A Case for Genocide: Indonesia, 1965–1966

Melvin, Jess; Pohlman, Annie

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71455-4_2

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…His parents were from the urban working-class and he spent his childhood and much of his adult life in a poor kampung (a neighbourhood, something akin to the Spanish barrio). When he was still a toddler, his city and many other parts of the country were intensely affected by the "anti-communist" killings of 1965-1966(Cribb, 2001McGregor, 2018;Melvin & Pohlman, 2018).…”

Section: Wiji Thukul's Life Art and Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The Flower and the Wall”: Poet‐Activist Wiji Thukul and Progressive Martyrdom in Post‐Suharto Indonesia

Miller,

Sibarani

2024

PaG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>Since the fall of Major-General Suharto’s “New Order” regime, Indonesia has struggled to deal with its authoritarian legacy. This article argues that in the quarter of a century since his disappearance, the Indonesian poet-activist Wiji Thukul (1963–1998?) has become a martyr for the still unfulfilled progressive ideals of the Reformasi (reform) movement that helped to bring down that regime in 1998. Using the developing body of theory around “secular” or “political” martyrdom, this article examines the process by which this status has been achieved, situating its development alongside the emergence of the Refusing to Forget movement, as well as comparing and contrasting his fate with that of two other candidates for the label of Reformasi martyr: those of the labour activist Marsinah (1969–1993) and the human rights lawyer Munir Said Thalib (1965–2004). It argues that Thukul’s role as a martyr has been significant in maintaining progressive public discourse about the human rights abuses of the Suharto period, as well as the continuing illiberalism of the period since the end of the regime, and that Thukul remains relevant to efforts to stimulate and nurture the fragile democratisation project that was initiated in the late New Order period. In particular, the authors see Thukul’s brand of grassroots creative practice as playing a central role in his emergence as a progressive icon and in giving his life and work international significance.</p>

show abstract

Section: Wiji Thukul's Life Art and Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The Flower and the Wall”: Poet‐Activist Wiji Thukul and Progressive Martyrdom in Post‐Suharto Indonesia

Miller,

Sibarani

2024

PaG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Rarely are these cases called genocide, and yet these human-made disasters claimed the lives of millions. When looking at Asian cases alone, these include: the Partition of India in 1946-1947(Brass, 2003; the occupation of East Timor by Indonesia between 1975 and 1999 (Saul, 2001); the massacres of Communists in Indonesia in 1965-1966(Melvin & Pohlman, 2018; East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1971 (Jahan, 2009);Mao's Great Leap Forward of 1959-1961(Dikötter, 2010 or the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976(Yang Su, 2011; and during so many other cases of mass death and destruction. As Christopher Powell (2004, p. 80) explains, "How 'genocide' is defined affects not only which events are labelled genocides and which are not, but by implication how the moral, political, and legal energies mobilized by 'genocide' will be applied."…”

Section: Not-naming Genocide: West Papuamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Inefficacy of Naming Genocide in Contemporary Southeast Asia

Pohlman¹

2020

Hum.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines two cases of ongoing persecution in Southeast Asia and the problems of naming either genocide. Specifically, I discuss the politics of naming the decades’ long persecution of the Rohingya in Burma and West Papuans genocide. Both cases highlight some critical points of contention within the field of genocide studies which revolve around competing conceptions of how and what genocides destroy. Often separated into liberal and post-liberal camps, or those which conceive of genocide as a crime or as a process, these competing views create deep divisions over what cases of mass violence can be named genocide, or not. I take up some of these highly politicized and moralistic debates around the naming of genocide in light of these two contemporary Southeast Asian cases; that of the Rohingya which arguably has been recognised as a case of genocide since the latest wave of violence in 2017; and the case of West Papua, which remains very much at the fringes of genocide studies. I also draw on the work of a range of scholars who question the “effectivity” of naming genocide. I argue that, in these two contemporary Southeast Asian cases, naming (Rohingya) and not-naming (West Papua) cases of ongoing persecution genocide has had little effect whatsoever.

show abstract

Introduction: Gender, Resistance and Transnational Memories

Stoltz

2020

Gender, Resistance and Transnational Memories of Violent Conflicts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Case for Genocide: Indonesia, 1965–1966

Cited by 8 publications

References 34 publications

“The Flower and the Wall”: Poet‐Activist Wiji Thukul and Progressive Martyrdom in Post‐Suharto Indonesia

“The Flower and the Wall”: Poet‐Activist Wiji Thukul and Progressive Martyrdom in Post‐Suharto Indonesia

The Inefficacy of Naming Genocide in Contemporary Southeast Asia

Introduction: Gender, Resistance and Transnational Memories

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About