Between Admiration and Resistance: Postcolonial Legacies and Indonesian Public Perceptions of the European Union
(2026) STVM23 20252Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- Relations between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia have expanded significantly in recent decades, yet public perceptions of the EU in Indonesia are shaped not only by contemporary policies but also by enduring postcolonial legacies. In postcolonial societies, global actors are often interpreted through historically grounded narratives that influence how authority, legitimacy, and partnership are understood. Indonesia, with its long experience of Dutch colonial rule and strong traditions of anti-colonial nationalism, offers a particularly relevant context for examining these dynamics. This is because colonial histories continue to inform public sensitivities toward external authority and shape how European power and norms are... (More)
- Relations between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia have expanded significantly in recent decades, yet public perceptions of the EU in Indonesia are shaped not only by contemporary policies but also by enduring postcolonial legacies. In postcolonial societies, global actors are often interpreted through historically grounded narratives that influence how authority, legitimacy, and partnership are understood. Indonesia, with its long experience of Dutch colonial rule and strong traditions of anti-colonial nationalism, offers a particularly relevant context for examining these dynamics. This is because colonial histories continue to inform public sensitivities toward external authority and shape how European power and norms are interpreted in the present.
This research examines how postcolonial legacies influence Indonesian public perceptions of the EU as a global actor. Drawing on postcolonial theory, cultural memory theory, and the concept of Normative Power Europe, it analyzes how historical experience and symbolic memory mediate contemporary interpretations of EU engagement. A qualitative, literature-based approach is employed, relying on secondary sources such as academic literature, public opinion surveys, and Indonesian media coverage. These materials are analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns, narratives, and symbolic framings in Indonesian public discourse.
The findings indicate that Indonesian perceptions of the EU is characterized by postcolonial ambivalence. The EU is frequently associated with modernity, technological advancement, and institutional sophistication, generating admiration and selective cooperation. At the same time, EU regulatory practices, trade conditionalities, and normative claims are often interpreted as paternalistic or coercive, evoking memories of colonial hierarchy and external control. Rather than reflecting passive acceptance or outright rejection, Indonesian public perceptions reveal active negotiation, in which Indonesians assert agency through selective cultural adoption, strategic non-alignment, and emotional distancing from EU geopolitical narratives.
Overall, postcolonial legacies remain structurally embedded in how EU global authority is interpreted in Indonesia, despite processes of globalization. Understanding these perceptions highlights the importance of historically sensitive and societally grounded approaches to external engagement and contributes to broader debates on EU global actorness in postcolonial contexts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9217059
- author
- Kadarusman, Verel Pranidino LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVM23 20252
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Euroscepticism, European Union, Indonesia, Postcolonialism, EU–Indonesia relations, EU global actorness.
- language
- English
- id
- 9217059
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-23 15:57:42
- date last changed
- 2026-04-23 15:57:42
@misc{9217059,
abstract = {{Relations between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia have expanded significantly in recent decades, yet public perceptions of the EU in Indonesia are shaped not only by contemporary policies but also by enduring postcolonial legacies. In postcolonial societies, global actors are often interpreted through historically grounded narratives that influence how authority, legitimacy, and partnership are understood. Indonesia, with its long experience of Dutch colonial rule and strong traditions of anti-colonial nationalism, offers a particularly relevant context for examining these dynamics. This is because colonial histories continue to inform public sensitivities toward external authority and shape how European power and norms are interpreted in the present.
This research examines how postcolonial legacies influence Indonesian public perceptions of the EU as a global actor. Drawing on postcolonial theory, cultural memory theory, and the concept of Normative Power Europe, it analyzes how historical experience and symbolic memory mediate contemporary interpretations of EU engagement. A qualitative, literature-based approach is employed, relying on secondary sources such as academic literature, public opinion surveys, and Indonesian media coverage. These materials are analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns, narratives, and symbolic framings in Indonesian public discourse.
The findings indicate that Indonesian perceptions of the EU is characterized by postcolonial ambivalence. The EU is frequently associated with modernity, technological advancement, and institutional sophistication, generating admiration and selective cooperation. At the same time, EU regulatory practices, trade conditionalities, and normative claims are often interpreted as paternalistic or coercive, evoking memories of colonial hierarchy and external control. Rather than reflecting passive acceptance or outright rejection, Indonesian public perceptions reveal active negotiation, in which Indonesians assert agency through selective cultural adoption, strategic non-alignment, and emotional distancing from EU geopolitical narratives.
Overall, postcolonial legacies remain structurally embedded in how EU global authority is interpreted in Indonesia, despite processes of globalization. Understanding these perceptions highlights the importance of historically sensitive and societally grounded approaches to external engagement and contributes to broader debates on EU global actorness in postcolonial contexts.}},
author = {{Kadarusman, Verel Pranidino}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Between Admiration and Resistance: Postcolonial Legacies and Indonesian Public Perceptions of the European Union}},
year = {{2026}},
}