2025, Vol. 7, Issue 8, Part C

Author(s): Sovanna Huot

Abstract: This book review critically engages with Activist Archives: Youth Culture and the Political Past in Indonesia (2016) by Doreen Lee, an ethnographic exploration of youth activism and memory in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Lee introduces the concept of "activist archives", informal, affectively charged, and often ephemeral collections such as zines, graffiti, and digital media, through which young Indonesians documented and preserved the spirit of the 1998 Reformasi movement. Drawing on fieldwork, interviews, and cultural analysis, Lee positions these archives as both tools of political resistance and repositories of public memory that contest official state narratives. The book is deeply interdisciplinary, drawing from political anthropology, memory studies, and Southeast Asian history. Lee also engages with broader themes such as affect, cultural production, and transnational solidarity, showing how global protest frameworks are locally articulated. This review assesses the book’s methodological strengths, theoretical contributions, and relevance to contemporary political activism, particularly in societies transitioning from authoritarian rule.

DOI: 10.33545/26646021.2025.v7.i8c.648

Pages: 214-217 | Views: 179 | Downloads: 58

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