Theoretical and anthropological study of how techniques of governance have been devised in the colonial and postcolonial context of Indonesia and their effect on current debates over economic development in the region.

List of Acronyms vii
Glossary of Indonesian Terms ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Will to Improve 1
1. Contradictory Positions 31
2. Projects, Practices, and Effects 61
3. Formations of Capital and Identity 96
4. Rendering Technical? 123
5. Politics in Contention 156
6. Provocation and Reversal 192
7. Development in the Age of Neoliberalism 230
Conclusion 270
Notes 285
Bibliography 337
Index 367

Tania Murray Li is Professor of Anthropology and Senior Canada Research Chair in Political Economy and Culture in Asia-Pacific at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Malays in Singapore: Culture, Economy, and Ideology and the editor of Transforming the Indonesian Uplands: Marginality, Power, and Production.