Synopses & Reviews
In October 1973 a mass movement forced Thailandandrsquo;s prime minister to step down and leave the country, ending nearly forty years of dictatorship. Three years later, in a brutal reassertion of authoritarian rule, Thai state and para-state forces quashed a demonstration at Thammasat University in Bangkok. In Revolution Interrupted, Tyrell Haberkorn focuses on this period when political activism briefly opened up the possibility for meaningful social change. Tenant farmers and their student allies fomented revolution, she shows, not by picking up guns but by invoking lawsandmdash;laws that the Thai state ultimately proved unwilling to enforce.
and#160;and#160;and#160; In choosing the law as their tool to fight unjust tenancy practices, farmers and students departed from the tactics of their ancestors and from the insurgent methods of the Communist Party of Thailand. To first imagine and then create a more just future, they drew on their own lived experience and the writings of Thai Marxian radicals of an earlier generation, as well as New Left, socialist, and other progressive thinkers from around the world. Yet their efforts were quickly met with harassment, intimidation, and assassinations of farmer leaders. More than thirty years later, the assassins remain unnamed.
and#160;and#160;and#160; Drawing on hundreds of newspaper articles, cremation volumes, activist and state documents, and oral histories, Haberkorn reveals the ways in which the established order was undone and then reconsolidated. Examining this turbulent period through a new opticandmdash;interrupted revolutionandmdash;she shows how the still unnameable violence continues to constrict political opportunity and to silence dissent in present-day Thailand.
Review
“1 October 1965 was the turning point in post-independence Indonesian history. . . . John Roosa's astonishing triple achievement has been to bring to light new evidence forty years after the event, to overturn the accepted conclusions, and to do all this in a gripping whodunnit style.”—Gerry Van Klinken, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
Review
"Well-written and absorbing, this is the first scholarly attempt in more than two decades to examine seriously the evidence concerning the single most important puzzle in Indonesian history, the 30 September 1965 coup."—Robert Cribb, Australian National University
Review
“Fascinating. . . . Roosa’s detailed examination of what happened led him to the conclusion that there never was an organized movement and that the propagation of the idea of such a thing was used to justify mass murder.”—Foreign Affairs
Review
"This is essential reading for students of modern Indonesian history, and for anyone interested in political violence, the role of the military in politics, and U.S. foreign policy."Geoffrey Robinson, UCLA"Well-written and absorbing, this is the first scholarly attempt in more than two decades to examine seriously the evidence concerning the single most important puzzle in Indonesian history, the 30 September 1965 coup."—Robert Cribb, Australian National University"Roosa takes readers into that fascinating hyper-heated political atmosphere of Sukarno's Indonesia when the society was rife with rumors and tensions. By moving carefully through this darkened past, his account shows how the bloody denouement of October 1965 was the sum of these tensionsrival military factions, maneuvers by special units within the Communist Party, and the efforts of foreign intelligence agencies to manipulate these divisions. Lucid, thoughtful, and engaging, this is a brilliant, strikingly original analysis."Alfred W. McCoy, Series Editor, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Review
“Painstakingly detailed, yet laid out in a clear narrative. . . . Provides a rational explanation for much of the chaos the political upheaval engendered.”—Publishers Weekly
Review
“[This] stimulating and thoroughly researched book provides solid evidence to support interpretations that had previously been based only on speculation. It is an important addition to Indonesia coup literature.”—Harold Crouch, Review of Politics
Review
“Roosa’s engrossing book introduces new evidence in an attempt to provide a more definitive interpretation of an historical event that has remained murky for decades. . . . Makes for quite a riveting read.”—Vedi R. Hadiz, Pacific Affairs
Review
“The best study hitherto of who organized [the September 30th Movement], why it failed, and how it could lead to mass killings, followed by decades of repression.”—Olle Törnquist, International Review of Social History
Review
"This is essential reading for students of modern Indonesian history, and for anyone interested in political violence, the role of the military in politics, and U.S. foreign policy."—Geoffrey Robinson, UCLA
Review
andldquo;Tyrell Haberkornandrsquo;s courageous book tells an open-ended, evocative narrative about the violence and radicalism of the 1970s in Thailand.andrdquo;andmdash;Tamara Loos, Cornell University
Review
andldquo;This revisionist study of rural politics in northern Thailand during the 1970s rediscovers the agrarian radicalism that brought together farmers, students, and teachers in a coalition that threatened entrenched interests. In her astute analysis of these events, Tyrell Haberkorn detaches andlsquo;revolutionandrsquo; from doctrinaire definitions to show how tenant farmers and activists used the law to advance land rent reform and turn the world upside down.andrdquo;andmdash;Craig J. Reynolds, Australian National University
Review
andldquo; A fascinating and detailed book for anyone interested in Thai history.andrdquo;andmdash;
Southeast Asia ResearchSynopsis
In the early morning hours of October 1, 1965, a group calling itself the September 30th Movement kidnapped and executed six generals of the Indonesian army, including its highest commander. The group claimed that it was attempting to preempt a coup, but it was quickly defeated as the senior surviving general, Haji Mohammad Suharto, drove the movement’s partisans out of Jakarta. Riding the crest of mass violence, Suharto blamed the Communist Party of Indonesia for masterminding the movement and used the emergency as a pretext for gradually eroding President Sukarno’s powers and installing himself as a ruler. Imprisoning and killing hundreds of thousands of alleged communists over the next year, Suharto remade the events of October 1, 1965 into the central event of modern Indonesian history and the cornerstone of his thirty-two-year dictatorship.
Despite its importance as a trigger for one of the twentieth century’s worst cases of mass violence, the September 30th Movement has remained shrouded in uncertainty. Who actually masterminded it? What did they hope to achieve? Why did they fail so miserably? And what was the movement’s connection to international Cold War politics? In Pretext for Mass Murder, John Roosa draws on a wealth of new primary source material to suggest a solution to the mystery behind the movement and the enabling myth of Suharto’s repressive regime. His book is a remarkable feat of historical investigation.
Finalist, Social Sciences Book Award, the International Convention of Asian Scholars
Synopsis
In Revolution Interrupted Tyrell Haberkorn focuses on this period when political activism briefly opened up the possibility for meaningful social change. Tenant farmers and their student allies fomented revolution, she shows, not by picking up guns but by invoking lawsandmdash;laws that the Thai state ultimately proved unwilling to enforce.
About the Author
John Roosa is assistant professor of history at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and coeditor of the Indonesian-language book Tahun yang Tak Pernah Berakhir: Pengalaman Korban 1965: Esai-Esai Sejarah Lisan ("The Year That Never Ended: Understanding the Experiences of the Victims of 1965: Oral History Essays").
Table of Contents
Forewordand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
and#160;and#160; and#160;Thongchai Winichakul
Prefaceand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Note on Language, Translation, and Datesand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
List of Abbreviationsand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Map of Chiang Mai and Thailandand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Introduction: When Revolution Is Interruptedand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
1. Breaking the Backbone of the Nationand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
2. From the Rice Fields to the Citiesand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
3. From the Classrooms to the Rice Fieldsand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
4. Violence and Its Denialsand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
5. A State in Disarrayand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Conclusion: Resuming Revolution?and#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Afterwordand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Appendix: Leaders of the FFT Victimized by Violence, 1974andndash;1979and#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Notesand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Bibliographyand#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;
Index