Rebecca Meckelburg: Indonesia's New Protest Movements

In late August, demonstrations against housing allowances for national parliamentarians escalated dramatically when a motorcycle delivery driver, Affan Kurniawan, caught up in the protests, was run over by a police tactical vehicle. His death, live-streamed, saw waves of protests in at least 47 Indonesian cities in a convulsion of genuine national rage and frustration. Parliaments were set on fire in at least 4 cities, police stations were attacked, and the homes of prominent political figures were looted, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. Our social media feeds were awash with footage of angry protestors and police brutality. Ibu Ana, a housewife in Jakarta, caught the national mood when she was photographed in the rain in thongs and a pink headscarf, facing down a cordon of heavily armed police officers with the Indonesian flag on a bamboo pole. Who are these protestors? How did they mobilise so fast? What do they want and how will they achieve it? Super fans of the podcast might remember Rebecca Meckelburg from a year ago when I interviewed her on agrarian change. Her view from Central Java, where she lives, complicates conventional pictures of a protest movement that spontaneously burst into view last week, originating in Jakarta and spreading out to the peripheries.

You can listen to Rebecca Meckelburg: Indonesia's New Protest Movements online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Rebecca Meckelburg: Indonesia's New Protest Movements is an episode from Talking Indonesia by Talking Indonesia.

This episode is 00:46:45 long.

This episode was published on Sep 7, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Talking Indonesia when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.