Talking Indonesia

Violent Islamist extremism has been a serious security threat in Indonesia for nearly two decades now. But while terrorist networks continue to recruit new members, there are also former militants who have turned their back on violence and terror.

What prompts such acts of disengagement? Why do some terrorists quit, while others don’t? And what can governments and peace activists learn from previous patterns of disengagement?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these issues with Associate Professor Julie Chernov Hwang, a specialist in terrorism studies and Islamist politics from Goucher College in Baltimore, and the author of ‘Why Terrorists Quit’.

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Image by Adeng Bustomi for Antara.

Young Indonesians are often misunderstood. The older generations perceive them as entitled, unmotivated, apathetic, and narcissistic, a far cry from the image of the pemuda, or the revolutionary youth who fought for the country’s independence. But what do Indonesian young people actually think about the social, political and economic issues around them? Do they care about social inequality and environmental degradation? How do their consumption patterns reflect their values and aspirations?

Dr Charlotte Setijadi discusses these issues with Dr Meghan Downes, a Melbourne-based cultural studies scholar with a special focus on the everyday politics of consumption in contemporary Indonesia.

Image: Johanes Randy Prakoso on Flickr.

Ethnic Chinese make up an estimated 1-2 percent of Indonesia's population. Of this group, a tiny minority are Muslim. As such, ethnic Chinese Muslims occupy a unique and significant position where the religious majority intersects with this ethnic minority, which has long assumed a role of economic middleman and been used as political scapegoat. In many ways Chinese Muslims in Indonesia disturb both their religious and ethnic identity groups. At its best, their position in society serves to highlight the inclusivity and diversity possible within Indonesian nationalism, and at its worst, to expose the undeniable limitations therein.

Who are Indonesia's ethnic Chinese Muslims? What is their history and situation in contemporary Indonesia? Is there a Chinese way of being Muslim? What can their story tell us about religious tolerance and cultural diversity in Indonesia today?

Jemma Purdey explores these issues with Dr Hew Wai Weng, a fellow in the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, National University of Malaysia (UKM). Photo by Masjid Cheng Ho.

The prohibition of pornography has been a hotly debated and controversial area of law in Indonesia, attracting the attention both of Islamic conservatives and activists promoting freedom of expression. Several public figures have been investigated and prosecuted under questionable circumstances, raising concerns that the law is being applied arbitrarily. Most recently, The police investigation of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab and his female follower Firza Hussein has put prohibitions of pornography back in the headlines, after police sought to question them over leaked screenshots purporting to show salacious Whatsapp chats between the two. The case has gained attention both because FPI have typically been one of the main groups pushing for pornography prosecutions, and because the investigation has been widely perceived as politically-motivated following Rizieq's role in the anti-Ahok protest movement.

How does Indonesia in fact regulate pornography, in what manner and how often have its anti-pornography laws been applied, and what determines who gets charged and convicted? How do debates over pornography reflect broader questions of morality and Islam in Indonesian society? In the first Talking Indonesia podcast episode for 2018, Dr Dave McRae explores these issues with Dr Helen Pausacker , Deputy Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS).

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Image by Herka Yanis Pangaribowo for Antara.

Vigilantism made headlines in Indonesia in 2017 owing to a spate of so-called "persecution" incidents, entailing physical intimidation or violence against online critics of prominent religious figures. But these incidents are just one manifestation of the broader phenomenon of vigilantism, which remains widespread in democratic Indonesia. How pervasive is vigilante violence, and what patterns do we see in its distribution, its perpetrators and its targets? What drives this phenomenon, and how does the state respond when citizens turn to vigilantism?

In the final Talking Indonesia episode for 2017, Dr Dave McRae explores these issues with Sana Jaffrey , PhD candidate at the University of Chicago’s Department of Political Science and a visiting fellow at the Center for Study of Religion and Democracy (PUSAD Paramadina). Sana previously led the design and implementation of the National Violence Monitoring System (NVMS) database at the World Bank during 2008-2013.

In 2017, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight - the podcast returns in 2018 on Thursday 18 January.

Photo credit: Rivan Awal Lingga for Antara Foto

In the shadow of Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown on drugs, Indonesia has been fighting its own war on drugs. Under President Joko Widodo, executions for drug traffickers were resumed and, more recently, researchers have recorded a growing number of fatal police shootings of drug suspects. As in the Philippines, the government’s hard-line stance toward drugs has broad public support, which makes it difficult for proponents of a more humane drug policy to provide effective counter-narratives. So what prompted Jokowi to declare a drug emergency in Indonesia? Have his hard-line policies achieved their intended results? And what is the future for drug policy in Indonesia?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these issues with Ricky Gunawan, a human rights lawyer and director of LBH Masyarakat, the Community Legal Aid Institute in Jakarta.

Photo: Reno Esnir for Antara Foto

October 2017 marked three years since President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo came to power. Elected in 2014 as a symbol of hope for Indonesia’s progressives, Jokowi won support with lofty promises of infrastructure building, better governance, improved welfare, and economic growth, among others. As Indonesia gears up for another round of important elections, the time is right to assess Jokowi’s leadership. Has he lived up to expectations and campaign promises? How does the Indonesian public view his presidency so far? What issues matter to them when determining who to vote for in the next presidential election?

Dr Charlotte Setijadi discusses these questions with Dr Djayadi Hanan, lecturer in political science at Paramadina University in Jakarta and executive director of Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), a leading political research and polling institute.

How does support for political Islam correlate with other political attitudes in Indonesia, such as support for decentralisation, choice of a political party, anti-Chinese sentiment, and so forth? How have the correlations between support for political Islam and other political attitudes manifested in the actual political behaviour of Indonesians, and what implications might they bear for forthcoming elections in Indonesia over the next two years?

Dr Dave McRae explores these issues with Dr Diego Fossati, research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, author of the recent paper, Support for Decentralization and Political Islam Go Together in Indonesia. The paper is based on the Indonesian National Survey Project fielded in May 2017 by the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, where Diego is also an associate fellow.

In 2017, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Photo Credit: Flickr user fra_avo under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

Last month protesters disrupted a meeting at the offices of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta)and its national umbrella body, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI). In what was a first for the NGO, police did not initially prevent the protesters from blocking meeting, an academic discussion on 1965-66. What does this attack signal for human rights and civil society in Indonesia? Is democracy in peril? In this week's podcast, host Dr Jemma Purdey explores these questions with leading human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis.

Photo: Muhammad Adimaja for Antara

In 2016, Tempo magazine named Istirahatlah Kata-Kata (Solo, Solitude) its film of the year. The  arthouse film attracted acclaim at festivals around the world, and played to packed houses in cinemas across Indonesia. Since its release, it has sparked discussion, especially among younger audiences, about its subject, poet and activist Widji Thukul,  and the mystery still surrounding his disappearance in the last weeks of the New Order. The film raises more questions that it answers about Widji’s disappearance and about the unresolved cases of human rights violations from this period in Indonesia.

What has been the response to this film in Indonesia? How can storytelling about the past through film provide new opportunities for dealing with histories that remain obscured? In this week's podcast, host Dr Jemma Purdey explores these questions with the film's director, Yosep Angi Noen.