TOWARD INTEGRATION: ETHNIC CHINESE MOVEMENTS IN POST-SUHARTO INDONESIA

The aim of this thesis is to discuss a phenomenon in the reform era that historian Johanes Herlijanto called the Ethnic Chinese Social Movements in Indonesia. These movements began as independent reactions toward the May 1998 Anti-Chinese Riots and evolved into a series of social movements that call for the rights of ethnic Chinese as Indonesian citizens. The struggle indirectly reawakened a discourse regarding the position of ethnic Chinese minorities in the concept of Indonesian nationhood and nationalism, namely a discourse based on the concepts of assimilation and integration. This thesis will discuss how the Ethnic Chinese Social Movements have significant impacts in revising the understanding of Indonesian nationhood that was dominated by the New Order regime for 32 years