7-10 November, 1994
Amsterdam/Leiden, the Netherlands

THE LEGACY OF DUTCH AND JAPANESE RULE IN INDONESIA: MYTHS AND
REALITIES

Over the past few decades new myths have arisen about the
historical foundations of the modern Indonesian nation. While
it is acknowledged that both Dutch and Japanese rule had a
great impact on the socio-political structures and the
economic organization of Indonesia, there is a tendency to
underestimate the legacy of Dutch colonialism and to simplify
the impact of the Japanese military occupation. A closer look
at the workings of the Dutch and Japanese socio-political
systems in Indonesia is deemed necessary to redress the
balance.

By Peter Post and Elly Touwen

Late colonial Dutch rule was stabilizing and conservative,
striving to keep intact social and economic structures which
allowed little scope to enterprising and innovating elements
in Indonesian society. There was a strong ideological element
in Dutch colonial policy based upon constructed ideas as to
the real character of Indonesian society. Japan's military
government was seemingly more pragmatic and adaptive to
regional variations. The policies of local military officials
are claimed to have released dynamic new forces by introducing
and systematizing social structures based on Japanese
patterns. Japanese rule penetrated deeply into local
communities and enabled indigenous groups to participate in
the higher echelons of political and economic life. Some of
these groups became prominent in Indonesian "nation-building",
and constructed a society using symbols and socio-political
structures derived from the Japanese interregnum rather than
from Indonesia's own cultural heritage or from the Dutch
colonial period.

BEHIND FACADE AND RHETORIC
Despite the fact that this interpretation fails to see the
strengths and continuities of the Indonesian (political)
economy and does not take the inherent flexibility of
Indonesian culture and society into consideration, recent
scholarship on the legacy and impact of Dutch and Japanese
rule tends to support this view.
The aim of the workshop is to go behind the facade and the
rhetoric. Instead of focusing on the political myths, the
organizing committee invites scholars to concentrate on the
institutional realities of Indonesian society and their
apparent transformation during the period 1930-1950. We are
particularly interested in questions relating to the
institutionalization of economic (banking, trade associations,
tax systems etc.), cultural and religious life, law and
justice, welfare and education. By focusing on institutional
transformations during this decisive period in Indonesian
history we hope to arrive at a better understanding of the
foundation of the modern Indonesian state. It is our plan to
publish the papers in late 1995.
The organizing committee has planned a four-day workshop with
participants from Indonesia, Japan and the Netherlands. The
first day of the workshop, November 7, will be held at the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam,
during which public seminars will be given by Professor Goto
Ken'ichi (Waseda University), Dr Taufiq Abdullah (Indonesian
Institute of Sciences), and Professor Kurt W. Radtke (Leiden
University). This day is open to the general public with a
limited audience of some 50 participants. The different
sessions of the workshop will take place at the Netherlands
State Institute for War Documentation (Amsterdam) and the
Royal Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology (Leiden).
Readers of this Newsletter who are interested in attending the
Open Day or who like to participate in the workshop sessions
are kindly requested to contact the organizing committee
mentioned below.

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT
This workshop  is part of a larger international research
project called:
'Japan and Asia, 1930s-1950s. Reallocation of Power and
Resources: a Post-Colonial Reassessment'. This project draws
upon the strong Netherlands tradition in East and Southeast
Asian studies, but transcends the usual categorization in an
effort to achieve an Asian-wide and Asia-centric perspective.
By combining sources from Southeast Asia, Japan, and the
Netherlands, and drawing upon international expertise, the
project aims at an innovative analysis of the profound impact
the Japanese interregnum had on changes in the socio-political
and economic power constellations in the coastal areas of
mainland Asia and Southeast Asia.
Fundamental research questions concern the interaction between
pre-war Western and Japanese policies and realities in the
various Asian countries and the impact they had on political,
social, and economic developments before, during, and after
the war.

RESEARCH TOPICS
The following research topics are central to the programme:
1. Ethnic minorities (Dr Elly Touwen-Bouwsma)
2. Capital, trade, and investment (Dr Peter Post)
3. Indigenous small-scale and medium-sized industries (Prof
Heather Sutherland & Drs Jaap van Gelderen)
4. Forced labour and local economies
5. Co-operation, collaboration, and puppet regimes (Prof Kurt
W. Radtke)

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dr Peter Post: KNAW/CASA/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr Elly Touwen-Bouwsma: Netherlands State Institute for War
Documentation

SECRETARIAT:
Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation
Dr Elly Touwen-Bouwsma
Postbus 19769
1000 GT Amsterdam
Tel: +31-20-523 3832/3800, Fax: +31-20-627 8208