Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the political base in the case of Indonesian middle class. It is essential to note that many multi-interpretation understandings to define terminology of Indonesian middle class. The definition of Indonesian middle class still undermines as “middle group” which is related to new rich people. Based on comparative analyzes, the emergence of Indonesia middle class have been separated with western middle class. In western case, middle class has possessed stable economic and politics material sources independently toward the state. The situation is what transforms the middle class as presser to the states and interest group. It can be said that both processes of the deepening of democratization and economic strength have been encouraged by middle class. In the Indonesian experience, it has been shown that Indonesian middle class keep up mutual relationship to the state. In other words, Indonesian middle class have entered elite power structure. However, in the current time, Indonesian middle class in post-reformation era shows the emergence of political awareness to guard democracy justly. This article will elaborate deeply political basis of Indonesian middle class.

Full text

Corresponding author
Gedung Widya Graha, Lantai XI, Jalan Jend. Gatot
Subroto 10, Jakarta Selatan - 12710.
Email
wasisto.raharjo.jati@gmail.com
Investigating the Political
Base of Indonesian Middle
Class: A Comparative Study
INTRODUCTION
The terminology of the middle class in the
socio-political study of Indonesia is a term
that has not been nalized until now. Va-
rious kinds of academic explanations about
the middle class have been widely shared
and elaborated by many experts. However,
various explanations only touch the surfa-
ce level. A denite and detailed description
of the denition on “middle class” remains
unclear.
As for the case of the Indonesian
middle class itself, the term is a uctuating
term. This is because the concept of the mid-
Komunitas: International Journal of
Indonesian Society and Culture
9(2) (2017): 267-282
DOI:10.15294/komunitas.v9i2.6273
© 2017 Semarang State University, Indonesia
p-ISSN 2086 - 5465 | e-ISSN 2460-7320
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/komunitas
UNNES
JOURNALS
dle class in the case of Indonesia is adapted
to the context and events that follow. For
example, the “Indonesian middle class” was
once termed the middle class in the 1970-
1980 decade. But then in the mid-1980s, it
changed to New Rich People (OKB) which
lasted until 1998. The term “middle class”
then reappeared in 2009-2010 to respond
to the emergence of a consumptive Indo-
nesian society in response to the economic
Wasisto Raharjo Jati1
1Pusat Penelitian Politik - Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Indonesia
Received: June 2016; Accepted: August 2017; Published: September 2017
Abstract
This article aims at analyzing the political base in the case of Indonesian middle class. It is essential to
note that many multi-interpretation understandings to define terminology of Indonesian middle class.The
definition of Indonesian middle class still undermines as “middle group” which is related to new rich peo-
ple.Based on comparative analyzes, the emergence of Indonesia middle class have been separated with
western middle class.In western case, middle class has possessed stable economic and politics material
sources independently toward the state. The situation is what transforms the middle class as presser to
the states and interest group.It can be said that both processes of the deepening of democratization and
economic strength have been encouraged by middle class.In the Indonesian experience, it has been shown
that Indonesian middle class keep up mutual relationship to the state.In other words, Indonesian middle
class have entered elite power structure.However, in the current time, Indonesian middle class inpost-
reformationera shows the emergence of political awareness to guard democracy justly.This article will
elaborate deeply political basis of Indonesian middle class.
Keywords
middle class politics; political base; democracy; political power
Article

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 268
UNNES
JOURNALS
growth of 6-7 percent.
In other words, the notion of the word
“middle class” in Indonesia still merely re-
fers to a consumptive class which is depen-
dent with the state through its economic
growth. The understanding of the domi-
nant middle classes from economic-deve-
lopmental science has obscured the con-
cept of the middle class conceptually. The
understanding and use of the middle class
in literacy is solely a complementary part of
macro analysis. However, it does not exp-
lain the middle class itself as a perspective
framework. In the end, the understanding
of the middle class is xed on the notion of
a consumptive class of society.
However, the notion does not explain
authoritatively about the understanding of
the Indonesian middle class in terms of so-
cial stratication and its political relations
with the state. This paper aims to elaborate
further on the interpretation of comparative
political studies of Indonesian middle-class
politics. The comparative study is chosen to
explain the experience of the formation of
the middle class, especially in the Western
context with Indonesian context. Therefo-
re, the theme line of the formation of the
middle class in the case of Indonesia can be
found and investigated.
Middle Class in Classroom Analysis:
Webberian and Marxian
Class analysis is a classic study of politi-
cal sociology by Max Webber and Karl
Marx. Two thinkers represent two dierent
styles of class analysis that dier from each
other. Webber views class analysis from the
perspective of dierences of interest, while
Marx views class analysis from the point of
view of conicting interests. Nevertheless,
the two thinkers agree that they have not
found the denite denition of the middle
class. Both experts look at the class dichoto-
my relation based on the ownership of the
means of production and the accumulation
of capital as the factor of analysis. The mid-
dle class emerges as part of the class analy-
sis trap, which is then understood in several
important keywords as well as class cons-
ciousness, struggle, means of production,
and political rationality.
