Talking Indonesia

With the election just weeks away the campaign for the presidency is in full flight. The three candidates – Prabowo Subianto, Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan – are proven campaigners and already familiar faces, but as has been the case in Indonesian politics for a while now, it is the coalitions they form around their tickets that will prove decisive on election day and in the government they ultimately lead. Indeed, Prabowo’s choice of Joko Widodo’s son and current mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate is shaping up to be a strategic victory for both the Prabowo and Jokowi camps.

So, what is the state of the current campaign? What is likely to happen on and after 14 February? In the end, does it matter who wins if a coalition of opponents and other parties and interest groups will govern together anyway? What does such a state of coalitional presidentialism mean for the future of democracy in Indonesia?

In this week’s episode Jemma Purdey chats with Marcus Mietzner, Associate Professor at the Department of Political and Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. He is author of the recently published 'The Coalitions Presidents Make: Presidential Power and Its Limits in Democratic Indonesia', Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 2023.

In 2024, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episode here, subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen via your favourite podcasting app.

Image: @prabowo Instagram, 7 January 2024

Since the most recent conflict erupted between Israel and Gaza following the October 7 Hamas’ attacks and Israel’s subsequent mass bombings of the Gaza strip, the Indonesian public and government have overwhelmingly condemned Israel's actions. Like most Muslim nations around the world, Indonesia’s solidarity with Palestine is long-standing and deeply felt. Large solidarity gatherings held over the past few months and Indonesia’s diplomatic efforts on the world stage, demonstrate the importance of Palestine for how Indonesia sees its role internationally, but also in relation to politics, security and social harmony at home.

With no formal diplomatic recognition, relations between Israel and Indonesia are facilitated between third parties, and therefore direct interactions between the two peoples is rare. Yet, for Indonesians, be they Muslim or Christian, this part of the world and the idea of ‘Arabness’ holds special and sacred meaning and has a strong pull. As Indonesia’s expanding middle classes enjoy greater access to international travel, religious tourism has enabled both Muslim and Christian Indonesians to encounter Israel and Palestine firsthand.

How are movements between the two countries without official relations negotiated? What are its impacts on those who participate – the tourists, the agents and the local businesses? For those Indonesians who visit, have in-country encounters shifted perceptions and pushed back against a binary view of the Israel-Palestine conflict? What effect might the current war have on long held hopes that Indonesia can play a role as a bridge between the two sides in this intractable conflict?

Jemma Purdey explores these questions with Mirjam Lücking, who is an anthropologist working on various forms of globalized mobility, such as migration and tourism, intercultural encounters, modern religious lifestyles (in particular, Muslim and Christian), and social media in the context of transregional connections between Indonesia and the Middle East. She is the author of Indonesians and Their Arab World: Guided Mobility among Labor Migrants and Mecca Pilgrims (Southeast Asia Program Publications by Cornell University Press, 2020) and has published several articles on Muslim and Christian pilgrimage-tourism from Indonesia to Jerusalem. Her insights stem from ethnographic research in various places in Indonesia and in Israel and Palestine. Mirjam is assistant professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Munich.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Image: Indonesian pilgrims in Jerusalem / Mirjam Lücking

The Indonesian word ‘pemuda’, or young person, has a complex meaning and history. Like in other languages and cultures, the term conjures up images of change and vitality. But in Indonesia, it also carries militaristic and masculine connotations which are coloured by the way it was used during the New Order era.

In his PhD thesis at the University of Melbourne, Jonathan Tehusijarana traces the term back to the history of Tentara Pelajar, student militia units, that were active during the Indonesian War of Independence. He chats with Tito Ambyo about the fate of these Tentara Pelajar veterans, which was often determined by the needs of the political elites – some found political, intellectual and cultural success in post-war Indonesia, while others were not so fortunate.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

The choice by Indonesians to become a foreign overseas worker, known as Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI), is viewed primarily as an economic one. Working in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong or further afield in the Middle East, is perceived to offer possibilities beyond what they might hope for back home. The Indonesian government itself recognises the crucial role played by overseas migrant workers, with the World Bank estimating in 2016 that over US $8.9 billion flowed back to Indonesia via remittances.

