Knowing Indonesia: Intersections of Self, Discipline, and Nation ed. by Jemma Purdy (original) (raw)

Academic self-reflection in the sometimes contentious study of Indonesia is as welcome as it is rare. That Jemma Purdy's edited volume seeks such reflection and takes as its point of departure the work of Herb Feith, who spent much of the latter part of his academic career in such self-reflection, is especially welcome. Reflection opens the door to frankness and these collected essays are revealing. Not least, they make explicit what has long been implicit in the work of this volume's contributors and in much of Australia's Indonesia Studies paradigm. Full disclosure: I was invited to contribute to the volume being reviewed but declined, given that the collection's premise was less self-reflection and more a critique of the field of inquiry. This review will, however, belatedly address some of that critique, in an attempt to unpack the book's central themes. It is worth noting, too, that, along with another academic, I was banned from entering Indonesia in December 2004. Some time later, after the other individual's ban had been lifted, I was told I could also have my ban lifted if I wrote "more favorable" articles on Indonesia. I replied that my writing on Indonesia was fair, but, as journalists say, "without fear or favor." This, then, goes to Edward Aspinall's observation (p. 72) that fear of being banned from Indonesia is a "constraining factor" in some academics' writing, or what George Aditjondro referred to as "visa-driven scholarship."1 This review is, then, written by an academic still banned from the site of the study.