In May 1998, the end of President Soeharto\'s three-decade rule over the Indonesian archipelago initiated a profound social and political transformation that continues today. The social forces unleashed by the collapse of the authoritarian New Order government: regional discontent, radical Islam, and inter-ethnic rivalry, has spawned suicide bombings and other episodes of horrific violence, a growth of foreign-funded religious conservatism, and other sweeping changes that touch the lives of every Indonesian.

Jakarta Jive looks at the tumultuous events surrounding the fall of Soeharto through the eyes of the people who were affected most: the residents of Jakarta. By telling the stories of Jakartans of all levels: an executive of a failed bank becomes a househusband as his wife opens a street-side cafe for the family\'s survival; a Chinese-Indonesian university student comes to terms with the horror of mass rape through discovering her talent for photojournalism; a migrant domestic worker draws strength from his religion as he struggles to support his extended family in his home village, Jakarta Jive paints a ground-level, intimate portrait of a society undergoing profound transformation. As a vivid evocation of those exciting, disturbing, and bewildering times, Jakarta Jive has become a must read for anyone with an interest in modern Indonesia.