'one finds the description to be fascinating and pitched at an unusual level - not the national arena, but in the setting of the village. straightforward information, rich vignettes, and illustrative cas studies involving rural leadership formation under the New Order a good baseline for investigations of village officials in the post-New Order' - William Case, Asian Studies Review

• Chapter 1 Introduction, Hans Antlöv, Sven Cederroth; Chapter 2 The Development and Demise of the Traditional Javanese Aristocracy, Sartono Kartodirdjo; Chapter 3 Traditional Leadership in Rural Java, Ina Slamet-Velsink; Chapter 4 The Ideology of Javanese-Indonesian Leadership, Niels Mulder; Chapter 5 Village Leaders and the New Order, Hans Antlöv; Chapter 6 Pamong Desa or Raja Desa?, Jean-Luc Maurer; Chapter 7 Village Elections in Central Java, Frans Hüsken; Chapter 8 New Order Modernization and Islam, Sven Cederroth; Chapter 9 Can the Javanese Do Business?, François Raillon;