Contributing to identity formation in ethnically and religiously diverse
postcolonial societies, this book examines the role played by creole
identity in Indonesia, and in particular its capital, Jakarta. While, on
the one hand, it facilitates transethnic integration and promotes a
specifically postcolonial sense of common nationhood due to its
heterogeneous origins, creole groups of people are often perceived
ambivalently in the wake of colonialism and its demise, on the other. In
this book, Jacqueline Knörr analyzes the social, historical, and
political contexts of creoleness both at the grassroots and the State
level, showing how different sections of society engage with creole
identity in order to promote collective identification transcending
ethnic and religious boundaries, as well as for reasons of self-interest
and ideological projects.