However, it is limiting to view overseas workers' experiences purely in terms of economics. There are, of course, ongoing identity negotiations that mirror the complexities of being in a new and different land, particularly when it comes to religion and gendered expectations.

Lis Kramer's guest today, Dr Lailatul Fitriyah, has researched and published on the migrant worker experience through an intersectional lens, focusing particularly on how gender and religion shape the lived experiences of women working overseas. She gained her PhD thesis from the University of Notre Dame’ Department of Theology and she is an Assistant Professor of Interreligious Education at the Claremont School of Theology in California.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Tito Ambyo from RMIT and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Kate McGregor - Activism, Memory and Sexual Violence

During its Occupation of East Asian and Southeast Asian countries in World War II, including the Netherlands Indies, the Japanese military installed a system of enforced prostitution, known euphemistically as the ‘comfort women’ system.

Today these crimes are relatively well-known and condemned. In 1993 the Japanese state issued an apology known as the Kōno statement. In the 1980s and 1990s, a transnational activist movement which included women from Korea, Japan, the Philippines and elsewhere, began to speak out and make demands for redress. In Indonesia, however, activism on the so-called ‘comfort women’ issue was slower to emerge, faced with challenges from both inside and outside the country.

In her new book 'Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory and Sexual Violence in Indonesia', Kate McGregor takes a close look at the system itself and seeks to understand it in the context of Indonesia’s own colonial and post-colonial history. What were the social contexts in Indonesia prior to and following the Japanese Occupation in relation to women, sexual exploitation and prostitution? What did it take for the voices of these survivors to be heard? How is this period in Indonesia’s history remembered today? And what are its legacies for activism on sexual violence?

In this week's episode Jemma Purdey chats with Kate McGregor, professor of Southeast Asian history in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Lis Kramer from UNSW, Tito Ambyo from RMIT and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Image: Book cover illustration of Indonesian 'comfort women' by feminist scholar and artist Dewi Candraningrum / 'Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory and Sexual Violence in Indonesia', University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 2023.

As of July 2023, Indonesia had 139 million YouTube viewers giving it one of the biggest YouTube audiences in the world. But beyond the numbers, YouTube has also become an influential cultural force in Indonesia. 

YouTubers are shaping what we listen to and watch. YouTube food vloggers are changing the food we eat and the way we eat it. YouTube has even created a burgeoning career path for people who are finding new ways to produce and share their ideas - whether that be religious teachings, horror stories or new genres of music. 

And yet, the world of YouTube in Indonesia still remains under-researched on the international stage. 

In this podcast, Tito Ambyo chats with panelists at the Indonesia Council Open Conference at the University of Sydney in September 2023. Andina Dwifatma is a PhD candidate at Monash University who is researching Islamic web series in Indonesia. Erika Suwarno is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne who is looking at the early history of YouTube in Indonesia. Dr William Yanko is a researcher best known for his research on Indonesian Hip-Hop.

Together, they explore questions about YouTube in Indonesia: what is it, what does it look like, and what does it mean to be a YouTube researcher. 

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales and Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University.

Indonesia has sadly been the site of many crimes and mass atrocities, but uncovering all the details is fraught with challenges. How many people were killed or injured? Who was at fault? Who was in charge?

And yet, as long as these events are shrouded in mystery, wrongdoing can go unpunished, victims stay unheard and we are unable to learn from our collective mistakes.

In this podcast, Jacqui Baker chats with writer and law student Aisyah Llewellyn. Aisyah is a former diplomat who started her own true crime newsletter and podcast called Hukum. She is currently completing her second bachelor's degree in Indonesian law in North Sumatra.

In her career, Aisyah has closely reported on many crimes and two mass violations of human rights. Most recently, in Kanjuruhan, where 135 people were killed last October when police fired tear gas into an overcrowded football stadium.

But her most detailed long term investigation has focused on the mass atrocities committed in Aceh. These crimes were carried out by the Indonesian military, but aided and abetted by Exxon Mobil, who were operating the lucrative Arun gas field in Aceh. These events would trigger Aceh’s 30 year long secessionist movement.

In this podcast we talk about what justice looks like after the mass atrocities, like in Aceh and Malang. We also segway into Aisyah's other fascination - Indonesian shamanic serial killers.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Photo by Moch Asim for Antara.

