The talk discusses the emergence of New Order resource management in the late 1960s and 1970s within the context of American imperialism.

We look at how the various transnational pathways of American institutions determine policy avenues and conditions for New Order actors and the emergence of transnational brokers. We analyze empire under conditions of crisis, focusing on the credit crisis that beset the Indonesian oil sector in the mid-1970s which threatened economic growth and the legitimacy of New Order governance. By this period, the New Order had become a hydrocarbon state based on its reliance of oil and gas export. 

This dynamic is contextualized within the wider shift in the global financial system and the emergence of the neoliberal world order. The New Order is an important client state of the US since the late 1960s. Looking at this periphery of the American empire, we can analyze how these transnational crises function in the workings of empire and how they relate to national politics. By understanding the crisis as a result of competing transnational natural resource management systems, the workings of the American empire within its global resource management can be deciphered.

Speaker

Farabi Fakih is head of the Master Program at the History Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. He has a wide research interest which focuses on understanding the governance and politics of the state, land and natural resources. He has been involved in various research projects, including recently in the research project looking at empire and corruption titled Colonial Normativity: Corruption and Difference in Colonial and Postcolonial Histories of Empires and Nations. He is also interested in understanding the role of traditional ontologies in determining natural resource governance within communities as part of KITLV’s TRACE research project. 

Moderator

Sikko Visscher, trained as an historian and social scientist, work at KITLV as a research advisor and liaison officer. He is also a board member and Secretary of the Vereniging (Member Association) KITLV.

Format, date, time & venue

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Thursday 9 April from 15.30–17.00 PM (CET).  

Anniversary Seminar Series

In 2026, KITLV will celebrate its 175th anniversary. The Members’ Association / Vereniging KITLV and the Institute KITLV are organizing an Anniversary Seminar Series to mark the occasion.

In the Anniversary Seminar Series, we invite people who have worked at KITLV in the past 25 years, visited us as fellows, or have been involved in joint research projects. Naturally, we strive to cover our wide range of disciplines, topics, and backgrounds. We invite speakers to present current or recent research to an audience of academics and others who are interested. Reflections on whether and how the connection with KITLV has led to or influenced that research are welcome. To cater to an international audience, the series will be in English and can be attended both physically and digitally.

Image

Aerial of Badak NGL natural gas refinery. Aerial photo by PT Badak NGL.

Flyer

PDF version (A3 poster)