Chinese Indonesians and Regime Change

The existing literature on Chinese Indonesians has so far tended to take an approach of either victimization and marginalization or a focus on elite businessmen and their economic influence. This volume takes a different perspective. The Chinese in Indonesia were not only innocent victims of history, but were simultaneously active agents of change. Chinese Indonesians from different walks of life played an active role in shaping society during regime changes and found creative and constructive ways to deal with situations of adversity. This book demonstrates that regime changes in Indonesia did not only pose threats of violence, but also offered opportunities that induced agency on the part of Chinese Indonesians to shape their own destinies and that of the country.

Part I: Introduction 1. Chinese Indonesians and Regime Change: Alternative Perspectives Marleen Dieleman, Juliette Koning, Peter Post Part II: Policy and Dignity: Chineseness during and after the New Order 2. Business, Belief, and Belonging: Small Business Owners and Conversion to Charismatic Christianity Juliette Koning 3. Assimilation, Differentiation, and Depoliticization: Chinese Indonesians and the Ministry of Home Affairs in Suharto's Indonesia Nobuhiro Aizawa 4. Diversity in Compliance: Yogyakarta Chinese and the New Order Assimilation Policy Andreas Susanto Part III: Justice and Representation: The Chinese in the Netherlands East Indies 5. The Chinese Connection: Rewriting Journalism and Social Categories in Indonesian History Nobuto Yamamoto 6. The Loa Joe Djin-Case. A Trigger to Change Patricia Tjiook-Liem Part IV: Survival and Creativity: Chinese Business Responses to Regime Change 7. Crisis Management and Creative Adjustment: Margo-Redjo in the 1930s Alexander Claver 8. The Oei Tiong Ham Concern and the Change of Regimes in Indonesia, 1931-1950 Peter Post 9. Continuous and Discontinuous Change in Ethnic Chinese Business Networks: The Case of the Salim Group Marleen Dieleman