F. Colombijn

The volatile state in Southeast Asia: evidence from Sumatra, 1600-1800

The communis opinio of historians is that early modern, or precolonial, states in Southeast Asia tended to lead precarious existences. The states were volatile in the sense that the size of individual states changed quickly, a ruler forced by circumstances moved his state capital, the death of a ruler was followed by a dynastic struggle, or a local subordinate head either ignored or took over the central state power; in short, states went through short cycles of rise and decline. Perhaps nobody has helped establish this opinion more than Clifford Geertz (1980) with his powerful metaphor of the theatre state. Many scholars have preceded and followed him in their assessment of the shakiness of the state (see, for example, Andaya 1992, 419; Bentley 1986, 292; Bronson 1977, 51; Hagesteijn 1986, 106; Milner 1982, 7; Nagtegaal 1996, 35, 51; Reid 1993, 202; Ricklefs 1991, 17; Schulte Nordholt 1996, 143-48). The instability itself was an enduring phenomenon. Most polities existed in a state of flux, oscillating between integration and disintegration, a phenomenon which was first analyzed for mainland Southeast Asia by Edmund Leach (1954) in his seminal work on the Kachin chiefdoms. This alternation of state formation and the breaking up of kingdoms has been called the ebb and flow of power and the rhythm of Malay history (Andaya and Andaya 1982, 35). In this article, I will probe into the causes of the volatility of the Southeast Asian states, using material from Sumatra to make my case. Before we move to an examination of volatility, we must look at the concept itself. Knowledge is the concern of power holders, and the historiographies of Southeast Asian states have been the outcomes of power struggles (Day and Reynolds 2000; Frank 1998, 1-3). There is a real risk that historians, usually from stable Western

Racial segregation in the (post)colonial city: The case of Indonesia

Urban society in colonial and early postcolonial Indonesia was stratified along ethnic and class lines. This stratification was given concrete shape in the urban residential landscape. Our article starts from the working hypothesis that under the impact of decolonization the changing social status system was reflected in a changing residential pattern. We offer empirical evidence to weigh the relative validity of the from-race-to-class-segregation thesis during colonization against the class-segregation-throughout-decolonization thesis. On the basis of our findings, we argue that the second thesis presents the more accurate depiction of urban society. Looking at spatial segregation, decolonization was characterized by continuity. Decolonization by itself was therefore insufficient to alter sociospatial inequality in postcolonial Indonesian cities.

Toooot! Vroooom! The Urban Soundscape in Indonesia

This article will explore the soundscape of Indonesian cities: What are the main components of the soundscape and how do people experience the urban sounds? The soundscape has changed in the course of history through the interconnected processes of modernization and globalization, and yet, the Indonesian urban soundscape has kept its distinctive character. This article is an attempt to see whether social scientists can study something as intangible as noise in a meaningful way.

Islamic influences on urban form in Sumatra in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries CE

Urban space is a social product (Lefebvre 1974). People give cities their physical form. Conversely, human behaviour is to some extent structured by the urban form. The built environment restricts certain patterns of behaviour and stimulates other patterns. As Winston Churchill said when he re-opened the House of Commons after World War II: ‘We shape our buildings and then they shape us’ (quoted in Phillips 1996: 462). Urban form is important because of the physical restrictions and stimuli and urban places can be the bearers of important symbolic meanings (Castells 1975; Lefebvre 1974; Nas, 1993). Political leaders have a more than average interest in urban shapes. One important concern for them is that they want to express their hegemony symbolically and to communicate their power position to their subjects, allies or adversaries. Where no hegemonic power exists, various competing groups may wish to show off their presence in the city, in the same way as graffiti artists leave their ‘tags’ throughout the city without administering the city. A recent example of a leader enjoying hegemonic power is the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir, who built a new administrative centre, Putrajaya, on the fringe of Kuala Lumpur. The architecture of Putrajaya invokes the image of a modern and Muslim nation; the design of the Prime Minister’s office and residence strongly suggests that Mahathir was not a ‘mere’ Prime Minister but an Islamic ruler, a Sultan. An example of a city where different groups compete for control, without any one getting the upper hand, is provided by Kota Ambon, the capital of the Moluccas. The most important symbolic graffiti tags of Christian and Muslim gangs are, respectively, the Maranatha Church and the al-Fatah Mosque, which are separated by a neutral, ‘no-man’s’ street ironically called Gaza Street. Both groups also make literal tags, in the form of insulting slogans chalked on mosques and churches. When political power changes, it is probable that urban form and urban symbolism will be changed as well. Central Javanese royal centres serve as an example in this respect. The layout of pre-Islamic princely capitals reflected a mandala-like conception of the society with a pattern of streets radiating in the main directions of the compass, and a number of concentric circles centred on the ruler’s palace, keraton or kraton, at the central square, alun-alun. When these rulers became Muslim, a mosque was added to the alun-alun, reinforcing the centrality of the ruler. Later, in at least one case, the Dutch colonialThis article focuses on the evolution of three urban centres: Palembang, Padang and Tanjung Pinang. Where appropriate, brief information about other towns is added which shows that the three towns are typical for towns on the east coast, the west coast and the islands in the Straits of Malacca respectively. Unfortunately, there is no place in the Minangkabau highlands for which historical sources exist that can help to reconstruct the townscape in a comparably detailed way. The descriptions of Palembang, Padang and Tanjung Pinang give details of Islamic buildings and provide information about the development of the settlements as a whole. These morphological histories have a value in their own right. They form a baseline to assess fully the specific Islamic influence on urban form in the disruption of some Islamic transformations. The Dutch changes bring out the previous Islamic influences more sharply. In the last section the emic (indigenous) conceptions of urban will be analysed, by exploring the contrast between town and village and the role of Islamic buildings to accentuate the difference. The conclusion will list the most important empirical generalisations drawn from the descriptions.

