Editorial

The year 1965 marked a turning point in Indonesian history.  A failed putsch on 1 October was followed swiftly by a violent backlash against the left. About half a million were killed, perhaps another million and a half detained without trial. The violence paved the way for the military regime of General Suharto, the New Order. Millions of survivors and their relatives lost their civil rights. The nation was changed forever. 

Petrol subsidies have gone, but at what cost to Indonesia’s poor?

A new volunteer movement is shining a light on Indonesia’s parliament and its representatives

An interview on the progress of the third Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on gender equality

Social media promotes political engagement among youth, but at the expense of accurate information and real-world political effects

The religious influence of prime-time television in Indonesia

The Institute will continue to operate without its famous reading room

HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly because of the profound inequalities that afflict Papua

The different and difficult experiences of Eurasian Indonesians

  Alexandra Crosby The role of design in social change has received increasing public attention in the last decade. User-centred, iterative, participatory flexible approaches to the design of objects, spaces, communications, services and experiences are valued by policy makers and firms all over the world to address issues of social justice, sustainability and urban development. Simultaneously the territory within which design operates has been changing. Design is sometimes used synonymously with consumerism, urban tastes, and globalisation, such as ‘designer handbags’, but what design is and what it does is much more complex, and many of these new definitions of design are emerging in Indonesia.

Beyond the tourism and real estate frontiers in Bali is a small branch of the global resource frontier.

A link to Australia’s support of the Indonesian revolution

The distribution of money, goods and other benefits is an integral part of electioneering in Indonesia

Cosmopolitanism is a magnificent ideal for a world torn by divisions and it exists in Indonesia in some surprising places. But how deep does and can it go? Gerry van Klinken

Food security is an urgent policy problem in Indonesia but opinions are divided about how best to feed the poorest and most vulnerable Thushara Dibley and Eve Warburton Indonesia is a country with a rapidly expanding middle class and a growing economy. Its neighbours are taking more notice, and Indonesia now plays a pivotal role in regional politics. Yet for many Indonesians, the daily task of feeding their families can be a real challenge. Even with government subsidies, Indonesia has the most expensive rice in the region. The government's commitment to reducing heavy fuel subsidies is expected to impact the price and accessibility of rice and other basic foodstuffs. Poor families are the most vulnerable in this situation.

Detained asylum seekers face massive hurdles in accessing rights and protection

Theatre therapy in a narcotics gaol is helping inmates survive

Nikki Edwards An examination of prisons and detention centres shows that Indonesia still has a long way to go in protecting human rights The international media has long carried stories about the imprisonment of Schapelle Corby in Bali and of the Indonesian children convicted of people smuggling and held in Australian gaols. But until the recent riot in Tanjung Gusta prison, where inmates were being held in facilities stretched to almost double capacity, the stories of the thousands of Indonesians who are locally imprisoned failed to make the headlines. This edition of Inside Indonesia begins to investigate these people’s stories. The articles delve into the depths of Indonesia’s gaols, seeking to understand who is incarcerated, under what conditions, and why.

The last three decades have seen many political and technological changes, but Inside Indonesia remains a popular and important publication