Ethical Politics: Education Of The Native Population And Strengthening The Indonesian National Movement In The Early 20th Century

Ethical policy was a term widely used in the first decade of the twentieth century for the policies of the Dutch East Indies colonial government that were supposed to benefit the interests of the indigenous population. The content given to the term depended on how one saw its significance. For the former, it meant primarily a clear path for Christian missions, for others, it meant strengthening the economic position of the indigenous population, for the latter, it meant greater access for the indigenous population to education, and for the latter, it meant a greater role for the indigenous population in government. Another difference was that some believed that it was in the interests of the indigenous population to adopt Western culture and civilization as quickly as possible, while others believed that the unique character of the indigenous culture should be preserved as much as possible. Various emancipation movements then emerged in the early twentieth century even though they did not yet have a nationalist basis. The ethnic basis of the Boedi Oetomo association and the religious basis of the Sarekat Islam association, however, did not become an obstacle to also putting forward political desires, such as the participation of the indigenous population in the colonial government. Moreover, in early 1912 a political party, the Indische Partij, had explicitly declared its support for independence.