Populist Persuasion, Local Leadership, and Social Media in Indonesia

• In Event: 325. The Center Cannot Hold? Trends in Southeast Asian Politics. Sponsored by the Critical Asian Studies Journal

Abstract

By analyzing the discourses and performances of selected popular local leaders in Indonesia, this paper will highlight the role of “mediatization” in the dynamics of populist leaderships and their dominant narratives and communication strategies. Comparing five of the most popular local leaders in Indonesia—namely the governor of Jakarta (Basuki Purnama), the mayor of Bandung (Ridwan Kamil), the mayor of Surabaya (Tri Rismaharini), the regent of Bantaeng (Nurdin Abdullah), and the regent of Bojonegoro (Suyoto)—this paper emphasizes the role of social media in their populist persuasion strategies. I consider how populists utilize social media as a means of mediation to enhance their messages and personas; and I interrogate how the medium is used to respond, criticize, reframe, and take control of ‘mainstream’ media narratives. My study finds that this new populist mode of leadership constitutes a new form of politicking that is highly decentralized and fragmented in nature; and is marked by the intense engagement of the young urban middle class population. Social media has played an outsized role not only in mobilizing public support but also in popularizing various strands of populist ideology that on the one hand appear anti-elitist and appeal to the common sense of ordinary people; yet which are also potentially exclusionary and openly discriminatory in their pursuit of identity politics.

Author

• Merlyna Lim, Carleton University