Ian Wilson
@iwilson69.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Studies, Principal Fellow, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch Uni. ISEAS Fellow. Research urban social movements in SEA, Indonesian democracy/authoritarianism, intersections of crime, violence & politics
Why would a strongman government be rattled by a cartoon flag? Some comment for Aljazeera on the One Piece phenomenon and how it's triggered a deeper paranoia within the Prabowo administration www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...
Indonesians raise anime pirate flag in protest as nation marks independence
A Japanese cartoon pirate flag has been raised across Indonesia as a sign of growing frustration with the government.
www.aljazeera.com
August 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Why would a strongman government be rattled by a cartoon flag? Some comment for Aljazeera on the One Piece phenomenon and how it's triggered a deeper paranoia within the Prabowo administration www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...
A new piece on gangster populism in Prabowo's Indonesia
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/gangster-pop...
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/gangster-pop...
Gangster populism: political impediment or strategic asset for Prabowo?
Paramilitary mass organisations (ormas) have re-emerged in recent months as volatile high-profile actors, prompting concerns over the potential resurgence of informal coercive practices under Prabowo’...
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au
July 1, 2025 at 12:16 PM
A new piece on gangster populism in Prabowo's Indonesia
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/gangster-pop...
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/gangster-pop...
Reposted by Ian Wilson
For those in Perth, on next week
March 4, 2025 at 2:08 PM
For those in Perth, on next week
New article. Observing grassroots engagements with electoral politics I argue top-down polarization in Indonesia bares little resemblance to how identity is experienced in heterogeneous urban contexts,with marginal gropups engaging in polarisation strategically
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia Vol. 40/1 (March 2025) | ISEAS Publishing
SOJOURN is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. It publishes empirical and theoretical research articles with a view to promoting and diss...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg
March 2, 2025 at 7:53 AM
New article. Observing grassroots engagements with electoral politics I argue top-down polarization in Indonesia bares little resemblance to how identity is experienced in heterogeneous urban contexts,with marginal gropups engaging in polarisation strategically
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
From the team that brought you halal coal mining, a religious rationalisation for bribes. www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/202...
Ketua PBNU di DPR: Sogokan untuk yang Hak Dibolehkan Sebagian Ulama
Meski sebagaian ulama membolehkan. Ketua PBNU Ulil Abshar Abdalla berharap pendapat ini tidak dipakai karena bisa jadi celah bagi KPK bertindak.
www.cnnindonesia.com
January 23, 2025 at 1:12 AM
From the team that brought you halal coal mining, a religious rationalisation for bribes. www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/202...
"What Israel has done to Gaza may herald a new era of state violence with no rules and no crimes. Everything is permitted, and nothing will be prosecuted. No child is off-limits to the snipers. Missiles are programmed to home in on hospitals and doctors....
www.thenation.com/article/worl...
www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We Have a Ceasefire Deal, but This Isn’t the End
The widely reported agreement must hold. We haven’t begun to understand the full scope of the horrors Israel wrought. And Palestine is still not free.
www.thenation.com
January 16, 2025 at 6:05 AM
"What Israel has done to Gaza may herald a new era of state violence with no rules and no crimes. Everything is permitted, and nothing will be prosecuted. No child is off-limits to the snipers. Missiles are programmed to home in on hospitals and doctors....
www.thenation.com/article/worl...
www.thenation.com/article/worl...
In 2019 Pemuda Pancasila and other ormas, backed by the police, collaborated to contain GRIB. Having consolidated and with their patron now president, GRIB will be pushing hard to expand recruit in new regions. Conflicts of this kind are likely to become more frequent.
www.detik.com/jateng/berit...
www.detik.com/jateng/berit...
Ricuh Ormas PP Vs GRIB di Blora, Polisi: 12 Orang Luka
Polisi turun tangan terkait ricuh ormas Pemuda Pancasila (PP) dan Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia Bersatu (GRIB) Jaya di Blora. Polisi menyebut ada 12 korban luka.
www.detik.com
January 15, 2025 at 9:43 AM
In 2019 Pemuda Pancasila and other ormas, backed by the police, collaborated to contain GRIB. Having consolidated and with their patron now president, GRIB will be pushing hard to expand recruit in new regions. Conflicts of this kind are likely to become more frequent.
www.detik.com/jateng/berit...
www.detik.com/jateng/berit...
On the latest Talking Indonesia podcast I chat with Indo-Pacific Research Centre colleague Jacqui Baker on Indonesia's regional elections and shrinking parameters of contestation against a backdrop of elite calls for returns to direct appointments.
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/talking-indo...
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/talking-indo...
