Anarchism in Indonesia
The anarchist movement was suppressed, first by the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, then by the successive regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, before finally re-emerging in the 1990s.
Ernest established contact with other radical anti-colonial activists, including the Indian anarchists Shyamji Krishna Varma and Har Dayal, whose work was published in Dekker's publication Het Tijdschrift.
He also advocated for both violent and non-violent means of resisting colonialism, which he believed was a moral duty, and was sympathetic to the revolutionary strategy of syndicalism, as opposed to reformism.
While agitating in the Dutch East Indies, van Mierop even established a local branch of the Union of Religious Anarcho-Communists.
They were particularly active in organizing within the ranks of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, establishing a soldiers' and sailors' union that coordinated resistance during World War I.
On 7 May 1916, anarchist sailors in Surabaya organized a wildcat strike (without the union's approval) against their poor living and working conditions, coming into direct conflict with the military police.
Liu Shixin formed the "Society of Truth" group to distribute anarchist propaganda throughout the archipelago,[13] publishing the Soematra Po,[14][6] in Medan.
[24] Indonesian students that were studying in the Netherlands, under the banner of Perhimpoenan Indonesia, formed contact with local left-wing groups, including the Dutch anarchist movement.
[25] A few students took an interest in anarchism, including Sutan Sjahrir, who had moved to the far-left after a short stay at an anarchist commune, although his ideology eventually evolved into democratic socialism - later founding the Socialist Party of Indonesia.
At the 1927 Brussels Conference, attended by the Indonesians Mohammad Hatta and Achmad Soebardjo,[25] the anarcho-syndicalist Arthur Lehning warned colonized people against the creation of new states in the anti-imperialist struggle.
The Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies brought with it a fierce repression of the labour movement, left-wing groups and the Indonesian national liberation struggle.
Sjarifuddin was arrested by the occupation forces in 1943, but he escaped execution due to the intervention of Sukarno, who was actively collaborating with the Japanese Empire.
The newly established Republic of Indonesia, with Sukarno acting as the country's first President and Sutan Sjahrir as its first Prime Minister, set about repressing the nascent anarcho-syndicalist movement.
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta responded by openly attacking the syndicalist character of the new workers' movement,[32] actively repressing them and bringing their enterprises under state control by the spring of 1946.
[38] After another government crackdown, the Communist Party forced the SOBSI to moderate its policies, taking a conciliatory line towards the capitalist class.
[48] In 2011, a series of attacks against corporate buildings and ATMs in Sulawesi, Java and Sumatra were claimed by an Indonesian section of the Informal Anarchist Federation, bringing the tactics of insurrectionary anarchism to the country.
Inspired by the actions, two anarchists Billy Augustian and Reyhard Rumbayan attacked an ATM in Yogyakarta, but were both quickly arrested after dropping incriminating evidence near the scene.
[50] In 2011, a series of attacks against corporate buildings and ATMs in Sulawesi, Java and Sumatra were claimed by an Indonesian section of the Informal Anarchist Federation, bringing the tactics of insurrectionary anarchism to the country.
Inspired by the actions, two anarchists Billy Augustian and Reyhard Rumbayan attacked an ATM in Yogyakarta, but were both quickly arrested after dropping incriminating evidence near the scene.
It organizes according to the principles of decentralization, equality, direct action, internationalism, solidarity, mutual cooperation, independence and the rejection of capitalism and the state.