The rst is of which is awareness.
States are placed as a contradictory enti-
ty between one another where there are
classes competing to become ruler in the
country. The key to being a ruler, in the
end, refers to the awareness of the collecti-
ve strength. As for being “aware” is of cour-
se intertwined with status and member-
ship of a civic institution and other social
institutions. That is because of the exis-
tence of a token of membership in which
awareness itself is built on the processes of
solidarity and other social capital. In this
case, there are two basic key words in dis-
cussing, namely class for itself and class for
in-self. The denition of class for in-self in-
dicates that the awareness of being a class
still experiences internalization. That is be-
cause it is not easy to unite various kinds
of individual thoughts to get one whole
mind. And, the class for itself means that
the class has experienced externalization of
value to be a contestant in an arena of po-
wer politics.
The second is the struggle. This
conception is closely related to the political
orientation that the class will embody in the
political stage. It is then that distinguishes
the political preferences of a class which
can be distinguished whether it is advocati-
ve, articial-temporary, or just based on the
issue. It becomes important to see the un-
derstanding of the class in ghting for their
aspirations. Marx is more inclined to see
this struggle against the working class that
is clearly and substantially oppressed by the
bourgeoisie groups. However, that is not a
consensus when it is contextualized to the
present situation. The struggle is very inhe-
rent with the fulllment of the articulation
of the interests of the class to be achieved
and to be implemented.
The third is the means of producti-
on. This means of production is a form rat-
her than the identity of a class itself in con-
testing power. The more classes that have
a monopoly over the means of production,
it stands to reason that the class is what
will be the ruler over the other groups. The
condition happens as result of a strong in-

269 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
terdependence factor in establishing inter-
class relationships which creates classes in
a society: among main, ordinary, and the lo-
wer classes. It is this indicator of the means
of production that becomes the technologi-
cal determinism factor of a struggle.
The fourth factor is rationality which
is related to the goal of political articulation
to be achieved and realized in a class. This
rationality is commonly formed because of
ideology which is constructed into praxis of
political movement. Or perhaps, this ratio-
nality itself is formed based on the develop-
ment of articial issues so it makes political
rationality itself becomes unstable and am-
biguous to follow. The existence of four fac-
tors that make the analysis of class politics
in the realm of social sciences and political
science becomes very pivotal and much tal-
ked about in various theories such as struc-
turalism, functionalism, and ramications
of other theories which then form the clas-
sroom political theories and are developed
into a very interdisciplinary discussion.
Of the four factors of class analysis,
the middle class is actually in a conicting
space between state-society. This is rela-
ted to the eorts of economic development
and industrialization taking place with the
emergence of three important actors name-
ly the state as a regulator, the market as a
distributor, and the community as an ope-
rator. And the development of the market-
state synergizes to try to subordinate to the
community. Hence, from that point of fact,
the root of the conict occurs. In the very
element of society itself, there are actually
conicts that occur in the analysis of Weber
and Marx classes and represent the inter-
ests of the state-market or society.
From the perspective of Weber’s ana-
lysis, the distinction of interest then spawns
the great bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie,
the working class, the intellectual class, and
the household class. The division of Weber
is based on class situation faced by the peop-
le on the three following categories namely
1) procuring the goods, 2) gaining position
in life, 3) self-satisfaction (Kivinen 1990, p.
105). In more detail, the category actually
derives the derivative praxis from the three
important prerequisites in looking at social
stratication patterns in society, namely 1)
lifestyle, 2) formal education, 3) occupati-
on. In other words, Weber sees that social
stratication is based on rationality as well
as fulllment of needs. In addition to tho-
se three key factors, the other thing worth
noting is that the market. The middle-class
analysis in Weberian’s perspectives places
the market as an important mechanism
entity in constructing the construction as
well as the class structure in society. The
middle class is important to be discussed
because of its plural character as both the
bourgeoisie and the working class because
of the variety of production tools it posses-
ses. However, it is important to note that
this Weberian thought is more directed to
the development of capitalist society. Hen-
ce the meaning of the middle class is then
placed in the context of the bourgeoisie
society. Markets are an important arena in
facilitating the dierent interests between
dierent classes of society because they
oer a fair mechanism for the exchange of
services to each class member.
