Religion in Indonesia's Elections: An Implementation of a Populist Strategy?

In Indonesia's political strategic environment, Islamic narratives have been among the main narratives, but have not always been dominant. The 2014 presidential election displayed the beginning of a rising trend of Islamic narratives within the political context in Indonesia. Since then Islamic narratives influenced the strategy of Indonesia's populist leaders, as particularly seen during the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election and 2019 presidential election. This paper analyzes how populism as a strategy was used in recent Indonesian elections. For this purpose, it uses the conception of populism as a political strategy proposed by Weyland. Building on this approach, the paper explains the strategic adjustments made in the use of populism from 2014, 2017, and 2019 in Indonesian political events. It argues that the strategic environment faced by populist actors in Indonesia's 2019 election affected their decision to choose Islamic narratives as an instrument for mass mobilization.

Taxes in the Time of Revolution: An Experimental Test of the Rentier State during Algeria's Hirak

In this paper we examine the rentier thesis that a state's control over oil resources should help it resist calls for democratization. During Algeria's mass mobilization for regime change known as the Hirak in 2019, we implemented an interactive experimental treatment providing specific information about the Algerian government's high subsidies of gasoline and low value-added taxes with regional comparisons. Based on a sample of 5,968 Algerians, we find that when Algerians learn about their country's relatively high level of fuel subsidies and low level of taxes, their assessments of the government's performance improves; however, we do not see similar patterns for respondents' expressed intention to join the protests due to treatment heterogeneity defined by respondent wealth. Wealthier respondents report lower protest intentions upon learning about the scope of the rentier state, whereas poorer respondents report much higher protest intentions upon receiving the treatment. As a result, we find that the rentier state may be capable of improving perceptions of regime performance, yet still permit mass mobilization if there are class differences in the perceived benefits derived from redistribution.

Socio-economic inequality: essence, cyclicality of the dynamics

The article considers socio-economic inequality as a social phenomenon inherent in all historical forms of society, which is characterized by the exploitation of wide circles of population by the elite. It is generated by the basic economic law of each historical form of antagonistic society and is expressed in the periodic aggravation of class contradictions. The most important component of social inequality in capitalist society is economic inequality. There is a relationship between the economic growth and inequality of income that S. Kuznets was one of the first to prove. P. Sorokin, justifying the hypothesis of the cyclicality of fluctuations in the average level of welfare and income within a certain society, appealed to the existence of "small business cycles", and explained by the existence of Kondratiev waves the tendency towards the increase in the average level of income and welfare, manifested in the second half of XIX century in some countries. The author analyzes the close relationship between the dynamics of inequality and social processes, whose driving force is violence – "four horsemen of the equalization": the war with mass mobilization, the transformational revolution, the decay of the state and the lethal pandemic, – as established by W. Scheidel; it is the "four horsemen of the equalization" that reduce the gap between rich and poor, that is, the social inequality is temporarily smoothed destructively. It has been established that during large-scale wars, revolutions, the destruction of states there is a permission of cyclically exacerbating contradictions of social development, which generate the deployment of long-term socio-economic cycles (cycles of changing the forms of society; hegemony establishment cycles in the world-system, long political cycles, Kondratiev waves, etc.). Therefore, the changes in the levels of socio-economic inequality generated by these "horsemen of the equalization" are also cyclic.

Industrialization and Democracy

I provide a new theory of the relationship between economic development and democracy. I argue that a large share of employment in manufacturing (i.e., industrialization) makes mass mobilization both more likely to occur and more costly to suppress. This increases the power of the masses relative to autocratic elites, making democracy more likely. Novel manufacturing employment data for 145 countries over 170 years (1845--2015) supports this hypothesis. First, all highly developed countries in the West and East Asia democratized when approximately 25% of their workforce was employed in manufacturing, and virtually no other country has ever reached this level without eventually becoming a well-functioning democracy. Second, industrialization is strongly correlated with democracy, even after accounting for two-way fixed effects and other economic determinants of democracy (e.g., income and inequality). Last, unlike with other economic determinants the effect occurs on both transitions and consolidations, and is equally large after WWII.

Counter-hegemonic leadership for democratic alter-politics in our times

This article sets out to grapple with strategic challenges facing democratic alter-politics in our times, dwelling on the question of leadership to explore ways of overcoming the frailties and risks that beset grassroots collective agency for democratic renewal. Discussion begins thus by fleshing out the notion of contemporary democratic alter-politics which breaks both with top-down statist rule and conventional activism, fostering openness, diversity, assembly-based democracy, attention to process, egalitarianism, prefiguration, work in everyday life along with mass mobilization, and engagement with institutions to effect change. In a second step, the argument brings out the strategic limitations of this alter-politics by engaging with relevant theories and reflections on strategy. The following key part of the article sketches the outlines of a strategy of counter-hegemony that could tackle some of these limitations by reconfiguring democratic leadership. Drawing on recent social movements and organizational studies, critical analysis will seek to indicate how the pursuit of effective leadership can be aligned with the alter-politics of egalitarian collective self-direction to boost and expand it in the political circumstances of the present. The nub of the argument is that ‘another leadership’ that is assembly-based, technopolitical, reflective, distributed, ‘servant’, and feminized can further democratic alter-politics.

