Public intellectuals, media and democratization Cultural politics of the middle classes in Indonesia

• Published in: Challenging Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia pp. 24 - 59
• Main Author: Heryanto, Ariel
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Routledge 2003; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Asian studies; Authoritarianism; Culture; Democracy; Indonesia; Intellectuals; Media; Middle class; Political structures: totalitarianism & dictatorship; Protest movements; Regional geography; Jurnal Perempuan; Masyarakat Madani; Middle Class Politics; Indonesian Academics; Middle Class Intellectuals; Indonesian Women; Street Demonstrations; Student Press; Post-colonial Intellectuals; East Timor; Malaysian Middle Classes; Komnas Perempuan; Indonesian Women's Coalition; Middle Class Cultural Politics; Indonesian Middle Classes; Chandra Muzaffar; Novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Malaysian Intellectuals; Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Serikat Buruh; Arief Budiman; Contemporary Indonesia; UMNO; Utan Kayu
• ISBN: 9780415309417; 0415309417
• DOI: 10.4324/9780203208007-2

The phenomenal growth of the so-called urban middle classes in many Asian societies, following the sustained capitalist industrialization of the last quarter of the twentieth century, has been well documented. Beyond that general observation, however, we have a sea of unresolved debates about the new phenomenon, including the precise nature of the so-called middle classes, ways of studying them, and their qualitative significance to 'democratization' (itself no less popular and no less problematic). Cognizant of the complexity of the subject matter, this chapter focuses on a fairly narrow topic and scope. The bulk of it is devoted to two empirical cases where middle class politics, in particular economic and socio-cultural settings in industrializing Indonesia, made a significant contribution to the development of broad challenges to the New Order authoritarian regime (1966-98). Comparisons with the situation of neighbouring Malaysia will be offered from time to time to sharpen the issues.