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The 2019 documentary film They Call Me Babu utilises historical film footage including the home movies of one Dutch family with a voiceover in Bahasa Indonesia to narrate the fictionalised experiences of a former female domestic worker in the colonial Netherlands East Indies in the closing decades of Dutch colonial rule from 1939 to 1949. By centring the experiences of 'babu', women who worked as nannies and nursemaids for families holding European status, the Dutch-Indonesian director Sarah Beerends endeavours to make these women visible and to narrate their viewpoints. In this paper we argue, however, that the director's aspiration to centre the women's stories is haunted by the spectres of the colonial matrix of power. This leads to the unintended replication of nostalgic images of, and tropes about, the colony that has characterised earlier Dutch memory work. The film does not offer a critical engagement with colonial violence and the colonial structures of power are instead positioned as contributing to the nanny's gendered emancipation. Furthermore, we reflect on why, in the context of recent vociferous debates about colonial violence, a film which serves to soften images of Dutch colonialism, was generally well received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do Indonesia's democratisation efforts look like when examined from the lens of human rights? Using the 1965 violence as a case study this article analyses human rights and justice reform after the end of the Suharto regime in 1998. We argue that despite the initial push to adopt international human rights principles and transitional justice mechanisms in Indonesian law, human rights reforms have stagnated. Explanations for this include the weakness of the human rights movement preceding 1998 and efforts by parties implicated in past violence to block justice initiatives. Through a close analysis of recent efforts during the Joko Widodo presidency to address past human rights abuses we highlight a further shift away from support for international justice measures towards what have been labelled "Indonesian" justice measures. Although there is certainly a place for the use of culture-specific justice mechanisms, we argue that these new initiatives are instead underpinned by an instrumentalisation of ideas of culture to shield perpetrators from accountability. By highlighting the history of the use of ideas of culture to justify authoritarianism and reject so-called liberal values, we demonstrate why the latest trends are further evidence of an illiberal turn in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Sociocarbon cycles highlight the relations that comprise forest carbon governance. • REDD+ is creating new relations between C atoms, technology and institutions. • More just carbon governance is possible through sociocarbon analysis. Abstract As Indonesia's REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) program unfolds, it is transforming people and places in unexpected ways, and reconfiguring human and non-human processes. In this paper we recognize that forest carbon governance is about much more than carbon. Reflecting on observations from research in Indonesia, we develop the concept of sociocarbon cycles in an effort to move beyond the human-nature dualisms that characterize much work on REDD+. We see carbon governance as emergent sets of arrangements that are continually tested and challenged through the agency of diverse human and non-human actors. Drawing on insights from the literature on socionatures, and in particular on work on hydrosocial cycles, we approach carbon as a socionatural achievement, constituted through relations among institutions, carbon technologies, and C atoms. Our approach recasts REDD+ as an inherently political program, rather than a techno-scientific response to climate change. This, we contend, opens up new ways of conceptualizing and approaching carbon. A sociocarbon lens highlights the importance of social research in reconceptualising biophysical carbon cycles; brings questions of justice and power to the fore (who wins and who loses from carbon initiatives); and aids in understanding what carbon is, how it is made known, and how competing carbon claims are sustained. We suggest that a sociocarbon lens provides multiple points of entry to pursue more just geometries of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 and 2009, a Dutch photographer, Jan Banning, and an anthropologist, Hilde Janssen, traveled around Indonesia to document, with photographs and testimonies, survivors of militarized sexual abuse by the Japanese military during the three-year occupation (1942–1945) of the former Dutch colony, the Netherlands-East Indies. We argue that the resultant photographic project can best be understood within the framework of the “politics of pity” and the associated genres of representation. The project creators anticipated a cosmopolitan audience-that might be moved to action to support the survivors. Yet, as the project was exhibited in different sites, the women’s memories were interpreted through local knowledge systems and mnemonic practices. We analyze the reception of these photographs in diverse local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of a new sustained focus in Indonesian human rights activism on connecting historical experiences of violence to ongoing impunity, in order to assess what forms of memory activism are effective in breaking a justice impasse. It does so by using the much more successful case of Argentinian human rights activism for justice for the 1976–83 repression as a point of comparison. Soon after the end of authoritarian rule, Argentinians held a truth commission and trials of key military leaders. Then, following a period of