Systemic Silencing

Katharine E. McGregor is a professor of Southeast Asian history in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is co-editor, most recently, of Gender, Violence and Power in Indonesia: Across Time and Space.

List of Illustrations Preface Notes on Name Order, Spelling, and Translations Abbreviations Introduction 1 Tragedy in the Balkans 2 History as Irony 3 Sublime and Grotesque 4 Modern Tragedy Coda: Death of a Poet Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

"This book provides an important historical account detailing the experience of Indonesian survivors of Japan's enforced military prostitution policy. As an academic paper, it has been extensively and methodologically researched. . . . Too important not to be shared with a broader audience." - The Jakarta Post "An excellent new contribution. . . . Well-written and convincingly argued, Systemic Silencing offers an innovative approach to histories of sexual violence, memory and activism in Indonesia." - Inside Indonesia "The scope and degree of complexity of this book demonstrate McGregor's accomplishments as a historian, in particular in the field of memory activism. This is also an important book for scholars researching regions of the world outside Asia. This case contributes to our understanding of the historical struggle to control women's bodies and the long-term barriers to addressing gendered injustice." - Asian Studies Review "By skillfully situating sexual violence and the human rights movement in the broader context of transnational activism and memory, McGregor breaks new ground in adding much to our understanding of the complex vicissitudes of comfort women. . . . Impeccable. . . . McGregor leaves no stone unturned." - Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia "An innovative work with an original, comparative, transnational perspective and impeccable scholarship. The author navigates the history of sexual slavery and human rights activism in Indonesia deftly and with clarity." - Saskia Wieringa, University of Amsterdam "This is an absolutely outstanding work, an important and devastating account of more than a century of Indonesian history. Readers are given the full context of the conditions that made women and girls vulnerable to extreme exploitation once the Japanese army arrived, and then to silencing and shame under successive regimes until the present day." - Ruth Barraclough, Australian National University