Malaysia and IndonesiaDissent that is postcolonial in orientation requires
a double move. It must be critically aware of the
discourses, categories, and power structures of both
colonialism and nationalism. This form of dissent
requires a sustained analysis of the ways in which
social and political structures as well as language
itself perpetuate colonial structures that entrap
women and other unrepresented groups even when
they seem to be liberating in their overall intent.
The analytical framework on which this type of dis-
sent is based was first articulated by a group of
mostly diasporic scholars in universities in the
United States and United Kingdom who identified
their work as “postcolonial criticism” and “colo-
nial discourse theory” in the 1980s and 1990s. With
the benefits of both experience in and distance from
their homelands, these postcolonial critics have
worked to disentangle an array of colonial, national,
and as well as neocolonial and neonationalist
forces that constrain thought and language and jus-
tify inequalities. Postcolonial critics are particu-
larly attentive to the ways in which nationalists
struggling to gain political and cultural independ-
ence were caught in a series of oppositions: between
the notions of “East” versus “West”; the “civilized”
versus the “uncivilized”; the elite versus masses,
urban versus agricultural; those who followed
indigenous traditions versus those who followed
the so-called “book” religions (those with written
sacred texts), among other issues. Those who prac-
tice postcolonial dissent in Malaysia and Indonesia
focus attention on the ways in which these divi-
sions continue to be exploited in the development
and maintenance of local, regional, and national
power.
Prior to the 1990s, it was difficult to develop and
maintain an active practice of postcolonial dissent
in Malaysia and Indonesia, where governments as
well as local leaders called upon the discourse of
nationalism to rally responses against threats to
sovereignty and self-determination. During the
decade of the 1990s, however, this situation was
transformed as a convergence of events occurred.
The central themes and points of analysis of post-
colonial criticism were translated into the lan-
guages and contexts of Indonesia and Malaysia,
and connections were established between local or
Postcolonial Dissent
indigenous knowledges and the insights of a grow-
ing number of global social justice activists and
scholars. These groups began to advocate for a
stronger and more unified response to problems
related to economic globalization, military and
governmental oppression, environmental justice,
and the rights of womenand indigenous peoples.
Systems for national, regional, and transnational
networking constructed by non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations sys-
tem created opportunities for activists and scholars
to exchange ideas at such conferences as the Rio
Summit on the environment in 1992 and the Beijing
Women’s Conference in 1995. Each of these major
events was preceded by significant preparatory
activity at the regional and local levels, in which
activists met to collect information and develop
platforms for action, leading to productive discus-
sion and interaction among various communities of
activists and stakeholders. The follow-up confer-
ences, including “Beijing+5” and “Rio+10” have
created structures that motivate participants to
maintain a high level of activity on their issues of
concern, and to intensify their cross-issue network-
ing to prepare for specific major events. The activ-
ity of those conferences has been sustained and
increased with the development of the annual
World Social Forum, an alternative to the major
United Nations conference venue, where grassroots
organizing was the main focus. The result of this
activity has been the normalizing of the idea of
interconnectedness across national boundaries, and
the increase of large-scale coalition building and
networking activity.
In 2002, for example, Indonesian activists cre-
ated a broadly integrated coalition in response to
their government’s efforts to prepare for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg, South Africa. The coalition con-
sisted of groups concerned specifically with envi-
ronmental issues such as climate change and
biodiversity in forestry and marine life, as well as
those overseeing human, labor, and environmental
issues in the areas of mining and agribusiness, and
human rights activists focused on children, women,
and indigenous peoples. This kind of coalition-
building, also known as “civil society” action results
in part from the dissemination of ideas produced
through postcolonial critique that see beyond the