Cornell University Press Exposed: A Visual History of the Destruction of the Indonesian Left (Cornell Modern Indonesia Project)

Exposed tells the story of the orchestrated mass violence of 1965–1968 in Indonesia and its aftermat. By highlighting visual imagery, Geoffrey Robinson and Douglas Kammen fill a void in existing accounts, challenge distorted official narratives, and establish a basis on which new social memories and interpretations might be formed. Following an alleged coup attempt on October 1, 1965, at least half a million members of the legal Communist Party of Indonesia and other leftist organizations were killed and another million or so were detained and held for long periods without charge or trial. The consequences of these events were far-reaching and marked a crucial turning point in the Cold War. In less than a year, the largest non-governing Communist party in the world was crushed, and the country's popular left-nationalist President Sukarno was swept aside, signaling the start of more than three decades of military-backed authoritarian rule. Exposed is the first-ever visual history of these important, but long-obscured, events.