The paper shows that though it is impossible to determine why exactly Indonesia, at least for the past two generations, has
seemingly laid an irresistible spell on the
anthropological world, it is possible to suggest some of the reasons. This paper examines the corner of the state of anthropological practice and theory as they pertain to Indonesia and how these have created intimate links between symbolic
anthropology and Indonesian ethnography. The paper discusses how many fine ethnographies have been produced as a direct result of anthropologists' theoretical and paradigmatic interest in Indonesia, of the fact both that anthropological discourse can be seen as a subset of human imaginings and as a result of the fact that some places seem to be better to dream in. The paper examines Tania Murray Li's article "Compromising Power: Development, Culture and Rule in Indonesia" in Volume 13, No. 3 of Cultural Anthropology, on the subject.