The context of the middle class in
the Weberian is placed as petty bourgeoi-
sies. This is because the petty bourgeoisie is
a transitional class as well as the «between»
the big bourgeoisie and the society. Another
Weberian premise also says that beside it
is only in the form of a petty bourgeoisie;
another thing to note is that the middle
class is representing the people’s desire to
take part in economic activities with ow-
nership of the factors of production they
have. The context of the having and having
not classes is an important explanation in
Weberian class analysis. The middle class is
an important element in the development
of industrialization of the country that fo-
cuses on the pattern of exchange of goods
and services as well as diversication of
production.
The middle class performs in mul-
tiple roles both as producer and consumer
at the same time. The existence of multip-
le roles is a unique characteristic that is
displayed by the middle class. This unique
characteristic is built on the rationality in

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 270
UNNES
JOURNALS
the middle-class work ethic. Of course, it is
also related to the theological view that un-
derlies the pattern and character. The mid-
dle class basically appears as an agency that
links the interests of the state and society
that has been cut o. Due to being an inte-
rest agent, this middle-class position is in-
dependent and neutral both from the state
and the market. In other words, the middle
class is a form of Western experience that
people actually have political power due to
their own rationality and capital power. The
middle class plays an important role in re-
gulating and changing the country’s politi-
cal landscape from the grassroots. As in the
context of politics, the middle class is part
of political structure that has three func-
tions i.e., class, status and power (Ferreira
2012, p.30-31). As compared to other classes,
the middle-class membership is diversica-
tion-based. Therefore, it enables the middle
class to emerge as the largest class within
society.
That is what makes the middle class
can also be said as a class of political acti-
vities. The premise of no bourgeoisies no
democracy becomes important to discuss
to see middle-class carrier of democracy
as a political movement. The various
revolutions that took place such as the
British Industrial Revolution, the French
Revolution, the American Revolution of
Independence, and so on were the result
of the initiation of this middle class. If it is
explained in more detail, the middle-class
description of Weberian can be analyzed in
the following table.
In contrast with Weber who views
the middle class as a neutral or potential
entity, Marx views the relation of the mid-
dle class as a relationship between the state
and the society. The dimensions of the con-
ict can be derived in proletarian-bourge-
oisie relations which are entirely grounded
in the exploitation and dominance rela-
tionships (Dursun 2015, p.16).The nuances
of the conict are understandable because
of the unfair market mechanisms of fair
redistribution of welfare. The existence of
the bourgeoisie and the proletariat emerges
as a product of the market injustice. Class
exploitation arises because the exchange of
service-goods and means of production is
only advantageous for the bourgeoisie class
which has big capital rather than the prole-
tarian class which has only a small portion
of it. That is what makes the basis of Marx’s
analysis shows that the development of ca-
Table 1: Middle Class in Weberian View
No
Class
Parameters
in Weberian
Explanation Middle Class
Values
Middle Class
Form
1 Class Although it says the middle class
is a class “in-between”, but the
middle class is the entity class in
society because of the ownership
structure and material factors of
production.
Rationality The bourgeoisie
and working
class
2 Status The middle class is a class that
has the same level of income and
expenditure. That is what drives
the middle class to try to excel
themselves.
Materialism,
Festitism, He-
donism
Leisure Class
and Pleasure
Class, New Con-
sumerism Class
3 Party (power) The Middle Class has the potential
as a political class because it has a
large amount of mass compared to
other classes
Democracy,
Voluntarism
Political Class
Source: Data is processed from various data

271 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
pitalism is the continuous development of
inequality.
The middle class, under the view of
Marxian analysis, is in a dilemmatic spa-
ce. In a way, Marx supports the middle class
as part of the class revolution process be-
cause the middle class has the potential to
move the greater masses due to the domi-
nance of the working class and the lumpen
proletarian class that could be maximized
as a political movement. However, on the
other hand, Marx rejects the presence of
the middle class because of the characters
of middle-class which is dependent and
becomes a satellite for the great bourgeoi-
sie. Instead, the middle class has the po-
tential to become a new class of oppressors
in the name of capitalist development and
economic development in a fair and com-
prehensive way.
Therefore, in response to this dilem-
matic position, the middle class in Webe-
rian view is then placed in three important
analyses. These three important analyses
are useful to provide denitive explanations
for the middle class. This is unlike the case
with Weber which is still unclear in dening
the middle class as “petty bourgeoisie”. The
elements of Marxian then look at the mid-
dle class into the three great understanding
namely 1) the middle class as a class of new
petty bourgeoisies, 2) the middle class as
part of the development of new capitalist
society, and 3) the middle class as part of
fragmented class.
