Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Book To Begin Understanding Indonesian Politics
Review: Within his collection of essays in this book, Anderson explores the underlying cultures of Indonesian politics. He ties back the political atmosphere of Indonesia to the social values of the most dominant culture in Indonesia, the Javanese culture. These essays were written prior to 1984 (mostly in the late 60's), but their contents relate well even to the present political scenes of Indonesia.

As an American citizen with Indonesian ancestry, I find that this book would help anyone who is interested in learning the complexity of Indonesia's sociopolitical arena. A lot of misunderstandings about Indonesia's politics can be cleared by reading this book. This book does not talk about the current political scenes, rather it explains the origins of political values that are dominant in Indonesia even today.