Urban Poor Activism and Political Agency in Post–New Order Jakarta

Author(s):  
Ian Wilson

This chapter explains that the urban poor played a significant role in the protests that brought down Suharto. Then, after 1998, some organizations emerged that supported the urban poor in their efforts to reform their local communities. But there was no coherent movement during the New Order, nor has there been since. Instead, the urban poor have had to look after themselves, engaging in the politics of the everyday and using defensive forms of action to protect their gains and respond to impending threats. The most significant change since democratization has been the recognition of the urban poor as a voting constituency. Nevertheless, in the absence of a political party with a particular and demonstrated interest in the politics of the poor, activism in support of the urban poor remains fragmented and confined primarily to individual rather than collective action.

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Cahyo Susilo

This research illustrated the historical event in Indonesia, especially in 1990s period. The study examined the development of People Democratic Party as one of the political parties in the New Order regime. This research-based on the author’s interest in the pro-democracy movement’s widespread in Indonesia, evidenced by the resistance movement of peoples, in this case, is the People Democratic Party. The study aimed to identify programs and strategies of the People Democratic Party to build a pro-democracy movement in the 1996-1999 period. The author used the historical method. People Democratic Party was one of the political party which develop at that time and had a political movement to subvert a New Order regime. People Democratic Party often referred to as a radical political party, because of the political program that confronted the New Order regime namely to eliminate the Indonesian National Armed ForcesDual function, to eliminate a five-pack of Political Act and Timor-Timur referendum. The impact, People Democratic Party regarded as a forbidden party and accused as the actor behind July 27th 1996 tragedy. After the tragedy, the People Democratic Party arose with people’s committees. The four elements of People Democratic Party namely (1) the urban poor, (2) workers, (3) youth people, (4) PDI-Megawati supporters. After 1998 Reformation, People Democratic Party declared as a legal party and has participated as a contestant of 1999 electoral. People Democratic Party argued that the Electoral system is a moment for campaigning political programs. Several thingsin the campaign was about amnesty for political prisoners, completion of Civil Rights violation cases, and people’s political rights.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Prabin Bhusal ◽  
Naya Sharma Paudel ◽  
Anukram Adhikary ◽  
Jisan Karki ◽  
Kamal Bhandari

This paper highlights the lessons of using adaptive learning in community forestry that effectively help to resolve forest based conflicts in Terai region of Nepal. The paper is based on a three-year action research carried out in Terai. Qualitative methods including participatory rural appraisal tools and documentation of engaged action and reflections were used. Methods and tools that largely fall under adaptive learning were deployed. The field data was complemented by review of secondary data and literature on environmental history of Terai. We found that policies on land and forest in Terai for the last fifty years have induced and aggravated conflicts over access and control between state and communities and also within diverse groups of local communities. These conflicts have had serious negative impacts on sustainable management of forests and on local people’s livelihoods, particularly resource poor and landless people. Centralised and bureaucratic approaches to control forest and encroachment have largely failed. Despite investing millions of Rupees in maintaining law and order in forestlands, the problem continues to worsen often at the cost of forests and local communities. We found that transferring management rights to local communities like landless and land poor in the form of community forestry (CF) has induced strong local level collective action in forest management and supported local livelihoods. Moreover, adding adaptive learning, as a methodological tool to improve governance and enhance local level collective action significantly improves the benefit of CF. It implies that a major rethinking is needed in the current policies that have often led to hostile relationships with the local inhabitants- particularly the illegal settlers. Instead, transferring forest rights to local communities and supporting them through technical aspects of forest management will strengthen local initiatives towards sustainable management of forests.


Author(s):  
Matthew S. Seligmann

As this book has shown the common conception that ‘Churchill’s “radical phase” was cast to the winds’ when he was put in charge of the Navy in October 1911, although well established in the literature, is not, in fact, accurate.1 The radical President of the Board of Trade, eager to improve the lives of the poor, became the radical Home Secretary, no less enthusiastic for social reform, who then became the radical First Lord of the Admiralty, imbued with both a desire and, perhaps more importantly, a will to intervene in order to better conditions for those who served in the Royal Navy. Accordingly, he embarked upon a major programme of improvement across a wide range of different areas all of which affected the everyday life of sailors. Alcohol intake, sexual behaviour, religious practice, corporal punishment, as well as pay and equality of progression, all came under the spotlight while Churchill was First Lord. Of course, not all of the new measures were successful and not all were progressive in the modern understanding of the term, but all of them represented significant attempts to push forward a radical agenda for change....


