ABSTRACT

Indonesia has experienced a quick succession of new governments and fundamental reforms since the collapse of Suharto's dictatorial regime in 1998. Established patterns in the distribution of wealth, power and knowledge have been disrupted, altered and re-asserted. The contributors to this volume have taken the unique opportunity this upheaval presents to uncover social tensions and fault lines in this society. Focusing in particular on disadvantaged sectors of Balinese society, the contributors describe how the effects of a national economic and political crisis combined with a variety of social aspirations at a grass roots level to elicit shifts in local and regional configurations of power and knowledge. This is the first time that many of them have been able to disseminate their controversial research findings without endangering their informants since the demise of the New Order regime.

chapter |16 pages

1 Introduction

chapter |24 pages

3 Art and peace in the safest place in the world

A culture of apoliticism in Bali

chapter |32 pages

4 Reflections on literature and politics in Bali

The development of Lekra, 1950–1966

chapter |32 pages

5 Transformations of a genre of Balinese dance drama

Arja Muani as the modern-day agent of classical Arja's liberal gender agenda

chapter |25 pages

6 Ritual as ‘work'

The invisibility of women's socio-economic and religious roles in a changing Balinese society

chapter |23 pages

7 The value of land in Bali

Land tenure, landreform and commodification

chapter |30 pages

8 Mythical centres and modern margins

A short history of encounters, crises, marginality, and social change in highland Bali

chapter |7 pages

9 Unity in uniformity

Tendencies toward militarism in Balinese ritual life

chapter |17 pages

10 Indonesia in transition

Concluding reflections on engaged research and the critique of local knowledge