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Colombijn examines the social changes in Indonesian cities during the process of decolonization. That process had major repercussions for urban society. These social changes are studied from the angle of urban space in general, and the provision of housing in particular. This provides fresh insight into how people experienced decolonization. Published in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation (NIOD). Originally published with imprint KITLV (ISBN 9789067182911)

One of the most visible and enduring vestiges of colonialism is its buildings. In this article I address the question of how current approving references to the colonial buildings in Indonesia should be explained, looking at one particular city, Surabaya. The cheerful, innovative adoption of colonial themes defies an analysis in terms of 'imperial debris'. I propose to borrow the term 'bricolage' from Claude Lévi-Strauss to describe this process in which people make new associations between selected colonial buildings and their own present lives. Bricolage is the selective conceptual appropriation of the colonial buildings for whatever objective the user finds convenient: objects to boost city marketing, a company advertisement, stops on a heritage tour, amusing backdrops for pictures and selfies, a counterpoint to a consumerist lifestyle in shopping malls. For colonial building enthusiasts, the love of colonial design and old urban quarters is more than a matter of the aesthetics of urban spaces, but also, indirectly, a critique of the transformation of modern cities by short-sighted real-estate developers and city administrators, who demolish irreplaceable buildings in acts of 'architectural suicide'.

Canberra, the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia, was built as a symbol of a new nation. The city's symbolism is dominated by an optic axis, provided by the masterplan of Walter Burley Griffin. The dominant message of the objects at the poles of this axis, the Parliament House and the War Memorial, is nationalism. The Parliament House brings the nation together at one point and the War Memorial specifies that the Australian national is tough, resourceful, and comradely. By its reference to heroic deeds in wartime, the War Memorial gives a belligerent message in an otherwise peaceful landscape. Women and spiritual religions are conspicuously absent from Canberra. There is a remarkable tolerance towards other nations leaving their symbolic footprint in Canberra.—Canberra, la capitale du Commonwealth d'Australie, fut construite comme symbole de la nation. Le symbolisme de la ville est dominé par un axe optique, d'après le plan d'ensemble détaillé de Walter Burley Griffin. Le message dominant des objets aux extrémités de cet axe, le Parlement et le monument aux morts, est le nationalisme. Le Parlement rassemble la nation à un point donné, et le monument aux morts spécifie que l'australien est tenace, ingénieux, et amical. Le monument aux morts rappelle des actes de guerre héroïıques et envoie un message belligérant dans un paysage autrement tranquille. Les femmes et les religions spirituelles sont très manifestement absentes de Canberra. Il y a une tolérance remarquable envers les autres nations qui ont laissé leur empreinte symbolique sur Canberra.

The experiment with administrative decentralization in Indonesia started with a new law that was enacted in 1903. The European civil servants believed that this law would protect their position, and they did not foresee two processes that were to gradually undercut this very position. First, the citizens in the municipal councils seized the opportunity to acquire a real degree of autonomy. Secondly, the council became a platform where the Indonesian members voiced their grievances from the 1920s onwards. After the Dutch colonial era, and in particular during the Japanese period and the years of Guided Democracy, the municipalities lost most of their leeway for formulating an autonomous policy and devising budgets to the central government. Now, starting with Law 5 issued in 1973, the New Order government of Indonesia has again embarked on the path of administrative decentralization.

"Cars, Conduits and Kampongs offers a wide panorama of the modernization of the cities in Indonesia between 1920 and 1960. The contributions present a case for asserting that Indonesian cities were not merely the backdrop to processes of modernization and rising nationalism, but formed a causal factor. Modernization, urbanization, and decolonization were intrinsically linked. The various chapters deal with such innovations as the provision of medical treatments, fresh water and sanitation, the implementation of town planning and housing designs, and policies for coping with increased motorized traffic and industrialization. The contributors share a broad critique of the economic and political dimensions of colonialism, but remain alert to the agency of colonial subjects who respond, often critically, to a European modernity" --

AbstractThis introduction sets out the aims of the symposium on mobilities and mobilizations of the urban poor. Exploring the physical, social and imagined movements of the poor into, within and out of cities, and addressing how these movements connect to the dynamics of urban social mobilization, it argues for an incorporation of the 'mobility turn' in studies of the urban poor. The introduction proposes a number of relevant themes within this approach, starting with increased attention to the interconnections between physical and imaginative movements. This is followed by a discussion of representations of mobility and mobile representations: the ways in which physical movement, place and urban poverty are represented, and the increased transnational mobility of these representations. Next, a focus on differential mobilities is used to analyze how mobility differences within or between social groups are (re)produced in local power constellations. In addition, the relation between mobilities and public–private divides is examined, especially in terms of physical and imaginative place‐making. A final emphasis is on academic mobilities, with the authors arguing for reflexive attention to the position of those who research the urban poor and the specific practices of mobility associated with this research.RésuméLes objectifs du symposium sur les mobilités et mobilisations des populations urbaines pauvres sont exposés dans ce texte introductif. S'intéressant aux déplacements physiques, sociaux et imaginés des pauvres, vers et à l'intérieur des villes, il examine comment ces flux s'inscrivent dans les dynamiques de la mobilisation sociale urbaine et témoigne de l'intégration du 'virage de la mobilité' dans les études de ces populations. Cette introduction propose plusieurs thèmes relevant de cette démarche, à commencer par un souci particulier des interconnexions entre les mouvements physiques et virtuels. Puis sont étudiées les représentations de la mobilité et les représentations mobiles, c'est‐à‐dire la façon dont un déplacement physique, un lieu et la pauvreté urbaine sont représentés, ainsi que la mobilité transnationale accrue de ces représentations. Tout un volet analyse comment les différences de mobilité dans ou entre les groupes sociaux sont (re)produites dans les constellations de pouvoir locales. De plus, le lien entre les mobilités et les frontières public‐privé est examiné, notamment sous l'angle de la fabrication physique ou virtuelle de lieux. Pour finir, l'accent est mis sur la mobilité des chercheurs, les auteures défendant un intérêt critique pour le positionnement de ceux qui étudient la population urbaine pauvre et les pratiques de mobilité spécifiques associées à ces recherches.