Non-government organizations and democratic participation in Indonesia

by Philip J. Eldridge

Commentators have tended to view the Indonesian political system as a closed circle. By contrast, this book looks to the wider civil society for sources of change. It focuses on the contribution of Indonesian non-government organizations (NGOs) both in promoting participatory models of change in social and economic development and as part of a more general movement towards democratization. The capacity of NGOs to achieve such goals depends on maximizing their autonomy from the Indonesian state. For this purpose, various strategies entailing co-operation, critical collaboration, or the minimizing of contact with the government have been devised. By contrast, students and other radicals have moved towards a more directly confrontational stance. These approaches are explored in a wide variety of contexts, such as primary health, water users' associations, co-operatives and credit unions, the urban informal sector, labour and human rights, the environment, and the mobilization of women. Le