ABSTRACT
Before returning to the interrelations between the modernizing processes discussed in the previous chapter and traditionalist discourses, it is important to look at the impact of the economic and political changes brought about by colonial state formation on Minangkabau villages in the early decades of this century. As one might expect such a task is not an easy one, largely because at least the source materials I have been able to consult were not written with a view to answering questions about the lives of ordinary villagers except insofar as evidence of their dissatisfaction impinged on the interests of the colonial state. Moreover, as we have had occasion to note, documentary material for Outer Island Indonesia in this period is far less rich than that available for Java, the center of colonial power.
