Of Rice and Revolution

Abstract

Using newspaper sources published in Java, this essay analyses the politics of provisioning from 1945–49. Java was suffering from a severe food shortage when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945. As the author argues, Indonesian state leaders intended to retain the Japanese system of provisioning, but were only partially successful. The breakdown of state power in August 1945 encouraged local groups to seize local power and resources. Indonesians rallied to support the Republic, but they also made significant claims on state élites. The outcome was a post-colonial state that had the ambitions of the Japanese totalitarian system, but with little central control of local agencies and with an unusual sensitivity to rice as a symbol of authority. Focusing on the interaction between state formation and subsistence politics, this essay aims to contribute to further thinking on Indonesia's dynamic state–society relations.