Understanding of the middle class as
a class of new petty bourgeoisies cannot be
separated from two important possibilities,
namely 1) the middle class appears as an al-
ternative economic development and 2) the
middle class becomes the motor of transi-
tion of the proletariat towards the capitalist
class. These two possibilities are inseparab-
le from the membership of the “bourgeoi-
sie” which varies in the middle class, such
as from the bureaucracy, intellectuals, as
well as other working classes. Marx basical-
ly gives no denite and obvious explanati-
on on the meaning of the premise. But to
reect on the experience of the French, Bri-
tish, and German cases after the industrial
revolution, for Marxian analysts, the mid-
dle class can be called as stabilizer class bet-
ween the bourgeoisie and proletarian class
conicts because of the duality of the class
function. Hence, this middle class position
is actually within the sphere of political ac-
tivism in which this class can rise to a great
political mass whenever authoritarianism
takes place. This is reected in the case of a
revolution in Britain demanding tax reform
and representation, a revolution in the Uni-
ted States demanding independence and a
revolution in Germany and France deman-
ding democracy. This is the middle class
that becomes the motors of a movement.
The renement regarding to this
perspective is then initiated by Ni-
cos Poulantzas in his two opus mag-
num namely Classes in Contemporary Ca-
pitalism and Political Power and Social
Classes. In the first book, Poulantzas (1975,
p.50) raises two important issues namely the
formation of class awareness and the petty
bourgeoisie in a phase of advanced capita-
lism. The class awareness in Poulantzas’s
own terminology is very dierent from
Marx’s understanding where class aware-
ness is formed on the basis of the collectivity
of oppression addressed by the bourgeoisie
against the proletariat workers. The logic is
then reversed by Poulantzas that awareness
as a class itself is formed due to an objective
awareness as a political agent. In this case,
Poulantzas considers that the idea of class
awareness is essentially contradictory and
antagonistic in which the awareness cannot
be denied as a communalism. Poulantzas
looks at the free of will side which is shown
by the awareness of a class as an objective
entity. Self-class awareness is ultimately de-
termined within a deterministic structural
framework. The formation classes in a class
level are not determined by mere economic
resources which has been the basis for divi-
ding the base class per se. however, we also
see that the determinism of a class itself
is also determined rather than just merely
social and political forces. Therefore, what
is meant by Poulantzas with free of will is
the determinism driven by social capital of
workers production that is constantly mo-

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 272
UNNES
JOURNALS
ving rationally.
The discussion about the social mode
of production of the working class is deter-
mined on the productivity and the menta-
lity that they have as the main resources in
conducting the production activities. The
second premise is what makes the die-
rence with Marx who views the economic
base as the basic foundation in assembling
class formation in society. In the Poulant-
zas analogy, it is mentioned that both social
and political factors intertwine each other
in determining class determinism in which
class classication is determined by the
mental and production represented by each
class. Hence, the possession of the men-
tal and the production becomes the key to
seeing how appropriate and relevant a per-
son is to the class of the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie.
Regarding to the formation of the
petty bourgeoisies which becomes the ot-
her locus in Poulantzas thinking, it is no-
ted that the petty bourgeoisie is a form of
transformation or transition of the working
class to the bourgeoisie. Another thing that
needs to be embodied in Poulantzas thin-
king is to distinguish the capital itself in
two fundamental variables of function and
place. Poulantzas sees that the ownership of
capital into the mode of production in ad-
vanced capitalism itself is not inherently a
major tool. In the phase of advanced capita-
lism, there is a disassociation pattern in so-
ciety. This means that the possessive nature
is shown in analyzing the actual ownership
of capital. The capital is no longer important
in analyzing the capital position of the petty
bourgeoisie which should be determined by
ideologies that accompany it such as advo-
cacy, state fetishism and liberalism. It is this
contribution of Poulantzas thinking which
then becomes important to see the context
of relative autonomy in the idea of post-
colonial society. Poulantzas provides the
context of the independence of a class in
the understanding of relative autonomy as
well as interdependence context in a class,
especially in the relation of imperfect mode
of production.
It is later seen in the other work of
Poulantzas (1975), Political Power in Social
Classes, that there is relative autonomy of
every class itself. The relative autonomy in-
dicates some political forces which are po-
tentially established and owned by every
class of society to become mutual hege-
mony in the power structure. Hence, the
eld of power struggle in the arena of the
superstructure of many powers is control-
led by the contestation of competing class
autonomy. The existence of such relative
autonomy indicates the existence of the
resources that each class has as its political
bargaining power. This is what makes the
interdependence context an important pat-
tern in creating collective power relations.
The understanding of the middle class
as a new capitalist class puts the middle
class as part of the process of capital accu-
mulation. The middle class is an important
part of the economic development that the
earlier capitalist class has done. Marx views
this phenomenon in the case of the indust-
rial revolution in Prussia where the emer-
gence of the middle class with the various
means of production it possesses emerges
due to the variety of production equipment
that makes industrialization work. In addi-
tion, another factor is the power of middle-
class consumption that can absorb the pro-
duction. Therefore, the ow of production
and consumption circulation is the one that
makes capitalism still exists.
