Technocrats and State-Formation in Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s

2023 AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies - Parallel Session 6

Session Date/Time: Thurs Jul 13, 2023, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM ET

The 1950s and 1960s were a watershed era in Indonesian history, when the country broke free from colonial rule and Japanese occupation. Liberal governance and political optimism prevailed against a backdrop of domestic insecurity, economic challenges, and political turmoil. According to Herbert Feith (1962), the period was marked by the dominance of two political cultures: "administrators," or those with technical skills important to governance, and "solidarity-makers," or those proficient in political symbolism and mass mobilization. From 1955, the latter dominated as Soekarno increasingly imposed authoritarian rule on the country. This panel seeks to challenge Feith's dichotomy by focusing on technocrats' contributions to Indonesian politics in the 1950s-1960s. Recent work, such as Fakih (2021), has demonstrated how, during this period, a new transnational "managerial" elite emerged and shaped national politics. Thus, the panel will critically examine the writings of prominent intellectuals in the legal, intellectual, military, and administrative sciences to research the historical evolution of technocracy in 1950s Indonesia, including its impact on the development of martial law, higher education, security, and domestic governance. The panel will debate whether the 1950s were a moment of opportunity and growth for Indonesia, or if they paved the way for the rise of authoritarianism in the years that followed. By evaluating historical continuities in the process of state formation, the panel will provide valuable insights into the promises and challenges faced by Indonesia during the mid-twentieth century, thus providing a fresh perspective in understanding the complexities of the process of state formation and the continuing legacies of technocratic government in the country today.

Keywords: 1950s-1960s, administrators, technocratic government, state-formation

Panel Session Chair: Norman Joshua, Northwestern University-Department of History

Panel Discussant:
Prof. David Reeve, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia

List of Paper Presentations:

• Reconfiguring the Administration of ‘Swapradja’: The Influence of Technocrats and Political Figures in 1950s Indonesia (Teuku Reza Fadeli)

• A Jurist in Uniform: Basarudin Nasution and the Development of Indonesian Martial Law (Norman Joshua)

• An Army-made Academic Network in Indonesia During the 1950s-1960s: Soewarto and SESKOAD As a Cradle for the New Order (Kaoru Kochi)

• A Female Sociologist Among the Berkeley Mafia Economists (William Bradley Horton)