stalled justice, activists were able to create a new societal consensus on the need for further redress including extended trials. In Indonesia, meanwhile, a proposed truth commission was abandoned and there have been no trials of military leaders, and no other forms of redress initiated by the government for this case. Despite the limitations of almost all justice measures in fully addressing past human rights crimes, the lack of use of any measures acceptable to victims of the violence signals that the Indonesian government does not consider such cases pressing enough. In order to assess how activists might move such cases back onto a national agenda, my analysis focuses on the Argentinian group H.I.J.O.S. (Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio/Children for Identity and Justice against Forgetting and Silence), whose members led a successful campaign for a resumption of trials. I compare the similar emphasis in their activism on exposing impunity to that in the work of the Indonesian group KKPK (Koalisi Keadilan dan Pengungkapan Kebenaran/Coalition for Justice and Truth). I assess their efforts alongside the different political contexts of both countries, arguing that a focus on impunity may be crucial in cracking impasses in justice measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we outline the new political conjuncture in forest governance emerging in Indonesia and trace how it is influencing the land claim strategies of an Indigenous community in Central Kalimantan. The new political conjuncture is comprised on three inter-related elements: a Constitutional Court decision to recognise Indigenous land claims; the development of the Reducing Emissions from Forest Degradation and Deforestation Plus (REDD+) forest carbon programme; and a national initiative known as One-map. Drawing on concepts of governmentality, assemblage and territoriality we trace how the Indigenous People’s Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) are using this moment to assemble a land claim in Bahanei. We find that the conjuncture is providing opportunities for Indigenous communities to engage with a new assemblage of interests normally associated with green grabs to claim land back from state and private interests. However, the romantic green Indigenous subjectivities the new political conjuncture requires to attract carbon investment rarely fit the heterogeneous make up of village life. This is leading to intimate exclusions based on ethnicity and class, raising troubling questions about the extent of overlap between land claims and green grabs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Synopsis This paper begins to chart the history of the understudied topic of Indonesian activism for the so called ‘comfort women’ of the Japanese military from World War Two. It asks how and why activists in the specific historical context of New Order Indonesia, the cultural context of Indonesia, the global rise in human rights claims and a new openness to war redress in Japan were variously constrained and enabled in their advocacy. Drawing on recent research into the history of emotions and social movements the paper analyses how and why Indonesian activists appealed to certain emotions to gain support within Indonesia and Japan for compensation. A focus on emotions and the political and cultural contexts surrounding early Indonesian activism allows us to better understand the local framing, reception and outcomes of this global protest movement in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the technologies of government that proponents of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism are adopting to influence forest governance in Indonesia. It analyses the aspects of forest governance being problematised; the solutions being constructed; and who is influencing the production and content of these solutions. The research focuses on three aspects of the One Map Initiative: the forest moratorium; forest licensing; and new standards in participative mapping. Our findings show that the initiative has created new opportunities and constraints for forest reform. New disciplinary and participatory technologies have emerged that have created political spaces for activists to actively promote social and environmental justice concerns. However, our analysis also shows tensions for forest stakeholders between engaging in the new opportunities of the green economy and the risk of having political issues rendered technical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus ( REDD+) programme seeks to reshape the way we value, govern and interact with forests. Rather than managing forests according to interests in timber, conservation, land or livelihoods, REDD+ encourages forms of forest management that prioritise carbon. While international negotiations are shaping the rules of the programme, how it takes place on the ground will depend on its interpretation and implementation in different places. In this paper, we are interested in how the REDD+ Task Force ( Satgas REDD+), an ad hoc body formed by presidential decree to design and implement REDD+ readiness activities in Indonesia, has attempted to mainstream the programme from 2010 to 2013. We develop a governmentality approach to focus on how the Task Force sought to introduce REDD+ carbon rationalities to forest politics. Based on extended ethnographic research, we identify three strategies: adopting and promoting the carbon discourses circulating among global REDD+ communities; making carbon visible and governable through mapping technologies; and implementing participatory technologies to encourage pro- REDD+ subjectivities. In some ways, the Task Force has been successful in building awareness about forest carbon among forest stakeholders in Indonesia. National civil society