This book is an exposition of the modes of thought and behaviour of the largest single ethnic group in South Asia, and an attempt to bridge the gap between intensive village ethnography and the characterization of the overall culture of a modern nation-state.
Since Independence, mystical movements have expanded spectacularly in Indonesia. The author examines the reasons for this revival of primordial cultural consciousness and seeks to understand its meaning in this period of nation-building and change. By consistently relating the mental attitudes of the Javanese to the practice of their everyday life and the experience of change, the study develops an interpretive framework within which life in Java and the practice of development can be understood in indigenous terms.