Contesting reform: Indonesia's new order and the IMF

Abstract

This paper examines the origins and outcomes of the currency crisis in Indonesia. On the question of origins, we argue that the crisis is best understood as the product of important shifts in political and social power which took place in the 1980s and which gave rise to the problems of debt and overextended banking systems. On the question of outcomes, we argue that, given the nature of political and social power in Indonesia, there is nothing inevitable about a transition to liberal markets. Other outcomes including maintenance of the status quo and complete chaos represent strong possibilities.