The Phantom World of Digul

Takashi Shiraishi has taught at Tokyo University, Cornell University, Kyoto University, and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). In 2007, he was awarded the Japanese Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to academic developments and accomplishments. He currently serves as Chancellor, Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

"Dense with material, this study offers insights into how individuals fit into a larger nationalist narrative and how and where Dutch assumptions aligned (and did not align) with action on the ground. It provides a much more expansive view of colonial policy from 1926 to 1941 than a history of Digul itself would." * Choice * "This is a rich historical study which synthesizes important interventions that Takashi Shiraishi has offered to the field of Indonesian history." * South East Asia Research * "The Phantom World of Digul has made yet another crucial contribution to the rich scholarship on Dutch colonialism and Indonesia's anti-colonial struggles. This long-overdue monograph is a must-read for historians of modern Indonesia and the Dutch empire. Beyond these core groups, the book may also appeal to readers who seek to understand late-colonial states' shifting political ideologies and everyday practices in maintaining peace and order." * Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia * "I believe The Phantom World of Digul has made yet another crucial contribution to the rich scholarship on Dutch colonialism and Indonesia's anti-colonial struggles. This long-overdue monograph is a must-read for historians of modern Indonesia and the Dutch empire. Beyond these core groups, the book may also appeal to readers who seek to understand late-colonial states' shifting political ideologies and everyday practices in maintaining peace and order." * Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia * "This long-awaited sequel opens new and innovative ways of understanding late colonial Indonesia through political policing and all the contradictions therein." * Southeast Asian Studies * "Chapter 2 offers arguably the best concise history to date of modern policing in the Dutch East Indies, together with a detailed account of the rise of the institutional infrastructure of political policing.... The Phantom World of Digul is required reading not just for historians but also for political scientists and others interested in contemporary Indonesia." * SOJOURN * "[The] amount of detail and the author's desire to capture what was distinctive about the Dutch policy of the period make this book very much a tome written for Indonesia specialists and historians. However, there are insights here that will benefit a broader readership. Afterall, discourses of extremism and terrorism have contemporary expressions in state policies everywhere and political policing has if anything become omnipresent.... This is a fascinating book, sometimes too fascinating for its own good. It reminds us to pay close attention to the dynamic between politics and policing and the entanglements between the aboveground and the underground that political policing both generates and patrols." * Asian Journal of Social Science *