‘I am tired of being afraid’: Emotions and protest participation in Belarus

Belarus witnessed a staggering level of mass mobilization in the aftermath of the 2020 fraudulent election and disproportionate use of police force against peaceful protesters. Using the case of anti-government protests in Belarus, this article argues that a confluence of moral and reflex emotions explains an incredibly high level of protest participation in a hard autocracy. Specifically, indignation over the magnitude of electoral malpractices and the intensity of police violence, in congruence with the loss of fear, provides a moral battery for generating and sustaining mass mobilization. It is further argued that a sense of unity within the protest movement mitigates fear of repression and facilitates sustained engagement in protests. Drawing on media reports and protesters’ narratives, the study traces how citizens overcame their fear of state reprisal and took to the street. The article contributes to contentious politics literature by elucidating the role of emotions in shaping mass mobilization.

GERAKAN SOSIAL BARU INDONESIA: STUDI GERAKAN GEJAYAN MEMANGGIL 2019

The Gejayan Calling Movement 2019 becomes an interesting phenomenon of the development of new student social movements in Indonesia. Using social media platforms (#tranding topics) as a means of mass mobilization, this action succeeded in managed around 15,000 protesters. This article aims to elaborate the 2019 Gejayan Menanggil Movement in more detail, covering the background of the action, the means of mass mobilization, the consolidation process, and the issues raised. The research method uses a qualitative approach with data collection techniques through virtual observations on social media, data searches on the Drone Emprit website, and in-depth interviews with members of HMI DIPO, HMI MPO, IMM, GMNI, and ARB (Aliansi Rakyat Bergerak). The collected data were analyzed using NVivo Plus software. The results show that the Gejayan Calling Movement has become the starting point for changes in social movements in Indonesia, where the foundations built are no longer based on material resistance, but are more based on issues of humanity, injustice, politics, the environment and women. Therefore, the ideology of the movements has also changed from a class resistance to an identity resistance.Gerakan Gejayan Memanggil 2019 menjadi salah satu fenomena menarik dari perkembangan gerakan sosial baru mahasiswa di Indonesia. Melalui platform media sosial (tranding topic) sebagai alat mobilisasi massa, aksi ini telah melibatkan 15.000 (lima belas ribu) demonstran. Artikel ini bermaksud untuk mengelaborasi Gerakan Gejayan Memanggil 2019 secara lebih mendalam, meliputi latar belakang aksi, sarana mobilisasi massa, proses konsolidasi, dan isu yang diangkat. Metode penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui observasi virtual di sosial media, penelusuran data di situs internet Drone Emprit, dan wawancara mendalam terhadap anggota HMI DIPO, HMI MPO, IMM, GMNI, dan ARB (Aliansi Rakyat Bergerak). Data yang terkumpul dianalisis dengan menggunakan software NVivo Plus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Gerakan Gejayan Memanggil ini telah menjadi titik tolak perubahan gerakan sosial di Indonesia, dimana pondasi yang dibangun tidak lagi berbasis pada perlawanan yang bersifat material, tetapi lebih berbasiskan pada isu-isu kemanusiaan, ketidakadilan, politik, lingkungan dan perempuan. Oleh sebab itu, ideologi yang berkembang berubah dari hal yang bersifat perlawanan kelas menjadi perlawanan identitas.

From Archangels to Virtual Pilgrims: A Brief History of Papal Digital Mobilization as Soft Power

The perpetual public display of successful mass mobilization and pilgrimage has become a pillar of papal soft power. During the 20th century, the papacy had repeatedly demonstrated its ability to use new technologies for public communication, media content production and mass mobilization. John Paul II endorsed the establishment of the first Vatican website and an official papal e-mail account, which provided Catholics a new form of communication with the Holy Father. During the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the papacy created several Twitter accounts, which would become the backbone of papal digital mobilization. Francis built on the success of his predecessors as he initiated the modernization of the Holy See’s media department. However, with the growth of the Internet and the stress test of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mechanics of mobilization, pilgrimage and power have considerably changed. With the religious role of the popes taken as a given, the paper looks into the history of papal mobilization, the role of the Internet and why it is not used to its full potential yet.

The Role of Emotions in Mobilization of Society to Fight Climate Change: Constructing Emotional State to Inspire Mass Movement

How do emotions contribute to mobilizing the international community to join massive protests against climate change? Although it is common to superficially state that protests are full of various emotions, it remains unclear how emotions become collective on the international level and how they ensure the spread of mass mobilization. This research paper examines the process of collectivization of emotions and how it explains mass mobilization in the case of international climate change strikes. This paper raises the question of how the emotional environment was favourably constructed in Greta Thunberg’s case in order to mobilize international society to join climate change strikes, and it aims to reveal how group emotions play an important role in successful international mobilization. Based on Sarah Ahmed’s theory of cultural politics of emotions and James M. Jasper’s theory linking emotions and social movements, it is assumed that specific emotions were circulated to create a distinct emotional environment that inspired the international community to join Thunberg’s climate strike. An Emotional Discourse Analysis revealed that Thunberg’s speeches are full of emotional potential that provokes reactive emotions such as fear, anger and hope in the global society and establishes an injustice-based framing of the problem as well as the dichotomy between the political elite and the global society. This study contributes to the research field of emotions in international relations by exploring in more depth the collectivization of emotions and expands the theory of cultural politics of emotions to include explanations of international politics phenomena such as mass mobilization.