Corruption understandings: A History of Indonesian Discourses on Colonial Normativity and Corrupt Colonialism (1902-1942)

This dissertation examines the evolving conceptualizations of corruption in Indonesia during the late colonial period (1902–1942), focusing on how Indonesians debated and defined corruption within shifting colonial and political frameworks. Utilizing the NWO-funded “Colonial Normativity” research project, the study analyzes a wide range of discourses, including those of Indonesian intellectuals, nationalists, journalists, politicians, activists, the priyayi, and colonial officials, to clarify how colonial normativity and political contestation shaped notions of corruption. The research addresses four principal questions: (1) How did Indonesians understand corruption, and in what ways did their contexts influence and transform these understandings? (2) What forms of corruption, such as cases, scandals, and debates, prompted Indonesian engagement during this period? (3) How did these understandings affect participation in or withdrawal from corruption-related debates and discourses? (4) What did corruption discourse do to the Indonesians in terms of political contestation, voicing aspirations, identity formation, and anti-colonial struggle? While existing scholarship frequently associates corruption with modernity, this study instead situates its analysis within the emergence of a bourgeois-capitalist society in colonial Indonesia. By tracing corruption discourse through key historical junctures—including the vernacularization of the concept, nationalist debates, critiques of colonial capitalism, the “wave of corruption” among colonial officials, the “Sugar Scandal,” the rise of anti-colonial and non-cooperative movements, and scandals involving Indigenous administrators—the research demonstrates that corruption was understood and contested in diverse and dynamic ways. The relationship between corruption and colonial normativity reveals that both were articulated through power relations. Rather than arising from democratic participation, colonial normativity was imposed through hierarchical power structures. Over time, these colonial norms became dominant and appeared natural, although they resulted from deliberate political engineering. By the early 1920s, the prevailing colonial discourse on corruption intensified. Corruption, initially conceived as a multifaceted concept, was increasingly interpreted in a monolithic manner, often equated solely with the embezzlement of state funds. This reductive perspective obscured alternative interpretations, such as political corruption, and particularly neglected the ways in which the state was restructured to serve a small elite and European business interests at the expense of the Indonesian population. The study further investigates how various groups in Indonesia developed and revised their understandings of corruption over time. Ideological tensions, including those between left-leaning and right-leaning factions, shaped these evolving perspectives. Debates on corruption, informed by differing views on colonial modernity and class struggle, reflected broader transformations in Indonesian perceptions of colonialism. The dissertation concludes that colonial corruption discourse played a pivotal role for Indonesian intellectuals, nationalists, and the priyayi in processes of identity formation, positioning in relation to the colonial state, and envisioning Indonesia's future. Furthermore, the significance of corruption discourse in colonial Indonesia is evident in the transition from understanding corruption as a discrete phenomenon to recognizing it as intrinsic to colonialism itself.