Outsider Status and Economic Success

Date

2001

Authors

Reid, Anthony

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Crawford House Publishing

Abstract

How is it that a substantial minority of urban Indonesian culture and language, and mixed ethnic background, is considered Cina and somehow alien in Indonesia, where the analogous group in Thailand or the Philippines is considered simply Thai or Filipino? And how is it possible that passions could be so strong around this single word that otherwise lawabiding Indonesian citizens should feel no shame in reviling, robbing, killing and raping their fellow-countrymen because of it? In other words, why has this category been constructed by many Indonesians to be outside their moral and political community, at least at times of social stress and breakdown? Perhaps most puzzling, why is it that the most terrifying outburst of anti-Chinese hostility since 1947, and potentially since 1740, should occur in 1998, a time when the whole Sino-Indonesian community is more culturally integrated into the mainstream than at any time in the past?

Description

Keywords

Citation

Source

Type

Book chapter

Book Title

Perspectives on the Chinese Indonesians

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

DOI

Restricted until

2099-12-31