Overview

This is a fascinating and at times unsettling journey into the world's most populous Muslim nation as it struggles to emerge from decades of dictatorship and the plunder of its natural resources. Andre Vltchek brings together more than a decade of investigative journalism in and around Indonesia to chart the recent history of the country, from the revolution which overthrew General Suharto's genocidal dictatorship in 1998 to the present day. He covers the full breadth of the country from Islamic Aceh to mostly Catholic East Timor. Tracing Indonesia's current problems back to Suharto's coup and the genocide of 1965 - and the support given by the West to Suharto - Vltchek provides an intimate and deeply humane insight into the hopes and fears of Indonesia's people.

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9780745331997

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Reviews

A country whose population numbers nearly as high as the U.S., Indonesia is almost hidden from consciousness in the U.S. However, Vltchek turns on a powerful spotlight, using vast stores of thorough research and years of direct contact, to redress our ignorance. Chomsky's forward contextualizes the endeavor. That Vltchek's spotlight gives substance and texture to the lives of Indonesians is a wonderful contribution. That it generalizes to insights bearing on all lives around the globe makes the book that much more relevant and important. -- Michael Albert, co-founder of Z Communications and author of Parecon: Life After Capitalism (2003). Andre Vltchek provides a comprehensive account of Indonesia and its internal socio-economic and political dynamics through the eyes of lay people from the colonial era till now. He manages to portray and thoroughly analyse what has been experienced by most Indonesian people today: poverty, fear and the humiliations created by corrupt and greedy elites. His special chapter on women's rights provides an added value to this important book. -- Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, National Co-ordinator of Indonesian Legal Aid Society for Women and former MP. This book burns with indignation against injustice and untruth. Andre Vltchek is in the great tradition of investigative journalists like John Pilger, Seymour Hersh and Robert Fisk. He combines omnivorous curiosity with fearless tenacity. -- Andrew Beatty, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Brunel University, and author of A Shadow Falls: In the Heart of Java (2009). Andre Vltchek is a powerfully-informed writer whose reports are based on firsthand observations. He shows how Indonesia is a nearly perfect specimen of the free market at its purest and dirtiest stage of devolution. Vltchek captures the inhumanity of a class society that operates with no human services or protections for the common people, a future toward which the moneyed classes throughout the world seek to move. -- Michael Parenti, author of The Face of Imperialism (2011).

Author Information

Andre Vltchek (1963-2020) was a novelist, filmmaker, investigative journalist and playwright. He is the author of a number of books including On Western Terrorism (with Noam Chomsky), Indonesia: Archipelago of Fear and Exile: Conversations With Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

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