Activists in Transition: Progressive Politics in Democratic Indonesia

Activists in Transition examines the relationship between social movements and democratization in Indonesia. Collectively, progressive social movements have played a critical role over in ensuring that different groups of citizens can engage directly in-and benefit from-the political process in a way that was not possible under authoritarianism. However, their individual roles have been different, with some playing a decisive role in the destabilization of the regime and others serving as bell-weathers of the advancement, or otherwise, of Indonesia's democracy in the decades since. Equally important, democratization has affected social movements differently depending on the form taken by each movement during the New Order period. The book assesses the contribution that nine progressive social movements have made to the democratization of Indonesia since the late 1980s, and how, in turn, each of those movements has been influenced by democratization.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Terms Introduction: Social Movements and Democratization in Indonesia, by Thushara Dibley and Michele Ford 1. Student Movements and Indonesia's Democratic Transition, by Yatun Sastramidjaja 2. Democratization and Indonesia's Anticorruption Movement, by Elisabeth Kramer 3. Indonesia's Labor Movement and Democratization, by Teri L. Caraway and Michele Ford 4. Movements for Land Rights in Democratic Indonesia, by Iqra Anugrah 5. Urban Poor Activism and Political Agency in Post–New Order Jakarta, by Ian Wilson 6. Reformasi and the Decline of Liberal Islam, by Greg Fealy 7. The Women's Movement and Indonesia's Transition to Democracy, by Rachel Rinaldo 8. The Unfulfilled Promise of Democracy: Lesbian and Gay Activism in Indonesia, by Hendri Wijaya and Sharyn Graham Davies 9. Democratization and Disability Activism in Indonesia, by Thushara Dibley Conclusion: Social Movements, Patronage Democracy, and Populist Backlash in Indonesia, by Edward Aspinall List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Thushara Dibley is Lecturer in Asian Studies and Deputy Director of Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Follow her on X @thushdibley. Michele Ford is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Director of Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Follow her on X @MicheleSSEAC.

Review :
Activists in Transition is an excellent and empirically rich volume that fills in the existing gap in the scholarship of social movement and democratic transition, which is of interest to Indonesian studies, Asian studies, and comparative politics scholars alike. (Pacific Affairs)