A New Criminal Type in Jakarta: Counter-Revolution Today

by James T. Siegel

Book Overview

In A New Criminal Type in Jakarta, James T. Siegel studies the dependence of Indonesia's post-1965 government on the ubiquitous presence of what he calls criminality, an ensemble of imagined forces within its society that is poised to tear it apart. Siegel, a foremost authority on Indonesia, interprets Suharto's New Order-in powerful contrast to Sukarno's Old Order-and shows a cultural and political life in Jakarta controlled by a repressive regime that has created new ideas among its population about crime, ghosts, fear, and national identity.
Examining the links between the concept of criminality and scandal, rumor, fear, and the state, Siegel analyzes daily life in Jakarta through the seemingly disparate but strongly connected elements of family life, gossip, and sensationalist journalism. He offers close analysis of the preoccupation with crime in Pos Kota (a newspaper directed toward the lower classes) and the middle-class magazine Tempo. Because criminal activity has been a sensationalized preoccupation in Jakarta's news venues and among its people, criminality, according to Siegel, has pervaded the identities of its ordinary citizens. Siegel examines how and why the government, fearing revolution and in an attempt to assert power, has made criminality itself a disturbing rationalization for the spectacular massacre of the people it calls criminals-many of whom were never accused of particular crimes. A New Criminal Type in Jakarta reveals that Indonesians-once united by Sukarno's revolutionary proclamations in the name of "the people"-are now, lacking any other unifying element, united through their identification with the criminal and through a "nationalization of death" that has emerged with Suharto's strong counter-revolutionary measures.
A provocative introduction to contemporary Indonesia, this book will engage those interested in Southeast Asian studies, anthropology, history, political science, postcolonial studies, public culture, and cultural studies generally.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822322412
• ISBN13: 9780822322412
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Original, provocative, complex

In my opinion one of the most original, provocative and successful works of anthropology to be written in the past few decades. Siegel's extremely subtle and complex lines of argumentation may be difficult to follow, however, for those unfamiliar with his interlocutors due to his avoidance (critique) of Anglo-US academic norms of citation. So familiarity with the writings and key concepts of Benjamin, Schmitt, Freud, Lacan and Derrida, to name a few, would greatly enhance the reading of this text. However, it seems that what Siegel is in fact demonstrating (and indeed in a very radical way) is that this work, and ethnography more generally, is capable of standing on its own terms; and this book may well appeal to a much wider readership because of that. A highly complex book despite its small size. And the material that is presented - the state sponsored massacres of "criminals" in the wider historical context of Indonesian nationalism - is compelling. Highly recommended to both academics and general readers.

A New Criminal Type in Jakarta

A remarkably insightful account of the relationships within Java's political state, religion, and cultural setting. This is a book that came highly recommended by well trusted scholars and I'll continue to praise it. One of the best for either an experienced scholar or a newcomer to the intricacies of Jave and Indonesia.