West Papua and Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy or Chaos? (review)

Book Reviews151 class is not quite the same as its Western counterpart: the Thai middle class is unique in the sense that it is driven more by consumerism than democratic ideology, at least since the 1990s. Thus, one should view the role of the middle class in Thai democratization with greater scepticism. Are they then simply opportunistic? This issue is worth pondering given the current role of the middle class in the ruling Thai Rak Thai party, which appears to be diverting Thailand toward authoritarianism. Indeed, this writer could not agree more with Ockey on this. In fact, his line of argument is consistent with other cases in the developing world. James Ockey, in all of his writings on Thai politics, shows a strong commitment to looking at Thai politics in a different way. He has consistently paid attention to what can be called "politics from below" — provincial influential people or chaopho, nakleng, or the politically marginalized slum-dwellers and women. These "data" have been neglected by most academics in the West. So, ontologically speaking, Ockey is quite unique — and his work a praiseworthy contribution. Surin Maisrikrod fames Cook University, Townsville Queensland, Australia West Papua and Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy or Chaos? By Peter King. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales Press, 2004. 231 pp. Following East Timor's secession from Indonesia in 1999, there has been a shift among activists and writers, especially in Australia, to focus on the future of Papua, often referred to as West Papua or the former Irian Jaya. The rallying cry has been to repeat what was achieved in East Timor, namely, to use international pressure and intervention to split the territory of Papua from Indonesian control. Some of the more recent writings on Papua include John Salford, United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969: The Anatomy of a Eetrayal (2002); Richard Chauvel, The Land ofPapua and the Indonesian State: Essays on West Papua (2003), and Elizabeth Brundige, Indonesian Human RightsAbusesIn WestPapua:Application oftheLawofGenocide to the History of Indonesian Control (2004). It is in this context that Peter King's book takes on a particular importance as it goes the furthest in proposing international military, diplomatic, economic and political intervention, especially from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United 152Book Reviews States and eventually the United Nations, to resolve the plight of the Papuans, namely to free them from "Indonesian occupation". King's book is divided into seven main chapters with a prologue providing a background to the state of politics in Papua following the fall of Soeharto. In essence, much has been written on the subject and chapters one (resistance movements), three (options), four and five (military politics and business), and six and seven (Australia and the international community) do not provide any fresh perspectives as similar themes have been covered in other books (by Robin Osborne, John Salford, and others). However, what is useful in this book is chapter two, which updates the various writings thus far through the analysis of the 2000 Papua Congress and what it has meant for Papuan politics. King is no doubt right to argue that the central government, especially President Abdurrahman Wahid's endorsement ofthe Congress and its follow-up, marked a defining moment in Papuan politics. Today, one can argue rather convincingly that Jakarta has to deal with three centres ofpower in Papua, namely, the elected provincial government(s), the various factions of the armed resistance movements (Free Papua Movement, OPM) and the Papua Presidium Council (PDP). While the elected provincial government tends to toe Jakarta's line, the main opposition has emanated from the PDP and the OPM. King's criticisms of Indonesia's Papua policy cannot be dismissed even though they are not novel. Any analysis of Indonesia-Papuan relations has centred on a number ofkey issues. First, the issue ofracial discrimination. Papuans, who are mostly Catholics or Protestants, feel that they have very little freedom to manage their own communities as the key and lucrative positions in government bodies and private companies are dominated by non-Papuans. They perceive themselves as being "colonized" by other Indonesians, many ofwhom also happened to be non-Christians. Second, the aggressive...