Indonesia’s Revolution and Decolonisation

Prof. Dr. Anak Agung Bagus Wirawan, S.U. is a historian and retired Professor of History at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Udayana University. He completed his undergraduate through doctoral studies in History at Gadjah Mada University, developing expertise in the social, cultural, and political history of Bali as well as broader Indonesian history. Although retired, he remains active in academia, teaching and supervising students at the History Department and graduate programs in Cultural Studies at Udayana University, as well as at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Denpasar. Over the course of his career, he has led numerous research projects and produced a wide range of scholarly publications. Among his significant contributions is the book Pusaran Revolusi Indonesia di Sunda Kecil 1946–1950, which explores the political dynamics and processes of identity formation in Eastern Indonesia during the post-independence era.

Prof. Dr. Anak Agung Bagus Wirawan, S.U., adalah sejarawan dan Profesor Sejarah yang telah pensiun dari Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Udayana. Beliau menempuh pendidikan sarjana hingga doktoral di bidang Sejarah di Universitas Gadjah Mada, dengan keahlian dalam sejarah sosial, budaya, dan politik Bali serta sejarah Indonesia secara lebih luas. Meskipun telah pensiun, beliau tetap aktif di dunia akademis, mengajar dan membimbing mahasiswa di Jurusan Sejarah serta program pascasarjana Kajian Budaya di Universitas Udayana, sekaligus di Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Denpasar. Sepanjang kariernya, beliau telah mengepalai berbagai proyek penelitian dan menghasilkan beragam publikasi ilmiah. Salah satu kontribusi pentingnya adalah buku Pusaran Revolusi Indonesia di Sunda Kecil 1946–1950, yang mengeksplorasi dinamika politik dan proses pembentukan identitas di Indonesia Timur pada era pasca-kemerdekaan.

David Van Reybrouck is an award-winning Belgian cultural historian, archaeologist, and author of Congo: The Epic History of a People and Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World, for which he has received several awards. In Revolusi, Van Reybrouck draws on hundreds of interviews and eyewitness accounts to bring the gripping story of Indonesia’s struggle for independence to life, with human detail at every turn. Four million civilians died during the World War II occupation by the Japanese. He spent five years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a railway engineer immediately after independence. He holds a doctorate from Leiden University.

David Van Reybrouck adalah penulis Belgia yang dikenal atas karya-karyanya tentang sejarah dan budaya. Dua bukunya yang terkenal, Congo: The Epic History of a People dan Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World, telah meraih berbagai penghargaan. Dalam Revolusi, ia mengangkat perjuangan Indonesia meraih kemerdekaan, dengan mewawancarai ratusan saksi sejarah dan merekam kisah pribadi mereka. Ia mencatat bahwa sekitar empat juta warga sipil Indonesia tewas selama pendudukan Jepang di Perang Dunia II. Van Reybrouck pernah bekerja selama lima tahun di Republik Demokratik Kongo sebagai insinyur kereta api, dan meraih gelar doktor dari Universitas Leiden.

Inaya Rakhmani is an Indonesian academic who, for over two decades, has studied the rise of religious and social conservatism in post-authoritarian Indonesia, comparing it with similar dynamics in India and Turkey. She is the Inaugural Director of the Asia Research Centre and an associate professor in the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, at the University of Indonesia. She is also an elected member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) and an honorary member of the Indonesian Young Academy of Sciences (ALMI). Using cultural political economy and comparative analysis, her research examines how capitalist development shapes Indonesia and Asia, focusing on the interplay of knowledge and power in creating or restricting social spaces for radical change in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. She is currently completing her monograph Knowledge Production and Indonesian Capitalism, to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2026, and serves as Co-editor of the Journal of Contemporary Asia.

Inaya Rakhmani adalah seorang akademisi Indonesia yang selama lebih dari dua dekade meneliti menguatnya konservatisme agama dan sosial di Indonesia pasca-otoritarianisme, serta membandingkannya dengan dinamika serupa di India dan Turki. Ia merupakan Direktur Perdana Asia Research Centre sekaligus profesor madya di Departemen Ilmu Komunikasi, Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, Universitas Indonesia. Inaya juga terpilih sebagai anggota Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (AIPI) dan menjadi anggota kehormatan Akademi Ilmuwan Muda Indonesia (ALMI). Melalui pendekatan ekonomi politik budaya dan analisis komparatif, penelitian Inaya menelaah bagaimana pembangunan kapitalis membentuk Indonesia dan kawasan Asia, dengan menyoroti hubungan antara pengetahuan dan kekuasaan dalam membuka atau membatasi ruang sosial bagi perubahan radikal di negara-negara seperti Indonesia, Thailand, dan Filipina. Saat ini, ia tengah menyelesaikan monograf berjudul Knowledge Production and Indonesian Capitalism yang akan diterbitkan oleh Palgrave Macmillan pada 2026, sekaligus menjabat sebagai Ko-editor Journal of Contemporary Asia.