History in Uniform: Military Ideology and the Construction of Indonesias Past (ASAA Southeast Asia Publications)

ISBN: 0824831535

Author: McGregor, Katharine

Condition: New

"A thoughtful, stimulating piece of scholarship which significantly deepens our knowledge of Indonesias New Order." -R. E. Elson, University of QueenslandUnder the New Order regime (1967-1998), the Indonesian military sought to monopolize the production of official history and control its contents. The goal was to validate the political role of the armed forces, condemn communism, and promote military values.In this detailed examination of the Indonesian militarys image-making efforts, Katherine E. McGregor explores the formulation of nationalist history under Suharto, and shows how this effort affected the Indonesian people. The study highlights the role of the Armed Forces History Centre and its chief historian, Nugroho Notosusanto, in promoting controversial images of the military as a self-sacrificing peoples force guarding the spirit of independence and protecting the official national philosophy, the Pancasila. The extraordinary attention paid to image-making calls into question views of the military as an all-powerful institution.Based on interviews, museum records, guidebooks, military manuals, films, textbooks, historical re-enactments, and commemorative volumes, History in Uniform offers fresh insights into the significance of history to Indonesias politicized military and to this relatively new nation.For sale in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand by NUS Press (Singapore)