Introduction

The Introduction argues that the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI) in the 1950s and 1960s can be understood in terms of an ‘archipelagic communism’ that combined impressive growth and scale amid broader shifts in global communism and extreme local diversity. In doing so, it engages with scholarship emphasizing pluralism in the global histories of communism, the Cold War, and revolution. It suggests that a focus on the PKI’s destruction has curtailed consideration of the party’s experience during the preceding years. It argues the PKI was a revolutionary organization but also a movement that gained dynamism from energies emerging from below. It highlights the party’s adaptability, its ability to weave itself into Indonesia’s social fabric, and its efforts to tackle poverty and inequality. It also notes that the party’s growth encouraged a formidable coalition of forces to coalesce against it. The Introduction also explains the sources used in the book, the significance of a West Java case study, and the book’s structure.