Opium to Java: Revenue Farming and Chinese Enterprise in Colonial Indonesia, 1860-1910

Equinox Classic Indonesia

by James R. Rush

Opium smoking was a widespread social custom in nineteenth-century Java, and commercial trade in opium had far-reaching economic and political implications. As in many of the Dutch territories in the Indonesian archipelago, the drug was imported from elsewhere and sold throughout the island under a government monopoly - a system of revenue "farms". These monopoly franchises were regulated by the government and operated by members of Java's Chinese elite, who were frequently also local officials appointed by the Dutch. The farms thus helped support large Chinese patronage networks that vied for control of rural markets throughout Java.

James Rush explains the workings of the opium farm system during its mature years by measuring the social, economic, and political reach of these monopolies within the Dutch-dominated colonial society. His analysis of the opium farm incorporates the social history of opium smoking in Java and of the Chinese officer elite that dominated not only the opium farming but also the island's Chinese community and much of its commercial economy.

He describes the relations among the various classes of Chinese and Javanese, as well as the relation of the Chinese elite to the Dutch, and he traces the political interplay that smuggling and the black market stimulated among all these elements. An important contribution to the social and political history of Southeast Asia and now brought back to life as a member of Equinox Publishing's Classic Indonesia series, this book gives a new dimension to our knowledge of nineteenth-century Javanese society and the processes of social control and economic dominance during the colonial period.

JAMES R. RUSH is a historian of modern Southeast Asia whose other works include The Last Reclaiming the Environment in Tropical Asia; A Travellers' Anthology; and several volumes of contemporary Asian biography in the Ramon Magsaysay Awards series. His is associate professor of history at Arizona State University.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Economics, Indonesian Literature

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Dian Purnomo]

Membaca versi berbahasa Indonesianya. Luar biasa riset yang dilakukan Rush, dan seperti tertarik ke masa lalu, melihat gambaran detil tentang bisnis candu yang menguasai seluruh sendi kehidupan di Jawa. Tidak berbeda jauh dari sekarang kondisinya, di mana sulit membedakan penjahat dan penegak hukum. Negara ikut bermain membodohi rakyatnya, hanya saja caranya berbeda.
Satu hal yang saya pelajari dari sejarah candu di buku ini, bahwa kebijakan pemerintah tidak memberi pengaruh signifikan dalam perubahan menuju perbaikan, tetapi kesadaran masyarakat yang diawali dari pergerakan kaum muda dan terpelajarnya yang akan membawa perubahan.

[Leon Bhagawanta]

Sebuah buku yang menerangkan tentang persebaran Opium di pulau Jawa pada masa penjajahan Belanda, khususnya di area Jawa Tengah dan Jawa Timur. Buku ini menceritakan proses perkembangan industri opium yang terkait dengan pak-pak opium, regi opium, dan berbagai sejarah di dalamnya.

Riset James Rush sungguh sangat mendalam mengenai topik ini walaupun dengan resourse yang terbatas membuat buku ini mampu mengemas informasi perkembangan opium di Pulau Jawa dengan sangat rapi dan boleh dibilang menjadi catatan sejarah yang cukup komplit.

Satu pelajaran dari buku ini adalah betapa kuatnya pengaruh kesadaran masyarakat dalam menghilangkan industri opium dari tanah Jawa. Artinya, regulasi pemerintahan tidak bisa dijadikan tumpuan utama untuk melakukan perubahan tanpa adanya kesadaran dari dalam masyarakat itu sendiri.

[rully]

jika seseorang sudah bergantung pada anda, mereka akan melakukan apapun untuk anda.
dan bagaimana jika hal itu adalah candu?
kontroversi di balik kerja paksa masa belanda?