Simulacra in a Postcolonial State: Power Relations in New Order Indonesia

Abstract

Reexamines what constitutes a communist threat in postcolonial Indonesia under the anticommunist "New Order" regime of President Suharto, arguing that the regime would not have survived so long without this discursive phantom. Drawing on a series of political events in Indonesia's recent history, an attempt is made to discuss the relevance of Jean Baudrillard's notion of "simulacra" to how the phantom of communist threat is repeatedly reproduced & enacted in Indonesia. While Baudrillard's notion of simulacra was developed specifically for the context of North America, Achille Mbembe (1992) has claimed that "the post-colony is the simulacral regime par excellence." These opposing views are discussed in the Indonesian context, arguing that both reproduce the old & dangerous dichotomies of East/West, North/East, developed/underdeveloped societies under different names. An alternative approach is suggested that utilizes diverse microlevel studies, arguing that, by studying the complex particular in detail, it is evident that the presence or even prominence of a simulacral regime in a particular society in a particular time does not make that society totally hyperreal.