Max Lane – This book tries to tell the story of the rise and fall of the Suharto New Order dictatorship and the vanguard role of the activists who organised to build mass action protests (aksi) that eventually forced Suharto from power. However the book's title UNFINISHED NATION provoked reflections on the nature of nations themselves and the history of Indonesia as a nation.

Here is a little bit of a story about those reflections.

With the printing of the fourth edition of my book UNFINISHED NATION, we changed the appearance of the book's title. It has returned to: "UNFINISHED NATION: Memory of Revolution, Mass Action and Indonesian History"

As can be seen in the English language edition that was published first, the title is: UNFINISHED NATION: Indonesia Before and After Suharto.

The first Indonesian language edition was titled BANGSA YANG BELUM SELESAI: Indonesia Sebelum dan Sesudah Suharto – a direct translation of the original English.

In the third printing, the tag line "Memory of Revolution, Mass Action and Indonesian History" was actually enlarged, with UNFINISHED NATION placed below.

Actually, when I submitted this work to Verso Publishing in 2007, the title I proposed was "Mass Action, Memory of Revolution and Indonesian History". This title was rejected by VERSO on the grounds that it was not effective enough in attracting the attention of readers who would generally know nothing about Indonesia. They said a more attractive and accessible title was needed.

After much back-and-forth, what was agreed upon was "Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto." As I recall, the term "Unfinished Nation" came from the publisher, not from me. But nonetheless, I had to agree to it. Did I truly believe that Indonesia is an "unfinished nation"?

After much reflection, it turned out that my understanding of the nation was enriched. My main reference is Sukarno's conclusion, which he often expressed, including up until 1965. According to Sukarno, "nation-building" and "character-building" were not yet finished, not yet complete. Another formulation was that the revolution – the national revolution – was also unfinished. After considering Sukarno's conclusion, I had to ask whether, during Suharto's New Order, the national revolution became finished, became complete?

My own answer is: not at all. In fact, the New Order carried out a counter-revolution against the national revolution and was an anti-national regime. Economic sovereignty was surrendered. National historical memory was erased and distorted. National literature was no longer taught, thus weakening national memory. And the main strength of a newly independent nation, its people, were turned into a 'floating mass', a floating mass with no power.

So, the process of nation-building, character-building and the national revolution is still unfinished, as Sukarno often explained before 1965.

But another question arises. Are countries like Australia (my own country), America, Japan and other European nations "finished" and complete nations? This provokes much more thought. After reading many things, I became convinced of the definition of a nation as a COMMUNITY that shares a COMMON ECONOMIC LIFE, a COMMON LANGUAGE (a language developed enough to become the foundation for a national literature), a COMMON CULTURE (even with contradictions within it) that lives within a clearly defined territory. The community emerges from a historical process – there is an emergence and a beginning, a development and consolidation, and an ending. I came to the conclusion that all these aspects are already well consolidated in "Western" (read: imperialist) countries and are not yet consolidated in Indonesia, especially after 1965. In Indonesia, it is still in process. The economic life of the Indonesian nation is still divided as if there were two nations – the rich and the poor. The history of the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, has not yet produced a situation where the common people feel they own a national literature that is enjoyed together. The national culture – which Sukarno called personality or character – is still in a struggle between idealism and pragmatism.

Then, does that mean that the imperialist countries, which are "finished/complete", are superior to those countries where the national revolution is not yet complete? Indeed, the imperialist countries have far larger (richer) economies because over 200 or 300 years they were able to extract wealth from the colonial world. Their cultural infrastructure – schools, literature, science, the book industry – is much more stronger. But in the 21st century, it appears that without the dynamic of national revolution and nation-building, the dynamic of "Western" (imperialist country) CIVILIZATION is actually stagnant and degrading. The negative side of all its contradictions taking complete hold of civilisational processes.

The formation of a nation is nothing more than a historical process resulting from the emergence of capitalism. That the imperialist countries have completed their nation-building consolidation process does not mean the dynamic of progress of CIVILIZATION ITSELF will advance further. IN FACT, because the success of the nation-building consolidation process is the result of a colonial and imperialist process, its culture and civilization contain a TERRIBLE WEAKNESS: hypocrisy!

Liberty, fraternity and equality for itself but not for the colonized world, even though that world is now independent.

The Western/imperialist countries and societies now face a challenge: to become internationalist – and return the plunder from 200 years to the Third World in order to rectify global injustice and together build a new world. If they fail to meet this challenge, the imperialist countries will regress into barbarism. It is impossible for the elites of imperialist countries to ever realize this, so this is a challenge for the working people in the imperialist countries and their progressives as agents of change in consciousness.

Meanwhile, in countries like Indonesia, the struggle and efforts to complete the national revolution are still waiting. The youth and the working people must begin to analyse the meaning of the NATIONAL REVOLUTION in the present era. And now this struggle must connect with the struggle of the people in the imperialist countries who are faced with the challenge of fixing the civilization in their own country while embracing internationalism, not nationalism. (The nationalism of imperialist countries always needs victims.)

One of the absolute requirements for any movement to be able to analyse the steps ahead is that it must study its history. Never forget history, as the saying goes. I hope my book makes a small contribution to the effort of studying Indonesian history. Just one book, but I hope it is useful.

[Adapted slightly from a note on March 28, 2021 at https://maxlaneonline.com/.../sedikit-cerita-ingatan.../]

Source: https://maxlaneonline.substack.com/p/unfinished-nation-memory-of-revolutio