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Adrian Vickers

Adrian Vickers

@avick.bsky.social

2.4K followers 1.7K following 1.4K posts

Professor Emeritus. Historian and art historian, especially of Indonesia/Bali. DH, cricket, representation. Comments personal and not related to my university’s views. Projects include http://balipaintings.org/ and https://omaa-arts.sydney.edu.au/ .. more

Adrian Vickers is an Australian author, historian and professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney. He writes a blog on Indonesian subjects. He has studied and documented Gambuh dance traditions, Panji (prince) stories, and other Indonesian art and cultural subjects as well as historiography and colonialism. He has a BA and PhD from the University of Sydney, is the Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Director of the Asian Studies Program. Vickers' most recent book, The Pearl Frontier, co-written with Julia Martínez, won the University of Southern Queensland History Book Award at the 2016 Queensland Literary Awards. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. .. more

Political science 45%

Sociology 38%

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Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · Nov 19

The Virtual Museum of Balinese Painting has undergone a major make-over. We're still fixing some things (like the bibliography link), but thanks to the Systemik team, I've been able to add a lot more: heurist-usyd.cloud.edu.au/heurist/?db=...

The Virtual Museum of Balinese Painting

Enter a concise description of the Heurist database / website here, which will be used eg. in lists of websites and in search engine discovery. Remember to indicate the institution and/or project, t...

heurist-usyd.cloud.edu.au

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Tom Swann @tomswann.bsky.social · 20h

Does the Australian government raise more money from beer than it does from the tax on our gas exports?

YES

And the look on their faces is priceless.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZln...

Does Australia Get More Tax From Beer Than Gas?

YouTube video by 10 News

www.youtube.com

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 22h

Could have looked at SEAsia where the evidence is clear that there is not a linear progression

Reposted by Adrian Vickers, Elise Thomas

The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 1d

Thousands of people from Indonesia, China and Africa are waiting for help to return home, but the process has been slow and many are increasingly desperate.

They escaped appalling conditions in scam factories. Now, they are living on the streets in Cambodia

theconversation.com

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 1d

I like long-form stuff that’s well structured and substantive. Unfortunately a lot of it is full of self-indulgent wankery that is like the tedious essays that proceed recipes. Just tell us what happened, I keep yelling.

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 1d

Duncan was Deputy VC research when Australia dropped its REF equivalent. He saw the huge sigh of relief we all gave at the time.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Stephen Clarke @stephenclarkenz.bsky.social · 1d

I'm guessing the original thinking was to make the carillonist redundant and then to contract back but to his credit Tim Hurd walked away in disgust at his treatment after 40 years of service!

"Our plan is to develop local talent..." No succession planning! #DingDongs www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

National war memorial bell-playing job axed, likely to be outsourced to Australia

An Australian may have to play the bells at Pukeahu on Anzac Day.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 2d

A leading historian of decolonization, Fred Cooper, on the uses and pitfalls of the inflationary invocation of decolonization.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 2d

Meetings aren’t what they used to be: nobody moves motions, let alone amendments, and has a vote.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

‘Ticking time bomb’: Iran’s shadow fleet of old tankers ‘risking catastrophic oil spill’

‘Ticking time bomb’: Iran’s shadow fleet of old tankers ‘risking catastrophic oil spill’

Exclusive: only matter of time until decrepit ships cause spill bigger than Exxon Valdez disaster, analysts say Decrepit oil tankers in Iran’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet are a “ticking time bomb”, with a catastrophic environmental disaster only a “matter of time”, maritime intelligence analysts have warned. Such an oil spill could be far bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that released 37,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea, they said. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 2d

The Prabowo administration is going all-in on its 8% growth target, and it’s going to wreck investor confidence in sound economic governance to get there

www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Indonesia at 'point of no return' on big Prabowo growth bet, despite market carnage

Inside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's administration, officials are doubling down on his contentious growth and spending policies, despite recent moves from global financial agencies that sho...

www.reuters.com

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 2d

If it’s by numbers, then why isn’t the author advocating teaching Indonesian, let alone Mandarin, Hindi, Bengali etc?

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Saksith Saiyasombut | ศักดิ์สิทธิ์ ไสยสมบัติ @saksith.news · 4d

Our @channelnewsasia.bsky.social #ThaiElection26 live blog is now online with all the latest results, reactions and ramifications. I will be at the ruling Bhumjaithai Party, where PM Anutin hopes to convert his tenure of 3 months in a new mandate of 4 years.

Polls close in Thailand with three main parties battling for power

An outright majority for any of the three main parties is unlikely, so an alliance is almost certain to be required to form a government.

www.channelnewsasia.com

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Mirella Marini @mirellamarini.bsky.social · 5d

Lieve BS-vrienden, ik heb raad nodig. Ik zoek een EU alternatief voor WordPress. Tot hiertoe als ik een simpele site nodig had, bouwde ik die op WP zelf. Ik wil een site maken voor de podcast, maar graag EU. Ik zie bijv Combel? Iemand ervaring of ideeën? 🙌

european-alternatives.eu/alternative-...

European alternatives to WordPress.com | European Alternatives

WordPress.com is a WordPress hosting provider owned by Automattic, a US American company which contributes to the development of WordPress.

european-alternatives.eu

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 5d

Unsure how to read this scene.

