• Offered by Department of Political and Social Change
  • ANU College ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
  • Course subject Asian Studies
  • Areas of interest Non Language Asian Studies, Development Studies, International Relations, Political Sciences, Asia-Pacific Studies
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Edward Aspinall
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Co-taught Course
  • Offered in First Semester 2025
    See Future Offerings

This course examines the politics and political economy of Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy and emerging Asian power. It introduces students to critical historical events and figures of the post-independence period (1945-), then moves on to examine specific topics in the development of contemporary Indonesia—including authoritarianism and democracy, the role of the military in politics, Islamic movements, the environment and natural resource politics, corruption and clientelism, and identity politics. Students will learn different scholarly interpretations and debates about these topics, and will develop the skills to critically analyse and explain contemporary political developments in this important Asian nation.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. Demonstrate a strong grasp of the main events, issues figures and organisations that have shaped Indonesian political and social life post independence. 
  2. Demonstrate a strong grasp of Indonesia’s contemporary socio-political challenges and their antecedents.
  3. Understand the major scholarly approaches to the study of Indonesia. 
  4. Critically engage with primary and secondary source materials, both historical and contemporary.
  5. Communicate effectively and analytically in both verbal and written forms.

Other Information

This is a co-taught course. Any cap on enrolments in one course applies to both courses combined.

Indicative Assessment

  1. Tutorial Participation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
  2. Short Essay (800 words) (20) [LO 1,2,3,4]
  3. Main Research Essay (2000 words) (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
  4. Take-home Exam (30) [LO 1,2,3,4]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

The total workload is 130 hours for a 6-unit course, including time spent in scheduled classes and independent study.

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have successfully completed 24 units of university courses. Incompatible with ASIA6516

Prescribed Texts

Robert Cribb and Colin Brown. Modern Indonesia: A History since 1945. Longman, Harlow, 1996

Ken Setiawan and Dirk Tomas. Politics in Contemporary Indonesia: Institutional Change, Policy Challenges and Democratic Decline. Routledge, 2022.

Majors

Minors

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees

Student Contribution Band:
14
Unit value:
6 units

If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
2980 17 Feb 2025 24 Feb 2025 31 Mar 2025 23 May 2025 In Person N/A

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