Abstract
Aggressive anti-communism was a key aspect of the narrative rationalizing the bloody genesis of the New Order and a leading element of ideology used to justify on-going repression of dissent as the regime aged. Since 1998 Indonesia has undergone a significant liberalization. Despite these reforms, critical elements of Suharto-era political culture and institutional power remain important in public life. This chapter investigates anti-communism both as a legacy of the Suharto era and a dynamic aspect of current Indonesian politics. Miller discusses a number of recent public manifestations of anti-communism, including incidents during the 2014 presidential election, and issues in social media in 2015. The chapter offers explanations for the robustness of anti-communism and seeks to extend our understanding of the contours of contemporary Indonesian anti-communism.
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Miller, S. (2018). Zombie Anti-Communism? Democratization and the Demons of Suharto-Era Politics in Contemporary Indonesia. In: McGregor, K., Melvin, J., Pohlman, A. (eds) The Indonesian Genocide of 1965. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71455-4_15
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