Talking Indonesia: regional elections
In this week's episode, Dr Jacqui Baker chats with Dr Ian Wilson to assess what the regional elections round up tells us about how power is being reorganised in Indonesia today.
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au
December 20, 2024 at 12:36 AM
On the latest Talking Indonesia podcast I chat with Indo-Pacific Research Centre colleague Jacqui Baker on Indonesia's regional elections and shrinking parameters of contestation against a backdrop of elite calls for returns to direct appointments.
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/talking-indo...
indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/talking-indo...
As predicted, Prabowo has wasted no time in advocating for ending direct election of regional heads. Emphasis, here at least, placed on the 'financial burden' of elections in possible wedge of popular democracy vs his expensive populist programs, aka free lunch
www.cna.id/indonesia/ak...
www.cna.id/indonesia/ak...
Akhir dari Pilkada? Prabowo lempar usul Kepala Daerah dipilih DPRD
DPR pernah menghapuskan Pilkada langsung pada tahun 2014 namun gagal setelah protes besar dari masyarakat.
www.cna.id
December 18, 2024 at 2:57 AM
As predicted, Prabowo has wasted no time in advocating for ending direct election of regional heads. Emphasis, here at least, placed on the 'financial burden' of elections in possible wedge of popular democracy vs his expensive populist programs, aka free lunch
www.cna.id/indonesia/ak...
www.cna.id/indonesia/ak...
Reposted by Ian Wilson
Today's announcement on nuclear is a distraction from Australia’s ongoing fossil fuel use and production.
It comes just one day after the approval of a 50 year extension to Australia’s largest fossil gas export plant – Woodside’s North West Shelf facility.
It comes just one day after the approval of a 50 year extension to Australia’s largest fossil gas export plant – Woodside’s North West Shelf facility.
Nuclear costings are a distraction
Today's announcement on nuclear is a distraction from Australia’s ongoing fossil fuel use and production.
australiainstitute.org.au
December 13, 2024 at 1:42 AM
Today's announcement on nuclear is a distraction from Australia’s ongoing fossil fuel use and production.
It comes just one day after the approval of a 50 year extension to Australia’s largest fossil gas export plant – Woodside’s North West Shelf facility.
It comes just one day after the approval of a 50 year extension to Australia’s largest fossil gas export plant – Woodside’s North West Shelf facility.
Prabowo's energetic approach to Indonesia's 'free active' foriegn policy may cause anxiety for Australian government & security elites yoked to US strategic interests and desire for hegemony in the region, even as the spectre of Trump unpredictability looms. Some coment for AJ.
aje.io/yf0exl
aje.io/yf0exl
Indonesia’s Prabowo steers strategic middle path amid China, US rivalry
Indonesian President Prabowo heralds new focus on foreign policy, but balancing Beijing and Washington will continue.
aje.io
December 13, 2024 at 2:24 AM
Prabowo's energetic approach to Indonesia's 'free active' foriegn policy may cause anxiety for Australian government & security elites yoked to US strategic interests and desire for hegemony in the region, even as the spectre of Trump unpredictability looms. Some coment for AJ.
aje.io/yf0exl
aje.io/yf0exl
History Indonesian I' by Slamet. Linocut print, 1994. Given to me by the artist in 1994 when he and other Indonesian left activists visited Perth, sponsored by Maritime Workers Union, for discussions on pro-East Timorese solidarity and the anti-Suharto struggle. Found it cleaning out an old locker.
November 30, 2024 at 1:58 AM
History Indonesian I' by Slamet. Linocut print, 1994. Given to me by the artist in 1994 when he and other Indonesian left activists visited Perth, sponsored by Maritime Workers Union, for discussions on pro-East Timorese solidarity and the anti-Suharto struggle. Found it cleaning out an old locker.
Looking like a first round victory to PDIP-backed candidate Pramono Anung in Jakarta's governor elections, but with the lowest election participation rates on record at just over 50% down from 72%+ in 2017. Similar low turnouts elsewhere aroind the country
November 28, 2024 at 12:55 AM
Looking like a first round victory to PDIP-backed candidate Pramono Anung in Jakarta's governor elections, but with the lowest election participation rates on record at just over 50% down from 72%+ in 2017. Similar low turnouts elsewhere aroind the country
Out in Jakarta Bay. Over the past year, our research consortium has been working with communities in North Jakarta, Central Java, and Pari Island on the front line of the climate crisis, understanding its impacts on their lives, how they are adapting and the avenues for contesting damages and loss
November 25, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Out in Jakarta Bay. Over the past year, our research consortium has been working with communities in North Jakarta, Central Java, and Pari Island on the front line of the climate crisis, understanding its impacts on their lives, how they are adapting and the avenues for contesting damages and loss
Seemingly unable to 'lengser keprabon madeg pandito', Jokowi continues to play politics campaigning for govt-backed candidates in Jakarta & Central Java. The result likely to be interpreted, in part, as reflection of his political shelf-life. Some comment for SCMP. www.scmp.com/week-asia/po...
