerstones of vibrant civil society, providing voices for the disenfranchised and creating centres of influence outside the state. Yet through an analysis of primary material, Bob S. Hadiwinta's study argues that NGOs must adjust their activities in accordance with local social and political conditions and that NGOs are sometimes at odds with the local communities they purport to represent. If NGOs are to change from development to movement in democratic post-Suharto Indonesia, they must adjust not only their management and working style, but also their very ideology. This comprehensive study is suitable for scholars interested in Asian studies, Indonesian politics and development studies.

The Politics of Indonesia is an engaging and accessible account of this country's main political issues, themes, and institutions. Beginning with a discussion of traditional cultural and political influences, it traces Indonesia's political development through the colonial era and into the period of Indonesia's emergence as an independent state. Charting the rise and fall of President Suharto, the book also provides an overview of a number of contentious issues, such as the political role of the armed forces, corruption, compromised judicial independence, human rights, economic development and crisis, and national unity. It concludes by considering the main political influences at work in Indonesia at the close of the Suharto period, and the prospects for democratic reform. It also provides a useful guide to further reading. This book is a valuable and fascinating resource for students of Asian studies and related disciplines, those who travel and do business in Indonesia, and, indeed, anyone living in the strategic shadow of this important and culturally diverse nation.

Supporters of neoliberalism claim that free markets lead to economic growth, the creation of a middle class, and the establishment of democratically accountable governments. Critics point to a widening gap between rich and poor as countries compete to win foreign investment, and to the effects on the poor of neoliberal programs that restrict funding for health, education, and welfare. This book offers a ground-level view from Sumatra of the realities behind these debates during the final years of Suharto’s New Order and the beginning of a transition to more democratic government. The author’s wealth of primary data from ten years of interviews and local newspaper reportage (1994–2004) shows how farmers and laborers were dispossessed by both government policies and crony capitalism. Elizabeth Collins relates the stories of populist efforts in South Sumatra to combat "development" policies responsible for producing extreme poverty and allowing corruption to flourish. She describes how student-led NGOs worked with farmers fighting to retain their livelihoods in the lowland forests of South Sumatra. She reports on a local branch of the Indonesian Environmental Forum as it battled multinational companies and Indonesian conglomerates responsible for damage to the environment; on contract workers protesting exploitation by a company with ties to a Suharto crony; and on systemic corruption under the New Order, which spread throughout all levels of government and into civil society organizations. She examines the sometimes strained relationships between Islamists and human-rights activists, arguing that there is no inherent contradiction between Islam and democratic politics. Collins concludes that for real change to occur, neoliberal capitalism must be recognized as a utopian ideology; democracy, imperfect as it is, offers the best hope for sustainable development in Indonesia.