Ethnicity, nationalism, and the politics of belonging: rethinking the Chinese Indonesian contribution to nationhood

Abstract

The struggle for belonging in postcolonial nations is often haunted by colonial-era racial hierarchies that continue to shape the boundaries of national identity. In Indonesia, the position of the ethnic Chinese was historically complicated by their classification as ‘Foreign Orientals’ (Vreemde Oosterlingen) an intermediate social stratum positioned below Europeans but above the indigenous population. This article revisits the historical and sociological significance of the Chinese Peranakan community in the making of modern Indonesian nationalism through this lens of liminality. By employing a historical sociology approach and analyzing 53 archival editorials and 12 key government documents, the study explores how this community negotiated identity within a contested political landscape. The analysis centers on Liem Koen Hian, a pivotal journalist whose intellectual shift from Chinese nationalism to an advocate of Indonesian citizenship (Indonesierschap) epitomizes the reconfiguration of belonging. This study argues that Chinese Indonesians were not peripheral actors but active participants in the ideological construction of nationhood, challenging the binaries of exclusion and inclusion. By linking the politics of belonging with the dynamics of colonial social structures, the article demonstrates that the Chinese Indonesian experience offers a critical perspective on the plural and contested nature of nationalism. These findings move beyond descriptive history to offer broader theoretical implications for understanding minority agency in nationbuilding and the moral imagination of postcolonial citizenship in Southeast Asia.