‘Jokowi still wants action’: Indonesia polls a test of ex-leader’s clout
The country’s former president is back in the political spotlight campaigning for candidates in regional elections.
www.scmp.com
November 24, 2024 at 2:57 AM
Seemingly unable to 'lengser keprabon madeg pandito', Jokowi continues to play politics campaigning for govt-backed candidates in Jakarta & Central Java. The result likely to be interpreted, in part, as reflection of his political shelf-life. Some comment for SCMP. www.scmp.com/week-asia/po...
Indonesia's regional elections will be its largest to date. Constitutional court rulings in August supported a diverse electoral landscape however cartel-like party coalitions and deal-making have operated to constrain the parameters of contestation. Some comment:
www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-com...
www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-com...
2024/97 “More Competition, Less Opposition: Indonesia’s 2024 Regional Elections” by Ian Wilson
Indonesia’s regional elections scheduled for 27 November will be the largest in the nation’s history and the first to extend to all the country’s provinces, regencies and cities.
www.iseas.edu.sg
November 21, 2024 at 4:17 AM
Indonesia's regional elections will be its largest to date. Constitutional court rulings in August supported a diverse electoral landscape however cartel-like party coalitions and deal-making have operated to constrain the parameters of contestation. Some comment:
www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-com...
www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-com...
The Indonesian version of my politics of protection racket book has just been reprinted by MarjinKiri. Lots on the background of Indonesia's new president, and his network of gangs and gangsters. Hoping to make progress on new book on politics of coercion next year
marjinkiri.id/product/poli...
marjinkiri.id/product/poli...
Politik Jatah Preman: Ormas dan Kuasa Jalanan di Indonesia Pasca Orde Baru - Marjin Kiri
Didasarkan pada riset lapangan yang intens dan panjang, buku ini menyuguhkan analisis komprehensif mengenai hubungan yang berubah antara kelompok-kelompok preman dengan pihak berwenang dan kekuasaan p...
marjinkiri.id
November 20, 2024 at 5:06 AM
The Indonesian version of my politics of protection racket book has just been reprinted by MarjinKiri. Lots on the background of Indonesia's new president, and his network of gangs and gangsters. Hoping to make progress on new book on politics of coercion next year
marjinkiri.id/product/poli...
marjinkiri.id/product/poli...
Reposted by Ian Wilson
November 19, 2024 at 5:31 AM
Belum ketemu Prabowo/Jokowi, belum bisa dianggap calon pemenang, kata Bahlil.
Bahlil nilai pertemuan Pram-Rano dengan Anies tak ada yang istimewa - https://www.antaranews.com/berita/4470633/bahlil-nilai-pertemuan-pram-rano-dengan-anies-tak-ada-yang-istimewa
Bahlil nilai pertemuan Pram-Rano dengan Anies tak ada yang istimewa
Ketua Umum Partai Golkar Bahlil Lahadalia menilai pertemuan antara Pasangan Calon Gubernur dan Wakil Gubernur DKI Jakarta Pramono Anung-Rano Karno dan mantan ...
www.antaranews.com
November 16, 2024 at 3:10 AM
Belum ketemu Prabowo/Jokowi, belum bisa dianggap calon pemenang, kata Bahlil.
Reposted by Ian Wilson
Still looking for Southeast Asia watchers to add to my SEA Starter Pack! bsky.app/starter-pack...
Could Starter Packs be used to reverse-engineer Bluesky communities that don't yet exist?
1. create an empty starter pack for, say, Southeast Asian Politics
2. invite people to express interest in that community by requesting to join
3. presto, a curated audience, incentivizing content creation
1. create an empty starter pack for, say, Southeast Asian Politics
2. invite people to express interest in that community by requesting to join
3. presto, a curated audience, incentivizing content creation
November 15, 2024 at 12:05 AM
Still looking for Southeast Asia watchers to add to my SEA Starter Pack! bsky.app/starter-pack...
Reposted by Ian Wilson
Academics trying to figure out how to link the latest global crisis to their most recent publication
November 14, 2024 at 8:24 AM
Academics trying to figure out how to link the latest global crisis to their most recent publication
So far so good, tetapi konten/diskusi politik Indonesia masih sepi di bluesky, sepertinya. Ada yg punya list atau starterpack? Trims
November 13, 2024 at 9:57 AM
So far so good, tetapi konten/diskusi politik Indonesia masih sepi di bluesky, sepertinya. Ada yg punya list atau starterpack? Trims