Workshop, Universitas Gadjah Mada, 8-10 September 2026
About the Program
Development, or Pembangunan, has been a core aspiration in Indonesia since independence. Extant histories of development in Indonesia have outlined the political and institutional contexts from which development policies arose. This workshop aims to illuminate the historical experiences and tangible impacts of projects mobilised for Indonesia’s economic and social development, which were planned and financed by national and international development agencies. It takes a wide temporal scope aligning with independent Indonesia’s push for development across the Sukarno, New Order and reformasi periods. It also spans a broad geography aligning with development’s nation-building aspirations.
Indonesia’s development aspirations were supported by international agencies of many types and channelled into projects across a wide range of sectors. Major developmental domains included infrastructure such as transport, power, and communications technologies; large dams and irrigation; agriculture and fisheries; health and nutrition; family planning and population control; transmigration, and community development. While the rationale and planning for these program is increasingly clear, we still know very little about the projects by which development aspirations were operationalised, the experiences of civil servants, aid workers, consultants and other mid-level manpower involved in project implementation, or how projects were received and/or renegotiated at the point of implementation by groups and individuals targeted for development intervention.
We are interested in papers that move beyond histories of development politics and development planning, to focus on grounded and lived experiences of development as it was delivered through projects. We are particularly interested in papers that draw social and economic history approaches into the historiography of development. What happened at the point of project implementation? How were projects renegotiated or otherwise adjusted between original plans and implementation? How did regional and local politics, and grassroots attitudes, shape responses to development projects at the point of implementation? How, when and why did communities manifest resistance to developmental visions that differed from their own? How did geography, religions, gender, and culture mediate attitudes to development projects?
We are also interested in papers addressing development’s legacies—economic, political, social and personal. How were individuals, families and communities impacted by development projects, and how did these impacts shape their lives in later years (even until today)?
Finally, we welcome papers examining methodological challenges relating to the social and economic history of development. How can we access non-elite perspectives relating to historical development? What archives and non-archival material is available? How can oral history support this endeavour, and what are the limitations of interview-based approaches that rely on memory? How can historians use non-textual sources, such as artistic works, monuments or audio and audio-visual sources?
We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers from scholars and advanced research students working on any aspect of development implementation in postcolonial Indonesia. Proposals from early career scholars are particularly welcome, as are papers drawing out the perspectives of individuals and communities beyond Java. Funding is available for travel and accommodation to enable scholars based outside Yogyakarta to participate.
We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers based on original research examining the social history of development in postcolonial Indonesia. Please submit the following to agnieszka.sobocinska@kcl.ac.uk or kang_ahid@ugm.ac.id by 17 April 2026:
- a 200-word abstract,
- Author bio, and
- Indication whether you require funds for travel to Yogyakarta (and if so, from where).
Please note that accepted papers will be pre-circulated, with paper drafts (up to 5000 words) to be submitted by 31 July 2026.
Jointly convened by the Department of History, UGM, and the European Research Council-funded project Actually Existing Development: Twentieth Century International Development and the Global South (DEVHIST), based at King’s College London
Image: Building bridges is an important part of rural development (H.C. Beynon, 1971. http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:2702368)