Social Status and Power in Java

This book is a closely-observed anthropological study of life in two small Javanese towns and, at the same time, it attempts a general analysis on sociological lines of some key characteristics of contemporary Javanese society. In particular, the author's examination of the manner in which a pre-existing authoritarian system is being adapted to republican institutions grounded in democratic ideas helps us to understand many of Indonesia's present-day social and political problems.