London street

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Max Walden @maxwalden.bsky.social · 5d

Thailand election stakes are high as progressives mount new challenge against establishment
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Before a single vote is cast, dark clouds gather over Thailand's progressives

As Thailand prepares to head to the polls, voters remain wary that in their version of democracy, the party they vote for is not always the one that takes power.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers, Brooke Harrington, Ben Kaden

Tony Corsentino @notalegalrecord.net · 6d

me, librarian: I think information should be organized and structured logically so that searches are high in precision and recall

tech industry, 2000: nope, keyword searching and opaque relevance rankings are what you’ll get

…

tech industry, 2026: now you’ll just get fake hallucinatory text

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Sumit Mandal @sumitkmandal.bsky.social · 6d

#PramoedyaAnantaToer: 2025 Centenary Roundtable. As today is the Indonesian novelist, essayist & historian’s birthday, I share a video of Muhammad Alagil Chair event @nus_ari @NUSingapore: tinyurl.com/2wwnjwf2. Thank you Ismah, Karib & Taomo for collaborating
@arielheryanto.com @avick.bsky.social

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Revisiting the Indonesian Author’s Work on the Centenary of His Birth

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗮 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲, 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧 Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925-2006) is considered one of the foremost Indonesian authors. He was a novelist, essayist, and historian whose body of work was marked by an inclusive and critical politics that went against the grain of nationalism in independent Indonesia. In the Buru Tetralogy, the author envisions an Indonesia that was constructed not only by those considered indigenous but the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Europeans and others who inhabited the nation. At the same time, his work places at the centre subaltern groups such as women and peasants. Pramoedya’s attention to cultural inclusivity and subaltern groups was a rare combination in Indonesia and, arguably, other newly independent nation-states across Asia and Africa. Pramoedya’s framing of an inclusive and critical nationalism has not been sufficiently highlighted and deserves further attention at this time because of the challenges to identity, belonging, social cohesion, and human security by new forms of exclusive nationalisms in a multi-polar world. From India to Israel, territorial claims along ethnic and religious lines have deepened—often with devastating outcomes—and draw on reified understandings of the past, as demonstrated by Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian (Cambridge, 2021). Contested understandings of national histories are central to the contemporary crisis. On the occasion of the centenary of Pramoedya’s birth, this roundtable revisits our understandings of nation-states, keeping in mind the centrality of history. Adrian Vickers (Cambridge, 2013) observes that Pramoedya was “[o]ne of the few Indonesians with a coherent and developed vision of the nation’s history”. On the one hand, Pramoedya’s understanding of Indonesia is founded on the view that the nation-state is constituted by creole histories and anticipates the research and debate sparked by Arabia Asia and Inter-Asian Studies in the past two decades. On the other hand, as Vickers observes, Pramoedya’s hopes for a socially just and prosperous Indonesia remain a struggle. Taking these lines of thinking as cues, the roundtable explores the narratives and conceptual foundations of Pramoedya’s work and how they might be significant today. ────────────────── For more information, please visit: https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/20250206-pramoedya-ananta-toer/

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 6d

Nice to read about Jamie Mackie, who was always generous younger people in our field

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History @jich.bsky.social · 10d

Have a read of the recent article 'No Trace: ASIO and the End of the White Australia Policy' by Sean Brawley: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

No Trace: ASIO and the End of the White Australia Policy

This contribution to the special issue studies the history of the White Australia Policy through an exploration of the intersections between national security, immigration restriction and social re...

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Seán Costello @seanjcostello.bsky.social · 7d

Late-stage Kapitalism

Bust of Karl Marx in the form of a money bank, on sale at the Centre Pompidou gift shop, Malaga

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 7d

The same people elevating Farage are working to support One Nation in Australia

Lou Roper @roperlou.bsky.social · 7d

#ICYMI 😑

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 7d

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of democracy on this side of the Atlantic, and I’m not being hyperbolic.

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 7d

It’s deliberate, I’m sure

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Russel Norman @russelnorman.bsky.social · 7d

Waitangi 2026. A government of Atlas Network slogans confronts a complex nation unwilling to be neoliberal roadkill. Toitū te Tiriti Toitū te Taiao

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Lou Roper @roperlou.bsky.social · 7d

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 7d

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of democracy on this side of the Atlantic, and I’m not being hyperbolic.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Andrew Digby @digs.bsky.social · 7d

Three more #kakapo nests found on Pukenui/Anchor Island yesterday. Here's Konini with her two eggs. We have found nests for 26 out of the 36 adult females on the island, with more to come in the next few days. It's a big year! #conservation #kakapo2026 A

A kākāpō on a nest with two eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

Reposted by Adrian Vickers, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 7d

today’s tech barons get compared to the robber barons (I’ve done it myself) but it’s notable how the current generation has responded to the philanthropic and cultural legacy of Carnegie et al with their own campaign of wanton destruction of cultural institutions

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 7d

Buttie or Flyo would be the Oz nicknames

Reposted by Christopher Wright, Adrian Vickers, Anthony Burke

Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 7d

"Glencore asks Murray Watt to sacrifice koala habitat for coal mine" thepoint.com.au/news/260205-...

Glencore asks Murray Watt to sacrifice koala habitat for coal mine

Australia’s largest coal producer, Glencore, has applied to the Federal Government to extend its Hail Creek open cut coal mine, near Nebo in Central Queensland.

thepoint.com.au

Adrian Vickers @avick.bsky.social · 8d

Yes, learnt it at school (along with Stout Hearted Men and The Road to Mandalay). I remember a TV show that canvassed the alternatives when we were giving up God Save the Queen. Most had ‘girt’ somewhere.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 8d

It's because the other Southeast Asians with more online presence are jealous that Indonesians are, in terms of personal charisma, the coolest Southeast Asians, so we don't talk about them.

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Aida Greenbury @aidagreenbury.bsky.social · 9d

My latest piece on Mongabay:

“If only two dozen large corporations are responsible for landscape-scale forest degradation and deforestation, why should the State and Regional Budgets fund the rehabilitation of damaged landscapes?”

news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-...