From Sarekat Islam to Sarekat Rakyat: Ideological Shifts and Anti-Colonial Resistance in Early 20th-Century Banyuwangi

Abstract

In the early 20^th century, Sarekat Islam, the largest mass organization in the Dutch East Indies, confronted significant internal challenges due to communist ideological infiltration by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), sparking divisions between traditional Islamic factions and radicals, as well as elite conflicts such as those between H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto and Semaun over the political direction of the anti-colonial movement. The study scrutinizes in detail the local transformation in Banyuwangi, East Java—a peripheral region underexplored in national historiography—revealing how regional factors, such as rural economic conditions and labor influences, uniquely modified national movement dynamics. The research method employs a critical-chronological historical approach, analyzing primary sources such as ANRI colonial archives, contemporary newspapers (e.g., Djawa Tengah and Nieuwsbladen op Java), SI congress documents, and interrogation reports of figures like Aliarcham, supplemented by recent secondary sources for objective validation and narrative reconstruction. Key findings indicate that the shift to Sarekat Rakyat in 1923-1926 was driven by PKI propaganda, resulting in progressive mass actions such as labor strikes at ports and anti-land tax demonstrations in 1926, establishing Banyuwangi as a pioneering resistance hub in East Java with heightened mobilization of native populations against colonial policies like the Cultuurstelsel. In conclusion, this ideological shift from Islamic nationalism to radical socialism bolstered local independence struggles and offers valuable insights into the interplay of religion, class, and colonialism in shaping modern Indonesian national identity.