Indonesia, a huge secular, archipelagic nation-state in Southeast Asia, is one of the world's newest democracies. Yet little is known to outsiders about this complex and fascinating country, the home of the world's largest Muslim community and the scene of recent natural disasters and violent communal struggles. Eleven scholars provide incisive critical appraisals of the leading issues and controversies facing Indonesians as they seek to build a democratic nation that is tolerant of multicultural diversity and free from imperial domination.
Tony Day was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1967 to 1969 and taught Southeast Asian and Performance Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia, from 1978 to 1998. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, and a Fellow of the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He is now an independent researcher living in New Haven, CT.