Jul 10, 2020 Last Updated 11:50 PM, Jul 2, 2020

Inside Indonesia

National Politics

Review: Bicultural leader Siauw Giok Tjhan

Photo essay: Alive, but not living

Living in limbo Credit: Ali Froghi

Refugees in Makassar protest the sudden increase in heavy policing by immigration authorities

Mining – who benefits?

Two carts rest on a mining site path. The photo is taken at an angle where the path appears to be going down from left to right.

Mining law changes in decentralising Indonesia raises new challenges and opportunities for local communities

The life and death of Indonesia’s mineral export ban

President Joko Widodo speaks at a podium, with a red banner as a backdrop.

The Jokowi government’s policy shift contributes to pervasive regulatory ambiguity in Indonesia’s mining sector

Resource nationalism as imperialism

A worker at a mining site points to the low-hanging clouds.

Foreign investment in large-scale mining has encountered serious obstacles

Review: The ideology of the family state

David Reeve reviews David Bourchier’s important contribution to understandings of political thinking in 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

Esai: Mencari identitas, memetik I.N.D.O.N.E.S.I.A

Protesters against fuel price hike at UIN Jogja (Source: Vito Adriono, Flickr CC)

Keeping promises

A workshop focussed on revising the Indonesian disability law - Credit: ILO. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US

Disability rights activists have called on Jokowi to account for his pre-election promises

United in disappointment

Garment workers are among those who will lose out as a result of changes to the minimum wage law in Indonesia - Credit: ILO. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US.

Labour rights have suffered under the Jokowi administration

The politics of compromise

Source: Ucu Agustin

The Reconciliation Committee has dashed hopes that Jokowi could improve Indonesia’s human rights record

Human Rights under Jokowi

President Joko Widodo has many questions to answer when it comes to human rights - Credit: Eduardo M.C. (Flickr)

Jokowi’s first 15 months in office have disappointed human rights advocates

Review: Democracy, corruption and the politics of spirits in contemporary Indonesia

Elections in Indonesia. Credit: Josh Estey. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Nils Bubandt brings an exciting new approach to the study of Indonesia's politics

Petrol subsidy cuts: Taming a tricky beast

LocalTradesman_IonaMain

Petrol subsidies have gone, but at what cost to Indonesia’s poor?

Engaging young Indonesians in politics and the case of WikiDPR

A new volunteer movement is shining a light on Indonesia’s parliament and its representatives

Lessons learned from Indonesia’s conflicts: Aceh, Poso and Papua

Sidney Jones lecture

Herb Feith Annual Memorial Lecture 2014

Film review: From horror and porn stars…to Jokowi

Film jokowi landscape

KK Dheeraj’s unauthorised biopic is full of tears and belaboured symbolism

Lampung’s sugar-coated elections

Lampung’s sugar-coated elections

Sugar Group financed the election of Lampung’s new governor to secure the renewal of its land leases

Balancing business

Ford 1 FSPMI protest resize

Indonesia’s unions are engaging in electoral politics in unprecedented ways in an attempt to balance the influence of business

The business of politics in Indonesia

Warburton 1 Prabowo and Team at Senayan Rally Credit Liam Gammon

Democratic institutions are increasingly burdened by the illicit transactions and collusive practices of politico-business elites

Latest Articles

A generation of resistance

Jun 26, 2020 - IVO MATEUS GONCALVES

Students demonstrate at Santa Cruz cemetery, 12 November 1991 / Author

East Timor’s student movement and the struggle against oppression

Essay: Celebrating Imlek, Catholic style

Jun 22, 2020 - JOSH STENBERG

/ Josh Stenberg

Practices such as Imlek masses are a welcome example of tolerance and plurality

West Papua and Black Lives Matter

Jun 17, 2020 - SOPHIE CHAO

We are not monkeys / Twitter

A movement seeking justice, healing, and freedom for Black people has become a powerful rallying call for Indigenous West Papuans

Artists seek assistance

Jun 14, 2020 - RAHMADI FAJAR HIMAWAN

Several pesinden accompanying a wayang performance / Rahmadi Fajar Himawan

Javanese traditional musicians are among the many artists and performers struggling to survive, or qualify for government payments under COVID restrictions

A house of cards?

Jun 02, 2020 - YULIDA PANGASTUTI

ANTARA FOTO/Saiful Bahri/wsj

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the exploitation of non-formal early childhood educators

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