Was it An Intellectual Genocide? The Elimination of ‘Leftist Elements’ in the Indonesian Higher Education, 1965-1980

Venue: Old Arts Theatre D, Old Arts Theatre D

Presenters: Dr Abdul Wahid

The anti-communist violence of 1965 is a political caesura that affected almost every aspect of the Indonesian state and society. So far there is a rich body of literature devoted to understanding the violence with a strong focus on: the political crises preceding the 1965 Coup, the persecution of alleged communists, state discrimination against survivors and their families, and the struggle of these people to regain their basic rights. Yet, those historical investigations still leave us with many unanswered questions.

One important sector that remains to be examined in detail is that of academia or higher education. The work of Farid (2003), White (2003), and Dhakidae (2005), has provided us with clues that this sector was also dramatically affected by the 1965 violence. Expanding on their work this paper seeks to analyze the immediate and long-term effects of ‘1965’ on Indonesian academia. To do this I will assess what happened to prominent public universities in major Indonesian cities just before, during, and after the political turmoil.

Based on primary sources and interviews, the paper analyzes how the anti-communist campaigns launched by Suharto’s regime turned into a form of ‘intellectual genocide’, which fundamentally changed academic life and the institutional arrangements of Indonesian universities.

Dr Abdul Wahid is teaching staff at the Department of History, Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta.

from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/7117-was-it-an-intellectual-genocide-the-elimination-of-leftist-elements