organisations, in particular, appear to be supportive of REDD+; however, they emphasise 'co-benefits' framed as ' Beyond Carbon', informed by social and environmental justice. For others, however, forests remain sources of timber and land, and new strategies are required if REDD+ is to have substantial impacts on forest governance in Indonesia. The Task Force's efforts reveal the difficult and contested processes through which global climate change programmes come to be embedded in national arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is an expanding global initiative oriented at slowing or reversing carbon emissions from forests in the Global South. The programme is based on the principle of payment for environmental services, where the carbon sequestration services of forests are seen to have a financial value which can be paid for through grant and market mechanisms. In this paper we explore how REDD+ is implemented, drawing upon the concept of governmentality. We focus on REDD+ practices in Indonesia, concluding with a case study focused on the Sungai Lamandau REDD+ project in Central Kalimantan. A cross-scalar approach is adopted that explores the different but overlapping strategies of actors congregating at international, national, and local scales. We detail the neoliberal strategies employed by international actors; the more disciplinary approaches evident within national planning processes; and local forms of engagement being practised by a forest community. Our findings reveal REDD+ to be comprised of a heterogeneous regime of disjointed practices that reflect the existing political ecologies and interests of differently located actors. Rather than consolidate these approaches we argue that the strength of the programme lies in its fluidity, which is creating new cross-scalar opportunities, and risks, for those pursuing forms of social and environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A criticism of the documentary film "The Act of Killing (TAOK)," directed by Joshua Oppenheimer is presented. Particular focus is given to the film's portrayal of the mass political killings of suspected communists, including the roles that the gangsters Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry played in this regard. The scenes depicting the psychology of the mass murderers involved in 1965 Indonesian massacres are discussed.

This study focuses on how Indonesia's One Map Policy renders illegal palm oil plantations in Indonesia visible and the governance dilemmas this creates. Using Central Kalimantan as a case study, we first draw on spatial data to visualise the extent of illegal palm oil plantations on forest land. The vast majority of illegal palm oil is large plantations, with illegal independent smallholdings constituting just 0.4%. We then draw on key stakeholder interviews to analyse the governance dilemmas such visualisations create. We explore stakeholder perspectives of the new Omnibus Law and other attempts to legalise illegality. Four governance scenarios that emphasise the interests of either business, smallholders, environments, or adopt a multi-stakeholder perspective are developed and measured according to their different social and ecological land use implications. In the interests of promoting sustainable and effective governance for forests, peatlands and palm oil production, we caution against the pro-business option currently favoured by the Indonesian government that aims to legalise illegal plantations and which risks the reassignment of forests for commercial production. Our article outlines alternative policy solutions, including an approach that seeks to balance business and environmental interests while also paying heed to sustainable development needs. This approach could be applied in other contexts similarly struggling with the governance dilemmas about what to do when widespread land use illegalities are made visible. • We show how implementation of the One Map Policy renders visible illegal oil palm plantations in Indonesia's state forests. • In Central Kalimantan, over 70% of illegal plantations in state forests are in the form of large plantations. • The extent of illegal oil palm smallholdings is lower than previously estimated. • Spatial data analysis provides important governance opportunities to address illegal oil palm plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of memory studies focuses primarily on attempts to recall or address abuses of human rights. Because of its emphasis on temporality and the politics of the past, memory studies encourages us to question how, when and why individuals and collectives turn towards the past to engage in expressions of regret or social repair in response to historical injustice. In the case of survivors of violence there are obvious reasons to appeal to the discourse of human rights, but there also appear to be triggers, in cases of communities that have played a role in past violence, for re-examining the past. Through case studies of young activists who are dedicated to researching the 1965–68 anti-communist violence in Indonesia, I will explore what memory studies can offer to our understanding of human rights activism. The young activists on whom I focus are all connected with Indonesia’s largest religious organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama (Revival of Islamic Scholars), which played a key role in the 1965–68 anti-communist violence. In this paper I will explore what motivated two activists from a so-called “implicated community” (Morris-Suzuki, 2005) to engage in a quest for social justice for long-marginalised members of society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the transnational links Indonesian women made with women abroad by means of participation in the WIDF (Women's International Democratic Federation) from 1946–1965. Drawing on Indonesian women's speeches at WIDF congresses, contributions to WIDF publications and documents from Gerwani (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, the Indonesian Women's movement) national congresses the article argues that the WIDF provided an important political compass for Indonesian women on the political left and directly influenced the form and content of its campaign for women's rights. At the same time Gerwani women were able to draw attention and attract support from the extensive membership of the WIDF for domestic challenges, which they positioned as connected to broader struggles against imperialism. With a rapidly rising membership Gerwani was assuming increased importance and influence in the WIDF by the early 1960s and had begun to shape the direction and causes of the WIDF. