Memo #109
By Sheri L. Gibbings – sherigibbings [at] gmail.com
Today, talk of democracy and what constitutes a public good is common in Indonesia among people from all walks of life. In her brief interview, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sheri L. Gibbings discusses a group of street vendors in Yogyakarta City who have taken up the cause of democracy and transparency.
She describes how street vendors in post-authoritarian Indonesia have – surprisingly – moved from the margins of politics into the mainstream media. They have taken up the ideals of transparency and democracy. They are involved in debates over how to reveal the hidden actors (“unseen powers”) in Indonesian politics and how they can reassert their political rights.
She discusses one individual, Arif, who has become a ‘democratic detective,’ as he tries to bring about transparency in the newspapers through indirect accusations.
Studying street vendors has allowed Dr. Gibbings to see how democratic change is as much about institutional transformation as it is about the creation of new meanings and identities in the city.
Part 1 – Democratization in Indonesia (1:28 min)
Part 2 – Arif, a ‘democratic detective’ (1:37 min)
Part 3 – Future for Arif and democracy in Indonesia (1:16 min)
Part 4 – Democracy doesn’t have a particular meaning (1:23 min)
Part 5 – Applying democracy at the local level (0:52 min)
Part 6 – Thank you to those who helped me with my research (in bahasa Indonesian) (0:36 min)
About the Interviewee:
Sheri L. Gibbings – SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Asian Research, The University of British Columbia.
Link:
- Figures of Indonesian Modernity, Book by Joshua Barker and Johan Lindquist, April 2009. (Features Sheri Gibbings’ work on the urban figure of the street vendor in Indonesia).
Related Memos:
- Our other Memos about Indonesia