The Politics of Educational Decentralisation in Indonesia: A Quest for Legitimacy is a well written, analytically sharp, and compelling study of educational decentralisation in Indonesia. Irsyad Zamjani, provides fresh insights into this important topic. The author treats educational reform as a window into much deeper questions about power, the government's responsibility to its citizens, and social change in Indonesia. His findings should interest academics as well as practitioners with an interest in educational reform. Professor Christopher Bjork, Vassar College, New York This is a remarkable book which should appeal not only to Indonesian scholars, but also to educationists and political scientists, to name just a few. By tracing the path of decentralisation in the Indonesian educational reform in the early 2000s, Zamjani shows how the central and municipal governments struggled in different ways to retain control over education in their domains through various mechanisms largely related to claims of legitimacy. The study is grounded in new institutional theory, and the interview and case study data provide a richness and depth in showing the dynamics of reform attempts. Professor Lawrence J. Saha, Australian National University, Canberra

This book discusses the dynamics of educational decentralisation in post-reform Indonesia. Taking sociology's new institutionalism approach, and drawing upon data from documents and interviews with strategic informants, the book investigates how institutional legitimacy of educational decentralisation was garnered, manipulated, and then contested. Besides analysing global institutional pressures which influenced the national adoption of decentralisation reform, and the central government's attempts to restore its legitimacy, the book also offers comparative case studies of education governance in two local districts to highlight how this reform is responded to at the local level.

Presents a new perspective in the study of educational decentralization Offers an alternative viewpoint to understand Indonesian politics Represents the first comprehensive study on the politics of education in the post-authoritarian Indonesia

Autorentext

Irsyad Zamjani is currently the Director of Centre for Policy Research, at the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia.

Inhalt
Chapter I.- IntroductionChapter II.- Institutional Change and Indonesian Education Governance Chapter III.- Dancing with Legitimacy: the Institutional Perspective of Educational Chapter IV.- Decentralisation and the Legitimacy Project Chapter V.- The Centralised Standards in the Decentralised Structure Chapter VI.- Educational Decentralisation and the Rise of the Neo-patrimonial State: The Case of Kupang City Chapter VII.- Educational Decentralisation and the Rise of the New Managerial State: the Case of Surabaya City Chapter VIII.- Conclusion.