This thesis explores the forces driving a series of momentous transformations to Indonesia�s production and distribution systems since early colonial rule. The analysis of these forces is anchored in four conceptual themes: the basis of these systemic transformations, their politico-economic ordering as driven by a surplus-creation imperative, labour�s role in this imperative and its response to the �ordering�, and the mode of production as the historical setting within which the transformations occur. This thesis illuminates an analytical gap in the literature by nominating labour as the key force in wealth-creation and recognising its active role in challenging ruling appropriation regimes and in the broader social struggles against exploitation and oppression. The thematic focus defines the boundaries for an exploration of successive colonial and post-colonial ruling regimes. Early chapters examine how the Dutch penetrated the Indonesian politico-economy, entrenching their systems of production organisation and creating an exclusionary system of wealth appropriation. Appropriation systems are characterised by transitions in European political and economic systems, especially from mercantilism to industrial capitalism. The entrenchment of colonial power is considered in relation to the expansion of capitalist organisation in Indonesia. The state�s stimulation of this expansion is associated with an undermining of the country�s reproductive base and a growing challenge to foreign rule. The Japanese occupying force� demolition of colonial productive and distributive linkages and encouragement of independence activism is connected with a post-war struggle for independence. Links are drawn between colonial rule and the tensions and organisational difficulties faced by Republican regimes leading up to the New Order�s re-establishment of a strict regulatory regime, and the development of an indigenous system of capitalist organisation. The surplus-generation and appropriation perspective informs the evolution of Indonesia�s productive and economic systems across colonial and post-colonial epochs and the challenges to the system of social and production regulation that heralded the destabilisation of New Order rule and the rise of the contemporary era of political democracy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/215994 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Mack, Andrew Robert |
| Publisher | University of Sydney. Political Economy |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English, en_AU |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Mack, Andrew Robert;http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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