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There have been few studies of representations of gender in parenting discourses in Indonesia. In this article the authors investigate contemporary modalities of Indonesian parenting, questioning to what extent ideas of the roles of mothers and fathers represented in the middle class Indonesian parenting magazine (Ayahbunda) from 2000–2008 represent a break with conventional gendered parenting ideologies. The discourse analysis of both text and illustrations in Ayahbunda suggests that it promotes idealized, yet expanded gender roles for both women and men of middle-class Indonesian families. As a result the magazine jointly promotes ideas of a “super-mum” and a “super-dad”, which has resonance with patterns in the West. Yet motherhood remains the prescribed core identity of women and the role of protector remains the core identity of fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the tensions between aid funding and grassroots development goals in the context of post-disaster fisheries reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia. We argue that both short- and long-term grassroots goals are distorted by upward accountability requirements which lead to unsatisfactory aid outcomes. Our analysis employs the concept of aid webs and draws on fifty-one formal interviews with stakeholders in Aceh in 2007/2008. The findings initially concentrate on the impacts of upward accountability on project cycles, with a particular focus on the problematic incorporation of private boat-building contractors and commercial values during the implementation phase. We then discuss the more subtle, long-term impacts of upward accountability on the professionalization of community institutions - in this case, the Panglima Laot Lhok. We conclude with a few observations about the hybrid institutions - combining elements of local and development cultures - that are produced within the current political economy of aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between development and religion is an uneasy one. Since the invention of modernisation theory in the 1950s religion has been marginalised-seen as something that would fade as secularisation increased. Although this has not occurred, religion is still considered a taboo subject which falls outside the gamut of development, despite the religiosity of many faith-based development organisations, donors, and recipient communities. In this paper I emphasise the importance of religion to development by tracing religious influences within transnational development networks operating in Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Religious influences are analysed amongst donor communities in Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa; within the activities of religious NGOs in Aceh; amongst recipient communities; and in the physical landscape of Aceh, where the rebuilding of sacred spaces has been slow and difficult. It is argued that the current approach to religion within development, and much development research, is outdated and inappropriate, reflecting and enforcing particular Western divisions between church and state. For more effective aid which attends to local concerns and priorities, transnational development networks need to acknowledge, incorporate, and involve religious spaces and institutions rather than continue to promote a culture of secularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) is thought to play a key role in the propagation and amplification of climate changes through its influence on the global distribution of heat and water vapour. However, little is known about past changes in the size and position of the IPWP. In this study, we use a total of 48 modern and fossil coral records from the Mentawai Islands (Sumatra, Indonesia) and Muschu/Koil Islands (Papua New Guinea) to reconstruct oscillations in the extent of the IPWP since the mid-Holocene. We show that reliable estimates of mean sea surface temperature (SST) can be obtained from fossil corals by using low-resolution Sr/Ca analysis of a suite of corals to overcome the large uncertainties associated with mean Sr/Ca-SST estimates from individual coral colonies. The coral records indicate that the southeastern and southwestern margins of the IPWP were cooler than at present between ∼5500 and 4300 years BP (∼1.2°C±0.3°C) and were similarly cool before ∼6800 years BP. This mid-Holocene cooling was punctuated by an abrupt, short-lived shift to mean SSTs that were warmer than at present between ∼6600 and 6300 years BP (∼1.3°C±0.3°C), while similarly warm conditions may have also existed after ∼4300 years BP. We suggest that mid-Holocene cooling at our study sites was related to contractions of the southeastern and southwestern margins of the IPWP, associated with the more northerly position of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) that accompanied mid-Holocene strengthening of the Asian summer