Identity Crisis, Political Exclusion, and Economic Privileges of the Ethnic Chinese in Soehartos Indonesia

This study describes and analyzes dramatic changes the ethnic Chinese of Indonesia have undergone under the Soeharto rule. The changes are conspicuous by contradictory but simultaneous development between their sociopolitical status and their economic position. Since the end of the 1960s, the ethnic Chinese society of Indonesia has lost much of its communal characters and Chinese identity. During the same time span, the Chinese minority have been under so strong pressure and repression to assimilate into the indigenous society that they are by now deprived of almost all political and cultural rights as Indonesian citizen as well as ethnic minority. Economically, however, the position of most Chinese have become much stronger than ever; The last quarter century has witnessed the emergence of a new capitalist class, which is composed mainly of ethnic Chinese. The other purpose of this study is to find out what have caused such changes. I put forward an analytical framework that highlights the positions and interests of major actors in the Chinese question and how they have collided and reconciled with one another to lead the Chinese where they now stand. I include three major actors in the framework and show what actions and reactions each actor has taken and how they have interacted to deal with various issues concerning the Chinese problem: the world capitalist system, the Indonesian state, and civil, especially indigenous, society. In so doing, I do not disregard how the ethnic Chinese themselves respond to those demands, supports, and pressures. To make my analysis substantial, I also attempt to conceptualize such controversial concepts as ethnic Chinese, world system, state, and civil society