Katherine McGregor et al, The Indonesian Genocide of 1965: Causes, Dynamics and Legacies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
I don\u2019t often start these blog posts with comments about the cover art.\xa0 But the reproduction of Alit Ambara\u2019s \u201cAfter 1965,\u201d featured on the cover of the new set of essays\xa0The Indonesian Genocide of 1965: Causes, Dynamics and Legacies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), fits the subject perfectly.\xa0 The piece compels your gaze, while resisting easy interpretations and answers.\n\nI found the book much the same. The essays, edited by\xa0Katharine McGregor, Jess Melvin, Annie Pohlman, demand attention.\xa0 Roughly divided into two sections, they range from military/political analyses to contemplations about the way the genocide left its mark on individuals and communities to reflections on the failures of the Indonesian state to acknowledge its complicity. Each individual essay informs and challenges. I have a new appreciation of the nature of the Genocide Convention and\xa0 the ways it can be interpreted after reading. Annie Pohlman and Jess Melvin\u2019s essay on the logic for calling the killings genocide\xa0 And the pieces on efforts by visual artists (by Kate McGregor) and puppeteers (by Marianna Lis) left me running to google to learn more. As I said in the interview, I learned an enormous amount from the book.\n\nBut collectively the essays are also a call to action. As you\u2019ll hear in the interview, the editors are clear-eyed about the long-term consequences of the violence and the failures of Indonesians to address this. Fifty years on, the struggle to understand the genocide and address its consequences continues.\n\nThis podcast is part of a short series on the mass atrocities in Indonesia. Last month, I talked with Geoff Robinson about his book The Killing Season. In the months to come, I\u2019ll be speaking with Jess Melvin and Vannessa Hearman about their research on killings.\n\n\n\nKelly McFall\xa0is Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Newman University. He\u2019s the author of four modules in the\xa0Reacting to the Past\xa0series, including\xa0The Needs of Others: Human Rights, International Organizations and Intervention in Rwanda,\xa01994.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies