ASPECTS OF INDONESIA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE
In: Pacific affairs, Band 28, Heft 2, S. 117-131
ISSN: 0030-851X
Under the Dutch regime the Europeans in Indonesia controlled gov & business, while the native aristocracy ran local gov. Leadership depended on a fusion of concepts held by Western rulers & native ruled. The Nationalist Movement became powerful when Islam was fertilized by Modernist ideas. The Japanese occupation was rather similar to the Dutch regime, though on return the Dutch faced greater numbers of Indonesians able to manipulate Western techniques of gov. The present Indonesian social structure is different in that the weapon of coercion as well as the gov are now indigenous. This affects many spheres of action. Europeans have retained business though it is now controlled by the indigenous gov. While politically Indonesia is a unitary state, socially it is a federation of groups of leaders formed into parties. The transfer of allegiance from persons & parties to the State will take time. The ruling group is today still largely self-recruiting, which may be a danger for the future. Much will depend on Indonesia's econ in the next few yrs. (IPSA).