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The Technological State in Indonesia

The Co-constitution of High Technology and Authoritarian Politics

By Sulfikar Amir

Published September 18th 2012 by Routledge – 190 pages

Series: Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series

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Description

Using a historical sociology approach, this book illustrates the formation of the technological state in Indonesia during the New Order period (1966-1998). It explores the nexus between power, high technology, development, and authoritarianism situated in the Southeast Asian context.

The book discusses how the New Order regime shifted from the developmental state to the technological state, which was characterized by desire for technological supremacy. The process resulted in the establishment of a host of technological institutions and the undertaking of large-scale high-tech programs. Shedding light on the political dimension of socio-technological transformation, this book looks at the relationship between authoritarian politics and high technology development, and examines how effectively technology serves to sustain legitimacy of an authoritarian power.

It explores into multiple features of the Indonesian technological state, covering the ideology of development, the politics of technocracy, the institutional structure, and the material and symbolic embodiments of high technology, and goes on to discuss the impact of globalization on the technological state. The book is an important contribution to studies on Southeast Asian Politics, Development, and Science, Technology, and Society (STS).

Reviews

"Theoretically sophisticated and empirically refreshing, The Technological State in Indonesia offers fascinating insight into the interplay of power, technology and authoritarian politics in late-New Order Indonesia. Rejecting a technologically deterministic perspective, Sulfikar Amir demonstrates convincingly how modernist visions, power relations and legitimacy needs shaped the process of technological adoption and development in Indonesia under Suharto. At the same time, Amir makes an original contribution to the study of Indonesian politics by showing that the New Order regime was much more than just a military dictatorship or a developmental state. This book fills a critical void in our knowledge of Indonesian politics in the late Suharto era." - Tuong Vu, University of Oregon, USA

"The book successfully argues that a national airplane project was viable and Indonesian engineers, given enough time, money and resources could develop a truly indigenous national airplane, notably the N250, which was to be the flagship of the project… This is a timely and important book that provides important lessons to both the Indonesian government and private sector in crafting a strategy to create a technological state." - Yohanes Sulaiman; Strategic Review, 2013.

Contents

Introduction 1. Authoritarianism and Technocracy 2. The General and the Engineer 3. Bureaucratization of Technology 4. Building Strategic Industries 5. Accelerating Transformation 6. Take-Off 7. Downfall

Author Bio

Sulfikar Amir is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include science and technology studies, technological politics, development, nationalism, globalization, sociology of risk, and resilience studies.

Name: The Technological State in Indonesia: The Co-constitution of High Technology and Authoritarian Politics (Hardback) – Routledge 
Description: By Sulfikar Amir. Using a historical sociology approach, this book illustrates the formation of the technological state in Indonesia during the New Order period (1966-1998). It explores the nexus between power, high technology, development, and authoritarianism situated...
Categories: Asian Development, South East Asian Politics, History of Engineering & Technology, Historical Sociology, Sociology of Science & Technology, Aerospace Engineering, Technology, Politics & International Relations, Development Studies, South East Asian Studies, Asian Politics, South East Asian History, Asian Politics, Politics & Technology