New Modes of Movement

Abstract This chapter explores the post-1927 period, in which mass rallies were rare, strikes were no longer possible, and schools were coming under increasing government scrutiny. Anticolonial activists turned to print to express themselves and generate support for their ideas. Their writings mixed an attachment to Islamic identity with openness to “translating” the intellectual innovations of Europe as well as learning from the experiences of other Asian societies, knowledge that often included Marxist ideas. It examines the Islamic socialism of two prominent 1930s organizations, the PSII and Permi, which included prominent female activists. It then explores the Dinyyah schools of West Sumatra and the Dutch-educated literati of the 1930s, especially those associated with the left-leaning journal Kritiek en Opbouw. It examines two novels that shed light on the ideas in circulation during the 1930s: Soewarsih Djojopoespito’s Buiten het Gareel (1940) and Xarim M. S.’s Hadji Dadjal (1941). This chapter ends by considering Soekarno’s relationship with Islam during the 1930s, showing how his understanding of Islam deepened during exile.