The new understanding of the middle
class as a new fragmented class is dened as
middle class that forms the exclusive die-
rent classrooms case with the bourgeoisie
and the proletariat. This middle class de-
velops models, behaviors, and norms that
distinguish them from both the proletariat
and the bourgeoisie. As a fragmented class,
the middle class cannot be the bourgeoisie
class because of its diverse production tools
so it does not reect the strong middle class
character. But they also cannot be a proleta-
rian class because of the level of consumpti-
on and production is dierent from the pro-
letarian class. This middle class develops a
unique identity pattern that aims to identi-
fy themselves as a distinct class through a
pattern of consumption that leads to more

273 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
lifestyle and production. They are more
concerned with image rather than quali-
ty. Middle-class fragmentation also occurs
not only in the “dependent” conditions bet-
ween the bourgeoisie and the proletarian
class but also fragmentation is present in
the internal middle class itself. Internally,
the middle class is divided into three large
classes: upper middle class, middle middle
class and also lower middle class. Each of
these middle-class characteristic displays
the distinctive features. But clearly, the
image and features displayed by the middle
class are “false” because they do not succeed
in becoming a bourgeoisie class or may des-
cend into the proletarian class.
The condition of “articiality” faced
by the middle class from Wright (2009,
p.102-105) in Understanding Class is mostly
caused by the reading of the political class
approaches which can be divided into three
terms, namely class as attributive function
in the perspective of structuralism, class as
a function of social exclusion in hoarding
prosperity, and class as a relationship of do-
mination-exploitation. The rst is the class
as an attribute function which can be inter-
preted that the class is a manifestation of
attributive material inherent in it. It means
that in the formation of classes, the mate-
rial function determines the classication
of society in a particular class. The material
intended in this context is not always the
aspect of money income, but also the level
of education and lifestyle become an impor-
tant categorization in structuring the class.
This is because the material serves as the
identity of politics of a community. The lo-
wer class tends to have a low education level
with low incomes as well. Middle class has a
better level of education and has generated
good income. Besides, their lifestyle tends to
also follow the mainstream lifestyle patterns
in accordance with the trendsetters oered
by the capital market. The middle group is
basically a class form of social proong as
imitators who have a tendency to be a fol-
lower on a number of issues. Therefore, it
is not surprising that this class is actually
included in the categorization of swing vo-
ters, who have a political trend which is still
fragile so it is easy to be inuenced by poli-
tical preferences. The upper class is a class
of educated people with excellent education
and very well-established income. It is later
implicated in their life style of jet set with
all luxuries of life. The second perspective
that class as its own arena of social exclusi-
on can be analyzed as a dichotomous form
between privileged and neglected in the so-
cial strata. This second perspective analysis
is much inspired by Webberian thinking
where social status and identity can actu-
ally be grasped from how deep the value
of occupational asceticism it possesses in
obtaining class establishment. It becomes
an important premise and this second
perspective is also often referred to as hoar-
ding perspective. This is because there is an
attempt to hoard the wealth of the working
process results. That is what distinguishes
the class from how much hard work they
get and what they do. The conditions then
create the social exclusion among which the
class of privileged and neglected. The third
perspective is about the class as a relation
of domination-subordination relationship
which is departed from the Marxist notion
of class relations. The perspective assesses
the relations of inequality and the existen-
ce of an uneven redistribution of income
among classes. This situation then leads to
a relationship of exploitation where owner-
ship of the material becomes the key to the
mastery of other classes.
Therefore, generally, the meaning of
the middle class in terms of Marxian can be
categorized into four major keywords na-
mely the conicting relationship between
the market-state, internal conict within
the middle class society, as well as inequa-
lity-exploitation as the main problems. Asi-
de from these two perspectives, the other
theoretical alternative in reading the mid-
dle class is the perspective of structuralism.
The perspective is almost the same with
both macro perspectives that have existed
before by placing the hierarchical relation-
ship of the state-market-society as the main
unit of analysis. However, it has a dierence
in terms of setting the relation. Structura-
lism views the relation of the middle class

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 274
UNNES
JOURNALS
in the constellation of the societal-market-
state which can be both conicting and
collegial depending on the degree of par-
ticipation of the middle class in economic
activity. In other words, some important
keywords such as capital, production, and
commodity are also important keywords in
the analysis. The middle class receives spa-
ce and recognition depending on how acti-
ve or passive it is seen in the community-
market-community relations. The degree
of liveliness and passivity can be seen from
how the factors and means of production
can be replicated. This is what then puts the
middle class as a motor of economic move-
ment, as well as in political issues. Hence, if
it is described in tabulation form, the rela-
tion of middle class analysis based on these
three perspectives can be described as fol-
lows Figure 1.
