The surviving aristocracy in Indonesia: Politics in three provinces of the Outer Islands. (Volumes I and II)

The focus of this study is on the role of the local aristocracy in provincial politics in Indonesia. Two types of aristocracies are studied for this purpose. The first is the commercial aristocracy of the harbor principalities. The second is the landed aristocracy from the interior of the "inland states." The study concentrates on the local aristocracies in three provinces of the Outer Islands--East Kalimantan, West Nusatenggara and South Sulawesi. The study covers the historical periods: the colonial time, the Japanese interregnum, the revolutionary years between 1945 and 1950, the period of Parliamentary Democracy, the period of Guided Democracy and the New Order government.;The first case study, the province of East Kalimantan, is dealt with in Chapter 2. Discussed in this chapter is the history of the commercial aristocracy in East Kalimantan. The chapter also discusses the impact of timber concessions on the provincial politics of East Kalimantan.;Chapter 3 focuses on the landed aristocracy in the province of West Nusatenggara, both on Lombok Island and on Sumbawa Island. It relates how the aristocracy in Lombok has managed to dominate local politics.;In Sumbawa Island, the study finds that the aristocracy has used the sultanates to dominate the local bureaucracy and continued its dominance in the late 1950s. Ethnic relations in West Nusatenggara are also discussed, especially between the Sasaks, Balinese, Bimanese, Sumbawanese and Javanese.;In Chapter 1 (Introduction), the literature which is relevant to the study of modern Indonesian politics is reviewed. It also discusses the main characteristics of the commercial and the landed aristocracies.;The landed aristocracy in South Sulawesi province is discussed in Chapter 4. This chapter concentrates on the movement against the aristocracy through the Kahar Muzakkar rebellion, internal divisions within the aristocracy and ethnic rivalry between the Buginese and the Makassarese.;The challenge which the political parties have posed to aristocratic power is discussed in Chapter 5, while Chapter 6 concentrates on how the aristocracy have maintained their power in local politics mainly through their domination of the local bureaucracies.