Rags to riches: A critical analysis of social mobility discourse, ideology and power in neoliberal Indonesia
The discourse of social mobility has become a central tenet of democratic societies worldwide. Commonly deployed as a panacea for inequality and source of social justice, the discourse can conceal and even perpetuate inequalities. Intertwined with neoliberal ideology, social mobility discourse is contextually contingent, manifesting differently according to local conditions. This paper critically analyses social mobility discourse in the Indonesian context through 'rags to riches' stories of female celebrities in media interviews. Applying a contextually sensitive approach to agency within a CDA framework, this paper contributes new knowledge to the study of social mobility discourse in the Global South. The findings illustrate the pervasiveness of neoliberalism and its coalescence with local ideologies of gender, class and place, and how upwardly mobile women deploy ideological resources to create a mobility niche. The discourse strategies they use legitimise their mobility but reproduce unequal relations of power, undermining the objectives of social mobility.
Challenging the elite-public divide; Representing former Indonesian first lady, Ani Yudhoyono in online news discourse
Women in politics invariably attract heightened levels of attention due to their marked difference to the masculine political norm. With the rise of social media and online news, political women can achieve visibility, but also experience even more intense scrutiny. Former first lady, Ani Yudhoyono became an iconic figure in the lead up to the 2014 Indonesian presidential election, through her association with her husband’s flailing presidency, and as a high-profile political woman involved in social media blunders. Using critical discourse analysis, specifically social actor analysis, this paper examines the discursive strategies engaged by the mainstream Indonesian online news media to malign Ani Yudhoyono, and draw a wedge between her and the Indonesian public, which in turn undermined her husband’s presidency. The analysis highlights the role of online news media discourse in shaping power relations and ideological groupings, as well as the role of first lady as a target of political contestation.
Conveying Emotion in the Poetry of Norman Erikson Pasaribu: Review of Tiffany Tsao's Translation of Sergius Seeks Bacchus
Members of the LGBT community occupy an extremely precarious position in Indonesia's post-authoritarian social-political landscape. As a nation historically built on family values, hegemonic heteronormativity continues to suppress the true cultural, religious, ethnic, and indeed, sexual and gender diversity of Indonesia. Identifying as a gay, ethnic Batak Christian, the poet, Norman Erikson Pasaribu lives as a triple minority in Majority Muslim, Java-centric, heteronormative Indonesia. In Sergius Mencari Bacchus (Sergius Seeks Bacchus), Pasaribu presents a series of heart-felt poems, and a very human account of the impact of living under conditions of extreme prejudice. Tiffany Tsao's English translation of his compilation of Indonesian poetry represents an important literary contribution to international understandings of the struggle of members of Indonesia's LGBT community. Tsao's translation thus becomes a direct line between Pasaribu and the wider English-speaking international community, as he expresses the human impact of multiple, often intersecting layers of oppression from society, church and most sadly, the intimate realm of the family.
Kartini, Online Media, and the Politics of the Jokowi Era: A Critical Discourse Analysis
The indigenous education activist and feminist of the late Dutch colonial era, R.A. Kartini, has remained an enduring public icon for more than a century. While celebrated as a national hero in Indonesia, like many iconic women of the Global South, Kartini’s symbolic force has been readily appropriated for political ends. As a ‘floating signifier’, her image absorbs fluctuating meanings and ideologies, making the analysis of her representation at a given point in time a valuable approach to political analysis. This article focuses on Kartini’s portrayal in the second term of the Jokowi presidency in mainstream Indonesian online media discourse. Recognising the dialectical relationship between the online news media and dominant political discourse, we use critical discourse analysis to identify and examine the mainstream ideologies embedded in the news media’s representations of Kartini. Our analysis provides a snapshot of dominant Indonesian political discourse, revealing a set of intersecting ideologies: conservative feminism, neoliberalism, softened Islamic piety, and perfunctory nationalism.
Strategies of ideological polarisation in the online news media: A social actor analysis of Megawati Soekarnoputri
This article examines strategies of ideological polarisation in the discourse of the Indonesian online news media site, Kompas.com. Applying Van Leeuwen’s model of social actor analysis and van Dijk’s concept of the ideological square, the study focuses on the representation of Megawati Soekarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as an icon of ideological contestation during the 2014 presidential election. Situated in the era of digital platform convergence, the analysis uncovers a pattern of strategically ambiguous representations of Megawati and her apparently transgressive actions and interactions. This practice entices readers to ‘read between the lines’ and activate their ideological repertoire to determine in-group and out-group members. It also enables Kompas.com to pursue commercial objectives and navigate journalistic constraints by obscuring explicitly ideological content. The implications are discussed in terms of the impact of online news media discourse upon democratic political engagement, and women’s political participation.
Gender, media, and populism: The vilification of first lady Ani Yudhoyono in the Indonesian online news media
Women in politics invariably attract heightened levels of attention due to their marked difference from the masculine political norm. With the rise of social media and online news, political women can achieve visibility, but also experience more intense scrutiny. Former first lady, Ani Yudhoyono, became an iconic figure in the lead-up to the 2014 Indonesian presidential election, through association with her husband's flailing presidency and as a high-profile political woman on social media. Using critical discourse analysis, specifically social actor analysis, this paper examines the discursive strategies deployed by the mainstream Indonesian online news media to malign Ani Yudhoyono and draw a wedge between her and the Indonesian public, in turn undermining her husband's presidency. The analysis highlights the role of online news media discourse in shaping power relations and ideological groupings, as well as the role of first lady as an enduring source of political contestation.
Women, Media, and Power in Indonesia
This book demonstrates the crucial link between gender and structures of power in democratic Indonesia, and the role of the online news media in regulating this relationship of power. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical framework, and social actor analysis as the methodological approach, this book examines the discursive representation of three prominent female Indonesian political figures in the mainstream Indonesian online news media in a period of social-political transition. It presents newfound linguistic evidence in the form of discourse strategies that reflect the women's dynamic relationship with power. More broadly, the critical analysis of the news discourse becomes a way of uncovering and evaluating implicit barriers and opportunities affecting women's political participation in Indonesia and other Asian political contexts, Indonesia's process of democratisation, and the influential role of the online news media in shaping and reflecting political discourse.