2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 661-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Keefer

Epic redistributive struggles between the rich and poor lie at the heart of prominent theories of economic development and the emergence of democracy (e.g., Boix 2003; Acemoglu and Robinson 2006). The poor pursue democracy to secure credible redistribution away from wealthy elites; elites, fearing redistribution, but also the costs of revolution, decide whether to repress these efforts or to surrender to them. These theories, and the historical examples of working classes exacting redistributive or political concessions from elites, have been interpreted as suggesting that inequality and redistributive struggles should be central features of development and democratization. Where inequality is high, democracy should be unlikely to emerge, or to emerge and be unstable. Because elites in unequal societies are unwilling to adopt institutions that encourage growth and investment (such as institutions that protect non-elites from predation by elites), incomes should be lower as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujayita Bhattacharjee ◽  
Sanjukta Sattar

PurposeThe lives of the poor in the urban spaces of India are filled with hardships. They live amidst poverty and struggle to survive within other problems such as insecure jobs, lack of proper housing, unsanitary conditions and low levels of health immunity. This vulnerable section of the population has been rendered furthermore vulnerable by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that were never imagined before. Taking this into consideration, the purpose of this article is to examine the vulnerability of the poor in the urban settings of India with special reference to Mumbai in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted in the study is based on the analysis of secondary data and content analysis of the existing literature. In addition to this, the study also makes use of certain narratives of the urban poor in Mumbai that have been captured by various articles, reports and blogs.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal how the urban poor of India, with special reference to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has emerged as the worst sufferers of the socioeconomic crisis caused by the social distancing and lockdown measures imposed for combating the pandemic.Originality/valueThe study tries to explore the reality of the urban poor's right to the city in the wake of the pandemic.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Salcedo ◽  
Alejandra Rasse

This paper addresses the scholarly debate on cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity of urban poor families. While authors such as Lewis (1959) or Wacquant (2000 ; 2001) claim that structural disadvantages are linked to a particular type of identity or culture, others such as Hannerz (1969) , Anderson (1999 ; 2002) , or Portes ( Portes and Manning, 1986 ; Portes and Jensen, 1989 ) believe that it is possible to find different behaviors, expectations, decision–making processes, and outcomes among people living in seemingly identical structural conditions ( Small et al., 2010 ). Using Santiago, Chile, as a case study, we differentiate five different cultures or identities among the poor. Those identities seem to be the product of different historical and political circumstances, as well as of different types of public policies. The paper ends with a discussion of the need for poverty reduction policies to consider these differences among the poor.


Author(s):  
Meilan Sugiarto ◽  
Herri Sofyan ◽  
Herlina Jayadianti ◽  
Rudi Wibowo

There Improvements in the local economy, especially for the poor through open and sustainable tourism management, are believed to be achieved through the empowerment of the tourism sector. Mapping the potential of village tourism in the Triharjo village area is one of the essential things. Identification and mapping of village tourism potential needed in order to implementation community-based tourism (CBT). This research aims to identifying and mapping the potential of village tourism in order to produce a profile of village tourism potential and identify opportunities for developing village tourism potential. The object of this study is Triharjo village, Pandak District, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach. Collecting data in this study used several research instruments, such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), observations, and document studies. Based on research finding while the communities and local governments of Triharjo village recognize that not all village tourism potentials are well managed. The results of the mapping of village tourism potential provide them that the involvement of local communities in the planning and management of a village tourism potential is needed and have a positive impact on the longterm. The empowerment of the local economy, especially the poor, is believed to be achieved through the empowerment of the tourism sector. Community-based tourism emphasizes community ownership and active participation, provides education to local communities, promotes and protection of culture and the environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-43
Author(s):  
George Okello Candiya Bongomin ◽  
John C. Munene ◽  
Joseph Mpeera Ntayi ◽  
Charles Akol Malinga

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish the mediating role of collective action in the relationship between financial intermediation and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses structural equation modeling (SEM) through bootstrap approach constructed using analysis of moment structures to test for the mediating role of collective action in the relationship between financial intermediation and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Besides, the paper adopts Baron and Kenny’s (1986) approach to establish whether conditions for mediation by collective action exist.FindingsThe results revealed that collective action significantly mediates the relationship between financial intermediation and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. The findings further indicated that the mediated model had better model fit indices than the non-mediated model under SEM bootstrap. Furthermore, the results showed that both collective action and financial intermediation have significant and direct impacts on financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda. Therefore, the findings suggest that the presence of collective action boost financial intermediation for improved financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda.Research limitations/implicationsThe study used quantitative data collected through cross-sectional research design. Further studies through the use of interviews could be adopted in future. Methodologically, the study adopted use of SEM bootstrap approach to establish the mediating effect of collective action. However, it ignored the Sobel’s test and MedGraph methods. Future studies could adopt the use of alternative methods of Sobel’s test and MedGraph. Additionally, the study focused only on semi-formal financial institutions. Hence, further studies may consider the use of data collected from formal and informal institutions.Practical implicationsPolicy makers and managers of financial institutions should consider the role of collective action in promoting economic development, especially in developing countries. They should create structures and design financial services and products that promote collective action among the poor in rural Uganda.Originality/valueAlthough several scholars have articulated financial inclusion based on both the supply and demand side factors, this is the first study to test the mediating role of collective action in the relationship between financial intermediation and financial inclusion of the poor in rural Uganda using SEM bootstrap approach. Theoretically, the study combines the role of collective action with financial intermediation to promote financial inclusion. Financial intermediation theory ignores the role played by collective action in the intermediation process between the surplus and deficit units.


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