In discussing the relationships of the
three domains, we can analyze dierent
perspectives in analyzing the class. First,
the analysis of the class itself departs from
social relations in control of economic ca-
pital in the structure of society. It is later
developed into a social exclusivism among
other community classes. The existence of
exclusivity is what later evolves into some
premises such as the attributive nature of
the economic capital, the relationship of do-
mination-subordination, and the accentua-
tion on market relations. The implication
is the emergence of the pattern of conict
on the growing production in the Marxian
analysis that emphasizes the domination-
subordination relationship. The conicts
over distribution in the Weberian analysis
are based on the distribution patterns of
economic capital itself, and the division of
its economy is based on self-ability.
Based on those three great streams of
thought performed by Wright, the analysis
is deepened by Ronald H. Chilcote (1994)
who later maps the ontology and epistemo-
logy into ve streams in understanding the
class political pluralism, instrumentalism,
structuralism, criticalism, and statism and
class competition.
Pluralism, looking at the context of
political powers itself; it is divided into va-
rious scopes. The concept of redistribution
of power is indeed departed from Plato who
views the essence of democracy as a com-
munal dominance. The classical theorists
such as Jeremy Bentham and John Locke
mostly mention about a pluralist democ-
racy. Therefore, the power is spread apart
from each other regarding the conception
of classes that are related to pluralism. We
can see that the power distribution is not
equal to each other. Pluralism then deve-
lops into power of identity for each class
that has the power resources. The elites
evolve into a class that receives resources
great power with ordinary people. Pareto
itself divides the class in terms of class un-
derstanding of pluralism into several inter-
Figure 1. Political Comparative Analysis of Middle Class
Source: (Wright 2009, p.116)

275 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
est groups such as the governing elite, non-
governing elite, and interest groups. The
accentuation in the context of the elite is
based on how large and widespread the ac-
tual distribution of power is centralized and
run. It then describes the operation of the
power in the context of the class. This me-
ans that governing is basically explains how
the conict between the classes lasts in the
context of the ruler in an arena of power.
Instrumentalism. Unlike the pluralist
understanding that emphasizes the power
which is decentralized and dispersed, the
paradigm of instrumentalism itself tends to
see that power as concentrated and cent-
ralized entity. The premise emerges con-
sidering their own states in the position
as “executive committee that serves the
interests of the country” (Burnham 2008,
p.84). Therefore, the paradigm of instru-
mentalism itself emphasizes the context
of the ruling class as a manifestation than
the capitalist class which comprises the
bourgeoisie who controls the policies and
interests of the state. This is what distin-
guishes the plural which emphasizes to
govern with instrumentalists which empha-
sizes to rule. This means that in a pluralist
understanding, the process of contestation
is balanced and dualism to be a ruler or ad-
ministrator on other classes. Whereas, in
the context of an instrumentalist, maste-
ring capital becomes important to be a ruler
on other classes.
Structuralism is in line with the opini-
on of instrumentalism which puts the sta-
te as critical entities and always keeps the
interests of the capitalists than the public
as a whole. This conception is developed
by Poulantzas who views the two sides of
the class in terms of both practice and con-
ception. Relationships structure itself is
developed in a contradictory relationship
because the relationship between classes
is constantly opposing each other. That is
what makes the class relations arranged in
a hierarchical building always creates re-
lation paced classes of structuralism and
also put their political orders from one
class to another class. The order is a form
of practices of class subjugation that has
big capital with the class that has a weak
capital. The emergence of orders is what
leads to the practice of class exploitation
becomes intensied when there is an eco-
nomic resources competition.
Statism and Classes Competition re-
fer to the understanding of political theory
class which presupposes that the relation-
ship between the actual class relationships
is contradictory and competing. Due to the
competitive nature of the class, they keep
on competing and pushing their agendas
into the state as an arena of contestation.
Hence, the circulation of elite born of the
contestation process always produces the
resistance of the class below. Besides that,
another context that needs to be seen in
this perspective is the spirit of advocacy
initiated by the class. Advocacy is closely
related to the eorts undertaken by the ar-
ticulation of the interests of lower classes
with a class on it. Then, another dimensi-
on that needs to be understood is actually
how the extra informal political movement
based parliamentarian is driven and run by
the community itself.
So, if it is analyzed and elaborated in
further discussions on class politics, it can
be described as a process of determinism to
power. Determinism is intimately linked to
how power is operationalized and contested
by the class in the arena of power. A class is
actually a product of historical determinism
of social stratication which is executed
and implemented by a system. Determi-
nism is born from the process of economic
capital contestation which is unbalanced so
it creates a hierarchical relationship.