A Moving History of Middle Sumatra, 1600–1870

The history of the early modern Malay world has been told largely in terms of processes of Islamization, the rise and demise of states, European voyages of discovery, trade with China, India and Europe, and colonial conquest. With a few important exceptions, these studies underestimate, if not ignore, the role of transportation in the historical transformations of Southeast Asia. Just as Clive Pontings (1992) well-known A green history of the world rewrites the worlds history in ecological terms, this article aims to describe the political and economic history of Middle Sumatra in terms of transportation of goods and people. Hence this is a moving history.

Kampong improvement in colonial Indonesia: A contest on paper and in the field

This chapter deals with the struggle waged between kampong dwellers and municipal administrators over urban space. The issue raised is to what extent kampong dwellers accepted the administrators definition of kampongs as unsanitary and disorderly places and welcomed kampong improvement. Colonial administrative concern about the living conditions in kampongs was mostly genuine, but paternalistic and based on imported European notions of order and cleanliness. Kampong improvement did elicit mixed feelings among the target groups and caused as many problems as it solved. The application of overly strict building regulations hampered the self-help construction of affordable houses. Buildings that transgressed the building line were demolished. Increased rents after upgrading streets and drains drove out the lowest income persons. Keywords: colonial Indonesia; dwellers; Kampong; municipal administrators

Planning and social tension in Indonesian cities

This chapter brings to light how urban planning serves the interests of the most powerful groups in society. Urban planning seems to be a major concern of local and national governments also for ideological reasons. The discussion shows how state ideologies influence city plans and how, conversely, cities reflect these ideologies. These ideologies make it clear who is in power. Similarly, political changes are reflected in new urban plans. The case of Indonesian cities illustrates this rhetoric of power. In pre-colonial towns, the rulers formed the symbolic heart of the city. In Dutch colonial towns, planning was based on the segregation of people from different ethnic backgrounds. After independence, ethnic boundaries were blurred, stressing that all people ideally should form one nation. Thus, planning ideals have changed with the emergence of new political leaders, reflecting the political climate of the time.

Roots of Violence in Indonesia: Contemporary Violence in Historical Perspective@@@Violence and Vengeance: Discontent and Conflict in New Order Indonesia

Preface Freek Colombijn and J. Thomas Lindblad, Introduction Historical continuity Henk Schulte Nordholt, A genealogy of violence Henk M.J. Maier, Telling tales, cutting throats - the guts of Putu Wijaya Elsbeth Locher-Scholten, State violence and the police in colonial Indonesia around 1920 Exploration of a theme Erwiza Erman, Generalized violence: A case study of the Ombilin coal mines, 1892-1996 Budi Agustono, Violence in North Sumatras plantations Army violence William H. Frederick, Shadows of an unseen hand: Some patterns of violence in the Indonesian revolution, 1945-1949 R.E. Elson, In fear of the people: Suharto and the justification of state-sponsored violence under the New Order Liem Soei Liong, Its the military, stupid! Robert Cribb, From total peoples defence to massacre: Explaining Indonesian military violence in East Timor Geoffrey Robinson, The fruitless search for a smoking gun: Tracing the origins of violence in East Timor Communal violence Kees van Dijk, The good, the bad and the ugly: explaining the unexplainable amuk massa in Indonesia Freek Colombijn, Maling, maling! Lynching in Indonesia