THE AMBIVALENCE OF NEW MEDIA IN POST-SUHARTO INDONESIA: PROPAGANDA, RESISTANCE, EMPOWERMENT Workshop at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, 24 February 2015 (place and time to be defined) Indonesians are among the top-users of new and social media worldwide. Moreover, an increasing number of people has Internet access via hand phones, which makes such projects highly mobile.Media – once the cornerstone of national unity – are increasingly used in post-Suharto Indonesia by different groups to push through their political and economic interests, spread propaganda, resist the state, fight for their rights, or as weapon in a regional conflict. New media channels of the era reformasi are ideal to circulate ideas, mobilize people and build up networks. The workshop wants to shed light on the ambivalence of the emerging media scenes by exploring the following main themes: 1) New media and propaganda. The Internet has become an important alternative medium besides print media to distribute and circulate propaganda; new media are used to produce and distribute viral information on politics, manage social movement networks, instill fear into political opponents and exert symbolic violence. Sectarianism in radical political groups (right wing fascist and radical religious groups) is thus rising significantly in the public sphere, which has its effects on political participation and public action in a plural and multicultural Indonesia. Contributions to this section shall explore the process of accommodation, resistance and modification of violent and radical discourse in new media in Indonesia. 2) New media and empowerment: Recent democratisation processes in the country led to the gradual adoption of international policies on cultural human rights, the re-constitution of the original autonomy of local communities, their reclaiming of resources, and an expanding media scene. New media are increasingly used by marginalized groups such as indigenous people to raise public awareness about their situation, fight for their rights and link up with the global indigenous movement. At the same time, media are used to further marginalise and stereotype indigenous peoples.Contribution to this section explore those dynamics and critically reflect on what indigenous means in the mediascapes in focus. Contributions are welcome that cover one of those themes or the broader theme of the workshop. A focus will be on new (integrative) media, such as websites, social media and mobile media/phones. We call for contributions that (aim to) analyse such media projects in their own terms, but also look at their embeddedness in specific sociocultural contexts and the broader Indonesian media landscape. We would like to invite both scholars and media activists to join us at UI! Please let us know by January 30 whether you are interested in joining our discussions or presenting a paper. If the latter, please also send an abstract of appr. 300 words and a short biosketch (150 words including institutional affiliation) to the workshop organizers (imam.ardhianto[at]gmail and Birgitbraeuchler[at]gmx.net).The workshop is organized by Imam Ardhianto, head of the researchcluster media, culture and politics at the Anthropology Department at Universitas Indonesia, JKT, and Birgit Bräuchler, visiting professor at the Anthropology Department of Frankfurt University, Germany, with a research focus on media, conflict, peace and traditional justice.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 02:31:18 +0000
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