The Indonesian Tragedy

by Brian May

The concept of 'developing' countries dismissed as a cruelly misleading euphemism. The much talked of economic 'take-off' cannot take place in countries like Indonesia, where a bazaar mentality dominates commerce. Her population of about 135 million in 1977 is likely to rise by the year 2000 to 280 million by which time she will be unable to feed herself. Optimistic theories of development, and facile blaming of Dutch imperialism, hide the reality of chronic socio-economic stagnation. These will have to be discarded if the problem of Indonesia is to be understood, let alone solved.

The author demonstrates the 'Indonesian Tragedy' not so much by argument, as by depicting the country as he experienced it from day to day. In developing his conclusion, he draws on history, and the works of sociologists, some of whom he disagrees with. In this way he sheds light on the predicament of Indonesia and helps to illuminate a problem common to much of the Third World.

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

This is the disambiguation profile for otherwise unseparated authors publishing as Brian May

See also:

Brian May : Queen guitarist and author of multiple other works
Brian T. May : Professor of Literature writing on postcolonialism & E.M. Forster
Brian Albert May : Power on the Land: Agricultural Engineering
Brian Andrew May : Plastic Sunrise
Brian G. May : The Virtual State: A Rising Force in Global Politics
Brian H. May : Evidence-based Clinical Chinese Medicine series
Brian J. May : Medea
Brianna May : Poems About Life From a Teenage Mind
Brianna May Mello : McGonagall's Morning Musings

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 2 out of 5]

fateful fantasies fall flat
It's certainly true that not everybody in Indonesia is living the life of Riley. But if you read this offering back in the 1970s when it was published, you would have thought that Indonesia was doomed to dismal failure due to being peopled by "feudal-minded Asians" who couldn't adjust to Western democracy because they were so "irrational". What a load of claptrap! It smacks of racism. Indonesia is still there. It hasn't collapsed. It may be plagued by corruption, there is probably inefficiency, but the GNP is right about in the middle of the world's 200 countries. Indonesia today has the equivalent of a 3 trillion dollar economy. Some failure. Perhaps their history did not prepare them for a full-on democracy. But just as people can learn to use new technology, new educational or medical procedures, so---over time---they can learn anything. Education in 1950s Indonesia was far less widespread than today. So learning technology, politics, and organization took time. If a dictatorship takes over, everything is going to take more time, whether you are talking about Europe, Asia, or elsewhere. Developed democracies can sometimes operate as if the people have no idea what they are doing. Examples anyone?? So, blaming Indonesian culture and predicting disaster thanks to that is just not on. Think change! This author pooh-poohed anthropologists and academics, he had little use for politicians too, but he had to rely on them anyway because as a journalist, he saw only day to day events. He presents a blow by blow description of Indonesia's struggle for independence and then the politics afterwards, up to 1972. This part is fairly interesting, but without much analysis, only the progression of events. He feels that Sukarno was denigrated in the West, but was much more clever than he was often given credit for. This may be true. The author felt that Indonesia would never "develop" and he criticized the Western myth of economic takeoff. Although there was a lot to criticize in all those "experts" on top salaries running around giving often-useless advice, Indonesia itself did change. The last part of the book uses the word "backward" very easily, it reeks of Western superiority. I don't like that. That's why I've given the book two stars.

[Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virtually a must read for anone interested in modern Indonesian history. For many years banned by the authorities it is now available here

[aldo zirsov]

akhirnya dapat juga buku yang dilarang ini..:)

[Anisa Muthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to read this book