Indonesia Forum Public Lecture. “The State of Politics in Indonesia and the Prospects for 2019: A Comparative View”

Indonesia Forum Public Lecture. “The State of Politics in Indonesia and the Prospects for 2019: A Comparative View”

Emeritus Professor Richard Robison

Discussant: Professor Andrew Rosser

Date: Monday, 5 November 2018, 5.15-7.30 pm
Location: Room 553 (Discursive Space) Arts West (Building 148)
The University of Melbourne, Parkville

The public lecture tries to look at the underlying structures of politics in Indonesia and the prospects for 2019 and beyond by comparing it with other countries not only in Southeast Asia but also in the Middle East. This can be a useful way to draw out the specific dynamics of politics in Indonesia and its political economy. The questions put forward in the discussion would be: does Joko Widodo’s populist politics which has now turned into authoritarian tendency represent a political phenomenon that is unique and if so, why this is the case? Will someone like Rodrigo Duterte ever emerge in Indonesia? What is the possibility that Indonesia might follow the Thai example of return to military rule? Or, could the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan political model ever take root in Indonesia?

Short Biography

Professor Richard Robison is Emeritus Professor in the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University. He was Professor of Political Economy at the Institute for Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands (2003-2006). He extensively published books on Indonesian politics and Asia, including Indonesia: The Rise of Capital (1986), The Political Economy of South-East Asia: Conflict, Crisis and Change (2001), Political Economy of Aid Industry in Asia (2014, with J. Hutchison, W. Hout, and C. Hughes).

Professor Andrew Rosser is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne.

The State of Politics in Indonesia and the Prospects for 2019: A Comparative View (1.3Mb pdf)