Indonesian Social Evolution, Some Psychological Considerations [Including review and note from author]

Van Der Kroef, Justin

Published by Wereld Bibliotheek, 1958

About this Item

INDONESIAN SOCIAL EVOLUTION, SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS, Justin Van Der Kroef, hardcover, probable first edition, tucked in are carbon copy of review of book by Alfred G. Smith (Emory University) and note to Smith from author, 1958. BOOK CONDITION: fairly good. The text block is in good condition with no tears or dogears, but with extensive marginal notes by Alfred G. Smith, whose copy this must be, even though there is no bookplate or signature of a prior owner. Tear and thin spot on final free endpaper. Not a library book or remainder. The red cloth boards are in good condition (bumped corners on rear, bumped and somewhat faded spine). 9 x 6, 189 pages, 16 ounces XX [From the foreword] The following pages comprise some of my reflections during the past decade on the structure and evolution of Indonesian society, particularly in terms of the changes brought by the revolution. Their publication at this time is prompted by a personal concern over the relative lack of psychological and especially psycho-analytical inquiries into the structure and development of Indonesian communities and their position in the present political configuration. This work is in no way intended to fill the lacuna. The character of these pages is speculative and exploratory, probing, as they do, into the uncharted region between psychological hypothesis and cultural reality. Still, I flatter myself with the hope that this inquiry may add to a broader interest in the application of psycho-analytic techniques to the field of Indonesian social structure and social change. Although a thorough anthropological basis for the application of psycho-analytic methods to various Indonesian societies already existed before the Second World War, the paucity and inadequacy of the psychological studies themselves are rather noteworthy. The few available monographs, by Dutch students in particular, are methodologically extremely limited in scope, and some are marred by highly questionable and subjective generalizations. Broadly speaking, all these studies can be divided into three categories according to corresponding time periods. Before the First World War investigations of "the" Indonesian or Malayan psyche tended to reflect the extremes of colonial conservatism, and, lacking all scientific foundations, plumbed the depths of ethnocentric prejudice. In this first category fall the publications of Betz and Kohl-brugge, whose conclusions seem mainly designed to buttress then common preconceptions of the Dutch colonial élite, stressing the alleged emotional instability, inherent criminality, lack of will power, moronic intelligence and general untrustworthiness of the Indonesian. That such a bogus scientific approach never quite lost its appeal for some is exemplified by Ronhaar's article concerning the intellectual inequality.

Seller Inventory # 002579

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Indonesian Social Evolution, Some Psychological Considerations [Including review and note from author]
• Publisher: Wereld Bibliotheek
• Publication Date: 1958
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fair
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 16 ounces
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Psychology
  • History
  • Indonesia