monsoon. Conversely, intervals of abrupt warming appear to correspond with widespread episodes of monsoon weakening and accompanying southward migrations of the ITCZ that caused the IPWP to expand beyond our coral sites. Intervals of a strengthened Asian monsoon and cooling in the southwestern IPWP during the mid-Holocene appear to correspond with a more positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)-like mean configuration across the tropical Indian Ocean, suggesting that the Asian monsoon–IOD interaction that exists at interannual time scales also persists over centennial to millennial scales. Associated mean changes in the Pacific ENSO modes may have also occurred during the mid-Holocene. The dynamic and inter-connected behaviour of the IPWP with tropical climate systems during the mid-Holocene highlights the fundamental importance of the warm pool region for understanding climate change throughout the tropics and beyond. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The collapse of authoritarian regimes and the emergence of new democratic spaces hold the promise of an opportunity to redress instances of past violence. Confronting violent pasts is never an easy task, however, especially when different interest groups stand to lose from such a process. This article explores the role of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in the 1965 killings and shifting views about this past within the NU today. It examines the dramatic move in 2000 of young members of the NU to confront this past and to try to improve relations between members of the NU and former leftists. The article focuses on the reasons for the emergence of Syarikat (Masyarakat Santri untuk Advokasi Rakyat, Muslim Community for Social Advocacy), the nongovernmental organization behind this reconciliation effort, and on responses to its work. As Syarikat's experience shows, combining the dual goals of societal peace and historical revision has not been an easy task. In its efforts to reinterpret the past, Syarikat is trying to accomplish two somewhat antagonistic objectives: (1) rebutting dominant versions of history and raising awareness about the suffering of former political prisoners, and (2) producing a version of the past that senior members of the NU can live with. Its decision to confront one of the most delicate topics in the history of the NU has had a mixed reception and these responses help us measure the extent of the NU's commitment to reform and tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the extent to which the Madiun Uprising of 1948 shaped the Cold War in Indonesia. The uprising resulted in severe and lasting antagonisms between the Indonesian Communist Party and members of the Islamic Party Masyumi due to reprisals against Masyumi members after the failure of the uprising and the death of key members of the Communist Party at the hands of the Republic. Although 1948 can be seen as an important flash point in the Cold War for Indonesia, it was not a significant turning point because the communist party recovered from this episode. After surveying a range of interpretations of the Madiun uprising and its significance internationally, this paper provides an overview of the ongoing significance of the Madiun uprising to the image of the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1950s and 1960s. The paper examines an early history war between the Communist Party and Masyumi over how the events at Madiun would be remembered. These debates signal continuing and intense hostility towards the communist party from Masyumi supporters, which endured throughout and even after the 1965-1966 anti-communist killings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the strong stigma associated with Gerwani (the Indonesian Women's Movement), very few women imprisoned in connection with the 1965 coup attempt have published their memoirs, despite the demise of the Suharto regime. Through an analysis of the memoirs of two Gerwani women, this article analyses how these authors re-evaluate Indonesian history. It assesses how they have negotiated dramatic changes since the time when they were politically active. In the last 40 years, Indonesia has largely rejected socialism and embraced capitalism. Religion has also become more prominent, thereby making it imperative for these women to rebut allegations of immorality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the basis for the changing context of the commemoration of Hari Kesaktian Pancasila or Sacred Pancasila Day of former Indonesian President Makam Suharto's regime in both the New Order and post New Order periods as March 2002. Significance of the commemoration; Principles of the national philosophy of Indonesia; Meaning of Kesaktian Pancasila; Official version of the coup attempt on October 1, 1965.

The article presents information on the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation & Forest Degradation (REDD+) program, that focuses on global climate negotiations aimed at giving financial rewards to forest stakeholders who make efforts to improve their carbon management. REDD+ Taskforce in Indonesia is committed to bring changes in the political ecology of forest loss. It is stated that REDD+ should also go beyond financial payments to give opportunities to people to improve their lives.

The article focuses on experience of Dutch and Indonesian women in enforced prostitution for the Japanese military during World War and transnational and Japanese activism. It states that Japanese military forcibly detained Indonesian and Dutch women to serve in military brothels and figures for the number of Indonesian women are also imprecise. It mentions that sexual violence was receiving global attention and Japanese feminist activists connected this to cases of militarized sexual violence.