An Indonesian liberal think tank and one of the partners of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF), the Freedom Institute, recently translated a book of the foundation´s sister organisation, the Liberal Institute. The book´s original title is “Readings in Liberalism”, its Indonesian title is “Liberalisme”. It contains 15 chapters including articles by Friedrich August von Hayek, John Locke, David Hume, and several other liberal thinkers.

In 2009, the Freedom Institute and FNF Indonesia cooperated to conduct several programs for students. The aim was to spread ideas of freedom and liberal values among the students and youth. Several book discussions on globalization, a workshop on freedom and democracy, a film screening and discussion about property rights, and a short liberal course were conducted at universities in a number of cities in Indonesia.

One of the program´s results is that there is a lack of basic information and easy-to-understand explanations about liberal values and thoughts by liberal scholars, especially in Bahasa Indonesia.

FNF Indonesia thus hopes to contribute to an improvement in the flow of information on liberalism in Indonesia and to empower Indonesian liberals in the ideological debate that has taken place in the country.

Muhammad Husni Thamrin

Program Assistant

Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit Indonesia

If you are interested in more information about our Indonesia project please visit us at www.fnsindonesia.org