INDONESIA

NATION-BUILDING
- National identity arose in Indonesia because of the Western Colonialism. In
Indonesia nationalism was concerned not merely with resistance to Dutch rule
but with new perceptions of nationhood—embracing the ethnic diversity of the
archipelago and looking to the restructuring of traditional patterns of authority in
order to enable the creation of Indonesia as a modern state. It derived in part
from specific discontents, the economic discriminations of colonial rule, the
psychological hurt arising from the slights of social discrimination, and a new
awareness of the all-pervading nature of Dutch authority. Important too was the
emergence of the new elite, educated but lacking adequate employment
opportunities to match that education, Westernized but retaining still its ties with
traditional society.
- The formation in 1908 of Budi Utomo (“Noble Endeavour”) is often taken as the
beginning of organized nationalism. Founded by Wahidin Sudirohusodo, a retired
Javanese doctor, Budi Utomo was an elitist organization, the aims of which—
though cultural rather than political—included a concern to secure a mutual
accommodation between traditional culture and contemporary society.
Numerically more important was Sarekat Islam (“Islamic Association”), founded
in 1912. Under its charismatic chairman, Omar Said Tjokroaminoto, the
organization expanded rapidly, claiming a membership of 2,500,000 by 1919.
Later research suggests that the real figure was likely to have been no more
than 400,000, but even with this greatly reduced estimate, Sarekat Islam was
clearly much larger than any other movement of the time. In 1912 the Indies
Party (Indische Partij)—primarily a Eurasian party—was founded by E.F.E.
Douwes Dekker; banned a year later, it was succeeded by another Eurasian
party, calling itself Insulinde, a poetic name for the East Indies. In 1914 the
Dutchman Hendricus Sneevliet founded the Indies Social Democratic Association,
which became a communist party in 1920 and adopted the name Indonesian
Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia; PKI) in 1924.