Colonial social ontology and the persistence of colonial sociocultures in contemporary Indonesia

This chapter explains how, during the age of Dutch rule, a colonial ontology emerged which continues to affect social hierarchies in Indonesia today. This colonial ontology consisted of four sociocultures, which covered the fields of formal law, race, traditional rule, and Islam. These emerged from ideas which emerged in the Netherlands, but also from knowledge produced by colonial scholars, as well as Dutch experiences on the ground.