Although the discussion of class poli-
tics itself is dominated by the capital com-
petition, another important thing which
should also be discussed is the reason of ra-
tionalism and intellectualism formed by the
class process. This rationalism is related to
the preferences or political linkages which
need to be displayed and demonstrated by
the class strata in dealing with specic issu-
es. If we look more elaborately, the function
and position of the actual class is the agent
of a democracy in a parliamentarian poli-
tical level. The essence and spirit of street-

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 276
UNNES
JOURNALS
level politics as well as street-level democ-
racy shown by this class displays the spirit
of advocacy and curative measures against
certain issues. For example, we can see the
movement of the working class in a revolu-
tion like in the case of workers’ revolution
in France in the 19th century that brought
down the despotic regime, the labor move-
ment of the Bolsheviks in Russia then es-
tablished a government of the Soviets, the
velvet revolution led by Vaclav Havel in the
Solidarnosc movement to overthrow the
government authoritarian in Czech, the mo-
vement of people power in the Philippines,
to the World Social Forum movement every
year agenda in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This
means that every class in society itself has
their own rationality and consciousness to
be a massive informal political movement.
Another interesting point related the
movement is a political rationality itself.
Studies of class which is actually contra-
dictory political ght puts rationality on
class movement of lumpen proletariat. This
means that in this context, the political
rationality that is formed is anti-establish-
ment and socially equitable redistribution.
However, there is more rationality which
needs to be further elaborated, especially in
the formation of political awareness. If it is
traced in the classical understanding of the
awareness both of Marx and Poulantzas,
the awareness is formed due to the collecti-
ve feelings against the oppression and exp-
loitation material. The classical understan-
ding implies an existence of consolidative
and collective strength which is designed
ideologically. Therefore, when discussing
the politics of class in the present context,
it is actually located on advocacy issues and
concentration as well as the articulation of
interests that is needed to be run. This idea
is what forms social-networking of corpora-
tism in society.
However, we also need to under-
stand that awareness is not always experi-
encing an sich. Other premises which need
to be noted is whether or not it has a rela-
tive autonomy and independence in taking
the state as an arena of power contestation.
There is also an understanding of the class
that in fact becomes dependent and servi-
le state. Especially on the study of a class
like this, it is inuenced by the structure of
the political economic development of the
state. The growth of new classes is correla-
ted with increasingly economic growth and
income in a country. This means that this
class grows with comfort zone facilitated by
the countries with all kinds of other con-
sumption growth. Classes that grow in such
model will only be the class which is spoiled
and does not want to undertake economic
production. Though the class is actually
created and grouped hierarchically by me-
ans of production under their control.
The existence of such a spoiled class
is what will be a time bomb of its own for
the country because they will arise due to
the stagnation in economic growth and in
the end, they will only be a thorn in the
esh. This class is also very apolitical to
the development of renewable and politi-
cal realms. They likely keep the contest of
status quo against the current regime. They
are not concerned with the characters of
the regimes whether they are democratic or
totalitarian as long as the state provides all
kinds of goods and services that they need.
This class will be the class material and
economic rents who will never be satised
with the service from the state and always
demand more. Admittedly, the existence of
this class is the motor of economic growth
for the country as a whole. However, the
design of this class is very weak.
The current political social analysis
which views class studies, such as reviews
Guy Standing (2011, p.10) in Precariat So-
ciety, mentions that when the economy is
increasingly growing and developing ra-
pidly and massively. Hence, what happens
instead is the grouping of economic surp-
lus controlled by a specic class group. It
is later what makes the classes below it to
be a class of subsistence. The emergence of
the middle class as a new community group
actually makes a serious threat to their lo-
wer group to be marginalized communities.
The conditions of precariat (Vulnerability)
are also aected by the world economic and
political constellation after 2008, which

277 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
makes the condition of the world insecure.
The emergence of insecurity is due to the
economic turmoil that has not fully recove-
red and many people then become frustra-
ted and depressed about the crisis such as
the unemployment and loss of jobs in many
countries. This insecurity could potential-
ly result in chaos and turmoil if not resol-
ved immediately. So, if it is traced further
in two major terminologies, understanding
the orientation classes themselves can be
understood as follows.
Context Political Studies Indonesian
Middle Class: A Comparative Study
The study of the political assessment of the
Indonesian middle class can be assessed in
two dierent lanes namely intellectual and
academic track lanes. Both lanes are actu-
ally part of community development in co-
lonialism. Both of these lanes are also the
mechanism for forming new skilled and
educated communities to support the ac-
tivities of the administration and also the
country’s economy. The goal of the new
community development is to generate
professional community as well as the bu-
reaucracy, academia, and also traders. The
three groups occupy an important position
in the structure of Indonesian society in
the era of independence. The new society
occupies a middle position between the go-
vernment and the people simultaneously.
