Overview

A sympathetic examination of the failure of anti-corruption efforts in contemporary Indonesia.  Combining ethnographic fieldwork in the city of Kupang with an acute historical sensibility, Sylvia Tidey shows how good governance initiatives paradoxically perpetuate civil service corruption while also facilitating the emergence of new forms of it. Importing critical insights from the anthropology of ethics to the burgeoning anthropology of corruption, Tidey exposes enduring developmentalist fallacies that treat corruption as endemic to non-Western subjects. In practice, it is often indistinguishable from the ethics of care and exchange, as Indonesian civil servants make worthwhile lives for themselves and their families. This book will be a vital text for anthropologists and other social scientists, particularly scholars of global studies, development studies, and Southeast Asia.

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9781912808649

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Reviews

"""It is impossible not to be impressed by the depth of ethnographic data and cases that make up this book. While the author does touch upon theoretical debates and to relationship between global ideals and local contexts, these do not leave the same lasting impression as the anecdotes and case studies, told with empathy and an eye for understanding, rather than judging, the circumstances and actions of Tidey’s associates in Kupang."" * Inside Indonesia * ""Ethics or the Right Thing is a beautifully written and very convincing book which deserves a wide readership."" * PoLAR * ""In this excellent ethnography, Tidey interrogates the widely prevalent assumption in global discourse about the state and development that corruption is always inimical to the 'good,' thereby challenging dominant conceptions of good governance. Based on long-term research in Indonesia, she argues—and convincingly demonstrates—that corruption can, in practice, be deeply intertwined with care. More broadly, the book offers an insightful perspective on ethics embedded in a nuanced understanding of social and political relations."" -- Daniel Jordan Smith, Brown University ""This is an example of anthropology at its best—beautifully written, utterly compelling and dealing with endless entanglements without losing the reader. Theoretically, it is a sophisticated picture of how individuality, relational life and broader social processes interact on the themes of care and corruption. Tidey conveys an area that has been largely underplayed by social science—that people navigate contradictions, paradoxes and opposing meanings all at the same time. As binary polarisations in political ideologies return with force, this nuanced and subtle account of an ethical domain is timely."" -- Emma Crewe, School of Oriental and African Studies ""Where, if anywhere, does care stop and corruption begin and vice-versa? These are fundamental ethical issues that receive searching exploration in this brilliantly observed study of civil servants in Kupang, simultaneously Indonesia's self-styled 'giving city' and its allegedly most corrupt. A strikingly original examination not only of personal but also of political morality, this book marks a major advance in the anthropology both of ethics and of governance. It is destined to be widely influential."" -- Joel Robbins, Cambridge University"

In this excellent ethnography, Tidey interrogates the widely prevalent assumption in global discourse about the state and development that corruption is always inimical to the 'good,' thereby challenging dominant conceptions of good governance. Based on long-term research in Indonesia, she argues-and convincingly demonstrates-that corruption can, in practice, be deeply intertwined with care. More broadly, the book offers an insightful perspective on ethics embedded in a nuanced understanding of social and political relations. -- Daniel Jordan Smith, Brown University This is an example of anthropology at its best-beautifully written, utterly compelling and dealing with endless entanglements without losing the reader. Theoretically, it is a sophisticated picture of how individuality, relational life and broader social processes interact on the themes of care and corruption. Tidey conveys an area that has been largely underplayed by social science-that people navigate contradictions, paradoxes and opposing meanings all at the same time. As binary polarisations in political ideologies return with force, this nuanced and subtle account of an ethical domain is timely. -- Emma Crewe, School of Oriental and African Studies Where, if anywhere, does care stop and corruption begin and vice-versa? These are fundamental ethical issues that receive searching exploration in this brilliantly observed study of civil servants in Kupang, simultaneously Indonesia's self-styled 'giving city' and its allegedly most corrupt. A strikingly original examination not only of personal but also of political morality, this book marks a major advance in the anthropology both of ethics and of governance. It is destined to be widely influential. -- Joel Robbins, Cambridge University

It is impossible not to be impressed by the depth of ethnographic data and cases that make up this book. While the author does touch upon theoretical debates and to relationship between global ideals and local contexts, these do not leave the same lasting impression as the anecdotes and case studies, told with empathy and an eye for understanding, rather than judging, the circumstances and actions of Tidey's associates in Kupang. * Inside Indonesia * In this excellent ethnography, Tidey interrogates the widely prevalent assumption in global discourse about the state and development that corruption is always inimical to the 'good,' thereby challenging dominant conceptions of good governance. Based on long-term research in Indonesia, she argues-and convincingly demonstrates-that corruption can, in practice, be deeply intertwined with care. More broadly, the book offers an insightful perspective on ethics embedded in a nuanced understanding of social and political relations. -- Daniel Jordan Smith, Brown University This is an example of anthropology at its best-beautifully written, utterly compelling and dealing with endless entanglements without losing the reader. Theoretically, it is a sophisticated picture of how individuality, relational life and broader social processes interact on the themes of care and corruption. Tidey conveys an area that has been largely underplayed by social science-that people navigate contradictions, paradoxes and opposing meanings all at the same time. As binary polarisations in political ideologies return with force, this nuanced and subtle account of an ethical domain is timely. -- Emma Crewe, School of Oriental and African Studies Where, if anywhere, does care stop and corruption begin and vice-versa? These are fundamental ethical issues that receive searching exploration in this brilliantly observed study of civil servants in Kupang, simultaneously Indonesia's self-styled 'giving city' and its allegedly most corrupt. A strikingly original examination not only of personal but also of political morality, this book marks a major advance in the anthropology both of ethics and of governance. It is destined to be widely influential. -- Joel Robbins, Cambridge University

Author Information

Sylvia Tidey is assistant professor of anthropology and global studies at the University of Virginia.

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