Society 15 - Indonesia at Melbourne

Photo essay: women march in face of anti-feminist backlash

Following their post on the recent International Women’s Day march, Dr Monika Winarnita and Gavin Height report on the Women’s March Jakarta, which saw even greater numbers turn out for action against sexual violence.

Rejecting elections: warning signs of a dangerous trend in Bima

2019 Indonesian Elections, Elections, Policy in Focus, Politics, Religion, Security, Society

While former Muslim militants swap bullets for ballots in Central Sulawesi, a community in West Nusa Tenggara appears to be going the other way, write Ihsan Ali-Fauzi, Irsyad Rafsadie and Siswo Mulyartono.

Oligarchs, money and religion: the Indonesian elections

2019 Indonesian Elections, Analysis, Elections, Politics, Religion, Society

Professor Vedi Hadiz offers his take on the Indonesian elections, writing that the long election season has rarely been about contests between outright reformers and outright reactionaries, or between outright secularists and outright Islamists.

Talking Indonesia: 100th episode – election preview

2019 Indonesian Elections, Corruption, Elections, Media, Politics, Religion, Society, Talking Indonesia

Join Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa as they celebrate the Talking Indonesia podcast's 100th episode. The co-hosts revisit some of the major themes of the first 99 episodes, and look at how these issues will affect the 2019 elections.

An Indonesian perspective on 'Egg Boy': was he really defending Islam?

Analysis, Foreign Policy, Religion, Society

Will Connolly, the 17-year-old who egged racist Australian Senator Fraser Anning, has been celebrated in Indonesia for defending Islam. But former Australian resident Iqbal Aji Daryono writes that this interpretation is too simplistic.

The politics of fighting intolerance

Analysis, Politics, Religion, Society

Ahmad Syarif Syechbubakr writes that mainstream Muslim organisations have enthusiastically backed government efforts to fight intolerance because they are concerned about conservative groups' growing popularity, not just their intolerance.

Do Indonesians still care about human rights?

2019 Indonesian Elections, Human Rights, Society

Going by the first presidential debate on 20 January, neither candidate feels that the electorate cares much about human rights. Dr Robertus Robet and Dr Alfindra Primaldhi present survey results suggesting that Indonesians do believe human rights are important – but acceptance of rights has its limits.

Is Grace Natalie the next Ahok?

2019 Indonesian Elections, Human Rights, Politics, Religion, Society

Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) head Grace Natalie has been accused of blasphemy for remarks she made on shari'a-inspired local regulations. Is there now no room for non-Muslims to comment on religion in public? Daniel Peterson examines the case against her.

Talking Indonesia: Islamic youth movements

Politics, Religion, Society, Talking Indonesia

In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Charlotte Setijadi chats to Dr Quinton Temby about what the youth-focused revivalist movement Pemuda Hijrah and other groups like it can tell us about the type of Islam that appeals to young Indonesian Muslims.

Posted in: Society