2024 AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies - 4th Annual
“Indonesia Ascendant?”
June 18-22, 2024 (Virtual)
The conference theme in 2024 highlights how Indonesia has experienced a kind of ascendance on the global stage that is drawing a lot of attention and interest. Notably, Indonesia’s success stands out compared to other contexts as the nation continues to be a global exemplar of religious pluralism and democracy. And yet there is a sense of the Indonesian project being somehow “unfinished,” stuck, or backsliding in some ways. What progress (kemajuan) has been made and how do we know? In environmental management, Indonesia is either on the cusp of fulfilling great opportunity as a leader in global climate change or of resource degradation and collapse. Inspired images of the plan to construct a national eco-capital city, Nusantara, symbolizes Indonesia’s sustainable future but contrasts with continued dependence of resource extraction evident from the many coal barges pummeling past the banks of the Mahakam river.
A discourse of Indonesia’s ascendance suggests there is great change on the horizon: hopes for a just transition of power, improvements in the downstream impact of governance and policy (hilirisasi), decreased forms of digital authoritarianism and legal discrimination, sustainable development achievements, an expanded role for women across professions and in public life, and strengthened relationships between civil society and the state. There is a great sense of creative energy within Indonesia, and as a by-product, within Indonesian Studies. Poverty pressing with genius, a landscape in which people are emboldened to assemble things together in new ways, not just as a means of survival but a reflection of innovation and resilience.
Highlights included:
Opening plenary performance and short documentary presented by the hip-hop group RAPublik North Maluku as they reflect on “Cultural Resistance to the 1999-2000 Religious Conflict Narrative in North Maluku.” The artists shared music and stories that have served to reduce conflict narratives in the region, replacing them instead with peaceful narratives that build unity and solidarity across lines of religious difference through new music and shared oral traditions.
Featured panel highlighting “Perspectives on the 2024 Indonesian National Elections” with Thomas Pepinsky (Cornell University), Eunsook Jung (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Clarice Handoko (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Rafif Imawan (Northern Illinois University), and moderated by Ehito Kimura (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa).
Keynote presentation by Nancy Lee Peluso (University of California, Berkeley) speaking about "Remittance Houses on Forest Land in Java: A Plantation-Migration Nexus.”
Special talk with acclaimed writer and Indonesian cultural figure Goenawan Mohamad (Tempo), speaking on the subject of “Indonesia: Masa Jokowi dan Sesudahnya.” A conversation about Indonesia Post-Jokowi, moderated by Robert Hefner (Boston University).
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