Paths of origin, gates of life: A study of place and precedence in Southwest Timor

Andrew McWilliam

Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, this work explores the historical and cultural dimensions of an indigenous Timorese domain in the southern central highlands of West Timor. The volume will be of interest to regional specialists, development planners and students of anthropology, seeking a more detailed understanding of indigenous history and sociality in this corner of the Lesser Sunda Islands of eastern Indonesia.

KITLV Press, Leiden 2002
332 pp, ISBN 9067181986, E40.00

Inequality, Crisis and Social Change in Indonesia: The Muted Worlds of Bali

Thomas Reuter (ed.)

Focusing on disadvantaged sectors of Balinese society, the contributors describe how the effects of a national economic and political crisis combined with a variety of social aspirations at a grass roots level, elicit shifts in local and regional configurations of power and knowledge. This is the first time that many of them have been able to disseminate their controversial research findings without endangering their informants since the demise of the New Order regime.

RoutledgeCurzon, 2002
240 pp, ISBN: 0415296889, �55.00

The collapse of a colonial society: The Dutch in Indonesia during the Second World War

Louis de Jong

This is the first book to offer a thorough English-language study on the vicissitudes of the Dutch and Dutch Eurasians during the Japanese occupation of the East Indies. It presents an impressive account the experiences of the Dutch civilians and prisoners of war under the Japanese occupation. An extensive introduction by Jeroen Kemperman sketches the course of events from the arrival of the Dutch in the Indonesian archipelago to the capitulation of the Dutch East Indies in March 1942.

KITLV Press, Leiden, 2002
570 pp, ISBN 9067182036, E25.00

The house of our ancestors: Precedence and dualism in Highland Balinese society

Thomas Reuter

The House of Our Ancestors is a study of the Mountain Balinese or Bali Aga, an ethnic group with a distinct history and culture who are thought to be the indigenous people of Bali, Indonesia. In popular ideas of Balinese identity, the highland people feature as the conceptual counterpart to the royal houses established in the southern lowlands of the island. Hidden in shadow of this courtly culture, the world of the highland Balinese has been largely ignored even though Bali counts among the most researched localities in the world. This book explores their social organisation and status economy.

KITLV Press, Leiden, 2002
360 pp, ISBN: 9067181854, AUD$88 plus
$7 postage and handling

Postcolonial readings of modern Indonesian literature

Keith Foulcher and Tony Day (editors)

This collection draws together the work of authors from Indonesia, Australia, North America, and Europe, in the first comprehensive attempt to relate modern Indonesian literature to the insights and approaches of postcolonial theory and literary criticism.

The essays in the collection range over the history of modern Indonesian literature from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century to its diversity and growth in the 1990s. Some offer the fresh readings of well-known texts; others draw attention to aspects of the Indonesian literary tradition that have hitherto escaped the notice of scholars and critics.

KITLV Press, Leiden, 2002
380 pp, ISBN: 9067181897

Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces

Paul Conboy

The TNI's Special Forces, Kopassus, has a reputation for being at the sharp edge of Indonesia's conflicts, both military and political. Conboy's history of Kopassus is an informative account of its role until 1993. Relying on Kopassus sources, however, Conboy's study lacks a critical edge and often reads like an 'official' history. Kopassus nonetheless provides a useful study of a publicity-shy organisation.

Equinox Publishing, Jakarta, 2003
ISBN: 9799589886

Javanese grammar for students

Stuart Robson

A straightforward guide to grammar for English-speaking students of the Javanese language. This compact book explains the structure and use of Javanese grammar, with many practical examples.

Monash Papers on Southeast Asia, No. 56, 2002
130 pp, ISBN: 1876924128, AUD$21.95

Dancing with the devil: a personal account of policing the East Timor vote for independence

David Savage

The memoir of an Australian Federal Police officer of his tour of duty with the UN policing team during the independence ballot in East Timor. David Savage was based in the dangerous district of Maliana, and was witness to many key incidents, both uplifting and heartbreaking.

Monash Papers on Southeast Asia, No. 57, 2002
380 pp, ISBN: 1876924101, AUD$29.95

On the Web

Conflict Prevention Initiative: portal on Indonesia

The Conflict Prevention Initiative (CPI) is an online project of the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, based at the Harvard University. CPI's Indonesia portal offers links to: selected news reports from local, international and regional sources; feature articles published in Inside Indonesia, The Asia Times, The Guardian and The Herald Tribune among others; international non-governmental organisations' (such as Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group) recent reports on Indonesia; a range of maps; regional NGOs; relevant research institutes and academic programs.

www.preventconflict.org

 

How the Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Network Operates

International Crisis Group (ICG Asia Report No. 43)

Released on 11 December 2002, this report nonetheless provides more detailed information about previous bombings attributed to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) than it does about the Kuta bombing itself. The report examines 9 bombing incidents attributed to JI, dating from the 1999 bombing of the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta, to the most recent Bali bombing, and sets out to convey a sense of how people become involved in it, their commonalities and motivations.

www.crisisweb.org