Indonesia is the largest Muslim majority country in the world, but it is not an Islamic state. The place of Islam within the state has been contested over the years, with proponents for and against a larger role for Islam in government and in the lives of citizens. The groups who advocate for a more prominent role for Islam occupy a wide spectrum of ideologies, approaches, and tactics. In the post-Soeharto era, terrorist acts have drawn attention through a handful of small, but committed, jihadist organisations mounting bombings at a variety of sites including churches, hotels, and, perhaps most famously, Balinese bars.

In this episode we talk about pathways to extremism. Why do some people gravitate towards, and join, religious extremist organisations? How can we understand the difference between extremist and terrorist groups? And what important role do social relationships play in facilitating memberships and networks in this context?

In this week's episode, Elisabeth Kramer chats with guest Dr Julie Chernov Hwang, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Goucher College in Maryland. She’s especially interested in how social networks facilitate entry into and exit from jihadist groups in Southeast Asia. She’s the author of a number of books including Why Terrorists Quit, published by Cornell University Press in 2018 and her most recent book is Becoming Jihadis: Radicalization and Commitment in Southeast Asia, published this year by Oxford University Press.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University and Dr Elisabeth Kramer from UNSW.

Image by Masjid Pogung Dalangan from Unsplash.

Caption: Close-up of hands held up in Islamic prayer.

Joko Widodo’s recent trip to four African countries marked the first ever by an Indonesian head of state. The President’s five-day visit took him to Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, before finishing in South Africa where he attended the meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group of nations in Johannesburg. In his address to the BRICS conference Jokowi evoked the ‘spirit of Bandung’ in reference to the Asia-Africa conference held in the West Java capital in 1955 and called for solidarity and cooperation between the nations of the Global South. But Indonesia stopped short of accepting an invitation to join the expanding group, which is seen as a potential challenge or alternative to Western hegemony in a changing new world order.

So, what motivated such a high-level trip to Africa? Why did Jokowi choose to make such an historic visit at this stage in his presidency? What is the current state of Indonesia-Africa relations and what might Indonesia’s ambitions be for its future in the continent?

In this week's episode Jemma Purdey chats with Dr Christophe Dorigné-Thomson who holds a PhD in Politics from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Universitas Indonesia, and a Master in Business/Management (Grande Ecole Programme) with a major in Finance from ESSEC Business School. His research focuses on foreign policy (Indonesia, Asia-Africa, and European nations notably); political economy; external powers’ engagement with Africa, Asia, and Europe, including political, economic, and defense and security approaches; and Indonesian, Asia-Africa, and Western politics. His forthcoming book, Indonesia's Engagement with Africa, will be published in 2023 by Palgrave Macmillan.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Tito Ambyo from RMIT and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Image: Antara/Press Bureau of Presidential Secretariat

Caption: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) and his host Mozambique President Filipus Nyusi wear traditional headbands as they attend the opening of the National Festival of Culture at Red Bulls Association Field in Maputo on Aug. 23, 2023.

Indonesians around the world will celebrate Independence Day in a range of ways on 17 August. Some will hold festivals in big cosmopolitan cities, serving Indonesian food to hungry diasporas, while Indonesian villagers will hold traditional celebrations with simple games and competitions, like tug of war and kerupuk eating. Many of these traditions have changed little since the New Order era. This leads us to ask, what should we think about independence in the context of Indonesia today?

We see that 78 years after Soekarno proclaimed independence in 1945 – Indonesians are still asking the question “sudahkah kita merdeka?” – are we truly independent yet? The question is asked so often it has become a cliché, but now many academics and activists are engaging with the question more seriously through frameworks and theories of decoloniality.

In this week’s episode of Talking Indonesia, Tito Ambyo chats with Tamara Soukotta, who recently defended her PhD thesis at the International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. In her thesis, she argues that to understand the Ambon conflicts that started in 1999, we need to view the conflict through a lens of decoloniality. Moreover, to be able to understand the processes of peacebuilding after the war, we also need to look at these events as decoloniality in praxis. In this episode, Tamara tells us about her research and shares her thoughts on celebrating Independence Day critically and decolonially - which is harder than it sounds.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Photo by Mo from Flickr.