Human Rights and State Security: Indonesia and the Philippines

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank many individuals who have accompanied this book during its path to publication. Writing a book is not only an academic endeavor, but also a personal one. If this book is about the struggle for human rights, it reflects not only an academic interest in explaining human rights change, but also a personal conviction that, in the end, it is the people who count. Various research institutions have either provided funding for the project or kindly supported it with their infrastructure. The German National Research Foundation (DFG) funded the project for four years and enabled extensive field research in Indonesia and the Philippines. The FriedrichNaumann -Foundation in Jakarta not only provided generous office space, but also the personal encouragement that made a months-long research visit in Jakarta a real experience. Here, special thanks go to Rainer Adam, Barbara Matindas, and Agung. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, the Australian National University in Canberra, and the University of the Philippines in Quezon, Manila, were hosts during various research visits. Finally, the Mershon Center of International and Security Studies at Ohio State University provided generous research funding, office space, and research time to apply the final touches on the manuscript. The advice of many colleagues and our discussions at the Mershon Center helped me to sharpen my thinking on this project’s overall goals. This book relies on interviews with approximately seventy human rights activists, journalists, politicians, and government representatives in the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, Germany, and Canada. Because many of these individuals were public figures, their statements in these interviews do not differ substantially from their media statements. Whenever possible, I have referred to published statements. On a personal note, a circle of people have shaped my thinking and disposition. Most importantly, my thanks go to Thomas Risse. He has the astonishing ability to find another’s project as exciting as his own, which, at Acknowledgments 354 Acknowledgments many points, provided crucial encouragement to pursue this project to its end. Even more importantly, Thomas has taught me that political science is not only hard work, but also fun, as well as given me the strength to pursue the unconventional and to stick to ideas. His role model has had a lasting influence. Over the last years, Jürgen Rüland has supported my work with enormous patience and trust. He offered me an environment that allowed me to explore a variety of research questions and to expand my professional horizon into domains that would have been difficult to tap elsewhere. He offered much-appreciated encouragement and comments on individual chapters. Hans-Peter Schmitz accompanied this project in its early phase and entered it again in its publication stage. His immensely useful comments on earlier versions of chapters definitely made a difference. Bill Liddle provided the most thoughtful comments on the chapters on Indonesia that I could get. I would extend similar thanks to the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. Their comments on earlier versions provided continuing encouragement to sharpen the overall arguments and provide empirical evidence. Some of them have made a crucial difference in transforming the manuscript into a book. At the University of Pennsylvania Press, I am indebted to Peter Agree, whose support at all stages of the submission and production process was invaluable. Helen Snively not only provided crucial encouragement during a final revision of the book, but ensured that this has become a book that I enjoy reading! I would also like to thank the many individuals who, at various stages, were part of a larger project developing the spiral model of human rights change, and proved to be invaluable sources of inspiration: Tanja Börzel, Andrea Liese, Steve Ropp, Kathryn Sikkink, and Cornelia Ulbert. I also wish to thank the many research assistants who have been associated with this book at various stages. My family and friends have been the most constant and invaluable sources of moral and emotional support. Of the many people who must be mentioned here, my deepest gratitude goes to my son Quirin, who grew up with this book and ensured I never lost sight of the really important things in life. Jan Alber has been a constant in my life for many years and a crucial source of support during that time. Together with the rest of my family, they have accompanied the project for many years and have endured long physical and mental absences during the research and writing stages. This...