The people of Indonesia & their culture, politics, economy and environment - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

Identity Politics

Moral politics of nationhood

Constructions of political, sexual and religious others in contemporary Indonesia

Indonesia’s diaspora citizens

A panel of six sit on a small stage in front of a banner at the 4th Congress of Indonesian Diaspora. (Yearry Panji Setianto)

After decades of neglect, Indonesia’s diaspora demands more rights

‘We are natural-born children, you are adopted’

A small wooden boat is docked on the shore, with two others in the background, in Malifut, North Halmahera. (Yefta Christiono)

Locals contest national citizenship rights in North Maluku

When ‘home’ is not home

The worn-down, wooden-plank exterior of a house, bare but for a mural of a bull on a red background - PDI-P's symbol. (Laila Kholid Alfirdaus)

Locals react coolly to ex-transmigrants who return to Java after fleeing violence elsewhere

Islam and citizenship

Speakers address Wahdah Islamiyah's members at the third 'muktamar' (congress) in Jakarta, July 2016. (Imam S/Kiblat.Net)

Organisations like Wahdah Islamiyah envision an ‘Islamic’ citizenship for Indonesia

‘I am an Indonesian citizen!’

A group of people pose smiling for someone taking a photo on their phone.

What does exercising citizenship in Indonesia's democracy look like?

Essay: Redefining Indonesia

Almost twenty years after reformasi, journalist and novelist Leila S. Chudori ponders on the successes and failures of this historic period for Indonesia

A dispensable threat

LGBT rights and recognition have been under attack in the Indonesian media, for various reasons

Book Review: Tiger Stone

Deryn Mansell’s novel opens a window into Indonesia for younger readers

My eyes may be blue, but I am Indonesian

The different and difficult experiences of Eurasian Indonesians

Jokowi for President? No!

Riverbank settlers love Jokowi, but they don’t want him to become president

Review: Jokowi: From Solo to Jakarta and beyond?

Bob Lowry reviews the memoir of the current Jakarta governor and likely frontrunner for the 2014 presidential elections

Stopping intolerance

Government must act to halt growing discrimination against minorities

Haunted house, haunted history

Lawang Sewu, an imperial temple in modern Indonesia, Michael G. Vann

Visitors to Semarang’s Lawang Sewu find competing narratives of history, memory and popular culture

What gives rise to moral outrage?

Rather than being merely the result of religious extremism, recent cases of moral outrage point to a wide range of current political and social problems

Joke of the month?

What do you get when you cross Sarah Palin and an Islamic polygamist? Meet Rhoma Irama – Indonesia’s king of dangdut

Selling nationalism

Indonesian television advertisements are constructing images of Indonesia by appropriating well-known nationalist themes

Stars and stereotypes

The big business of Indo celebrities creates illusory expectations but things may be changing

A man on a mission

From the highlands of Papua to exile in England, Benny Wenda is a leader of his people

Struggling to be young

Brotherhood among the poor urban youth of Jakarta

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Lontar Modern Indonesia

A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.