Irian Jaya Under the Gun: Indonesian Economic Development Versus West Papuan Nationalism

Book Description
Jim Elmslie traces events in Irian Jaya/West Papua from the departure of the Dutch in 1963 to December 1999. The majority of the indigenous people of the area consider themselves West Papuans living in the land of West Papua, a country incorporated into the Indonesian state without their consent or approval. Made up of Melanesian peoples, the western part of New Guinea is one of the least developed places on earth with the largest expanses outside the Amazon of untouched and, in some cases, still unexplored rainforest and wilderness. It is a region ripe for economic exploitation. The local people are being squeezed as outsiders flock to West Papua to take advantage of the vast natural resources the country possesses. The logging, mining, and fishing industries are booming, as are the cities, towns, and transmigration settlements. Irian Jaya under the Gun chronicles the rapid changes that are taking place under the guise of Indonesian economic development and its generally pro-crony, pro-military, pro-multinational corporation, and anti-Papuan thrust. It describes what can happen to an indigenous population when insensitive governments and avaricious multinationals are more concerned about profits than the environment or the people inhabiting the land.

About the Author
Jim Elmslie is a political economist who has studied and published on West Papua for more than a decade.


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Forces of independent nationalism in West Papua/Irian Jaya are increasingly coming into conflict with the Indonesian government and military. Partly based on the author's Ph.D. thesis for the U. of Sydney (Australia), this work traces the roots of the conflict, arguing that the expansion of mineral exploitation has ended the long reprieve the Melanesian people had enjoyed from the historical "spread of the Asian peoples." He argues that the eruption of nationalism is a response to economic exploitation and political suppression. It is the operations of the Freeport mine and other mineral exploiters that are driving the situation to conflict. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


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