10.47313 FROM AN “ZAMAN BERGERAK” TO “ZAMAN REFORMASI” : POST-COLONIAL PERSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS ON CONTEMPORARY INDONESIAN POLITICAL HISTORY

FROM AN “ZAMAN BERGERAK” TO “ZAMAN REFORMASI” : POST-COLONIAL PERSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS ON CONTEMPORARY INDONESIAN POLITICAL HISTORY

Abstract

The history of Indonesian politics from the pre-colonial era to the post-modern era is not
merely a linear line. There are historical turns that shape the current state of Indonesian
politics. Political history is often summarized in specific signs that record the changing
turns of history. Indonesia's formal political history is marked by certain colonial phases,
especially from the “Zaman Bergerak” (an Age in Motion) phase of the early 20th century
until Indonesia's independence in 1945. Then, post-colonial political history was marked
by revolutionary political changes that diverted its direction to the “Zaman Reformasi”
(Reformation age). Even though it is not as straight as a linear line, Indonesian political
history seems to continue to repeat itself here and there. Fragments of political history in
the “Zaman Reformasi” sometimes seem to simply confirm the same pattern as the “an
Age in Motion” phase, especially when the object is the people versus the rulers, and
political history tends to be identical to the history of the mentality of power. This article
is a reflection of Indonesia's political history in its long stretch from the 1910s to the
2020s, as well as its possibilities for the future.