Yogyakarta, October 1st 2025─The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FISIPOL UGM) and the University of Melbourne launched a book entitled Rethinking Histories of Indonesia: Experiencing, Resisting, and Renegotiating Coloniality at the 4th floor auditorium of FISIPOL UGM. The event featured four speakers from various institutions, namely Kate McGregor (University of Melbourne), Abdul Wahid (Universitas Gadjah Mada), Brigitta Isabella (Indonesian Institute of the Arts), and I Ngurah Suryawan (University of Papua).
This book provides a critical evaluation of Indonesian history from the colonial period to the present day. Through the lens of coloniality—the structures of power and control that underpinned colonialism and continue to this day—this book highlights how the colonial legacy remains present in various social, economic, and cultural aspects. Featuring seventeen authors from around the world, this book offers an alternative conceptualization of Indonesian history and reveals the layers of processes that reproduce coloniality into the modern era.
This launch is a tangible manifestation of international academic cooperation between UGM and the University of Melbourne in encouraging critical reflection on historical knowledge. The editor and contributor to the book, Abdul Wahid, explained that collaborative research such as this is an important step in building equal cooperation between academics in the Global South and Global North.
In his chapter titled “Oedjan belasting, the raining of taxes: Coloniality and the Dutch Economic Exploitation of the Chinese,” Abdul Wahid discusses how the taxation system during the Dutch East Indies period became a tool of exploitation against the Chinese and indigenous groups.
“In the last three decades of colonialism, through the Dutch East Indies taxation system, the Dutch exploited the Chinese population along with the indigenous population,” Wahid explained. Through his analysis, Wahid highlighted how the position of the Chinese, who were politically weakened but economically exploited, became one of the long and complex legacies of colonialism in post-colonial Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Brigitta Isabella, author of the chapter After Recognition: Decolonial Re-affect Outside/Within the Museum discusses how cultural institutions such as museums have become important arenas in the debate on decolonization. In her presentation, Brigitta emphasizes that the struggle for decolonization cannot stop at recognition, but must be accompanied by redistribution and resurgence—that is, efforts to return and restore cultural, natural, and economic resources to communities that have been marginalized.
“We should demand not only recognition, but also redistribution and reemergence. What needs to be redistributed and examined are shared resources—cultural, natural, and economic resources,” she added.
This book and the collaboration between UGM and the University of Melbourne promote critical, reflective, and inclusive education. Through a decolonial approach, this collaboration enriches academic thinking so that it is not only centered on Western knowledge, but also recognizes the experiences and perspectives of the Global South. Furthermore, this cross-border academic collaboration advocates for a reinterpretation of the legacy of colonialism as a step toward reducing global inequality. Thus, this book demonstrates that collaborative research can directly contribute to the development of equitable and sustainable knowledge for the global community.