Toward the government, this new society
is a temporary development agency of the
people. The position of this new society
is an agent mediating the interests of the
community. From there, the new commu-
nity group commonly known as the new
middle classes in Indonesian society is es-
tablished.
However, prior to the discussion of
political studies at the Indonesian middle
class, a comparative study of the develop-
ment of the middle class needs to be cont-
rasted with the construction of the middle
class in the West. It becomes important to
map out a comparative study of the politics
of the Indonesian middle class. The western
experience shows that the middle class is
born from a process of economic develop-
ment which then spreads out to the political
problem. It can be seen from the emergence
of the economics guild, as well as the prin-
ciple of no taxation no representation, and
also no bourgeoisies no democracy (Masoed
2006). Important premise that needs to be
addressed is that the Western middle class
is a class of feudal class transition towards
the bourgeoisie. In other words, the transi-
tion also involves the production factor and
transformation tools of the middle class
which are developed to the mechanization
of production tools.
By having such an independent posi-
tion, middle class position in the West case
has an independent position with the sta-
te. Hence, they are more critical and poli-
tical toward the government. It can be seen
from the formation of political parties in
the West who fully represent the interests
and ideological cleavage in every political
party. Therefore, it is necessary to deter-
mine the basis of division which is not only
based on Western and colonial state, but
also the condition of pre-capitalism with
the post-capitalism. Therefore, if it is furt-
her, the tabulation of explanation of com-
parative development of the middle class
can be analyzed as follows Table 3.
Table 2.Typology of Class Division-Based of Political Orientation
NoIndicator Political class class apolitical
1Political Orientation Advocating Conservatives
2Relations with the State Independent dependent
3 Modes and Production Tools Working class Consumer class
4 Class Base lumpen proletarians Class-
es and subsistence class
Middle and upper class
5 Class Character Solidarity-based collective Needs-based Individu-
alist
Source: compiled from various data

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 278
UNNES
JOURNALS
When referring to the comparative
study presented at the tabulation above,
several signicant dierences between the
patterns of Western middle-class develop-
ment with Third World Countries Inter-
mediate class can be listed. However, it is
important to remember that the middle
class development in the third world is
actually adopting a Western concept. Ho-
wever, instead of becoming middle class as
expected in the West, it is directed to be a
dependent society. Their disorientation to
community development of middle class in
third world countries itself is not separated
from the patterns of patrimonialism which
is still strong in the country and community
relations. The state is still working to keep
the loyalty of the middle class to sustain its
power. Due to the growing middle class in
the upbringing of capitalism, the middle
class is not as independent as in the West.
All the tools and factors of production have
been facilitated by the state so as to make
the middle class itself unable to move the
economy in accordance with their respecti-
ve creations.
However, the formation of the middle
class in third world countries does not pass
through a transition period like in West.
However, the formation of the middle class
in the case of the third world countries does
not have a strong foundation of political
economy. Middle class is not derived from
the root of a strong bourgeoisie because
their only background is agrarian root. The
middle class also has no political position
because it emphasizes the harmonizati-
on rather than establishing a relationship
with the state opposition. In other words,
the emergence of the middle class in the
case of third world countries is the middle
class that are “impromptu” and not equip-
ped with sucient capital capabilities. In
the end, the middle class political position
becomes diametrically between siding with
the state and also favor of the interests of
capital.
The emergence of the middle class in
Indonesia in various academic discourses is
more properly called as “group” rather than
as “class”. The preference of term “class”,
under the analysis of more Bulkin, is be-
cause the emergence of the middle class in
Indonesia does not have the political power
and independent attitude to the state, but it
is growing in the care of the state. Indonesi-
an society is actually a simple structure that
only the king-servant that it actually indica-
tes a top-down dichotomous relationship.
In addition to the case of Bulkin analysis,
the imposition of term class / group should
also be related to the politicization of the
New Order that middle group is part of the
“work”. This means that the new society is
created by a regime focuses on economic
development, but not development-ori-
Table 3.
No Parameter Western Middle Class Middle Class in The Third World
Countries
1Class Formation
Period
Feudalism Transition Pe-
riod towards the Indus-
trialization
Construction of the middle class
itself is initiated and nurtured by
state
2Ownership of
Tools and Produc-
tion Factor
Production tools and
Pure Factor of collective
independent
Tools and Production facilitated by
state
3 Relations with the
State
The relation is indepen-
dent
Dependent with the state
4 Economic develop-
ment
Development is directed
at product diversication
Development is directed at eco-
nomic growth by imitating Western
models
5The position of
State and Society
Relations
The Middle Class as a
mediator between the
State and Society
The Middle Class as a state collabo-
rator
Source: compiled from various data

279 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
ented politics
That is actually the culture of Indo-
nesian society that there is no initiation to
transform the group from a pariah to the
elite level. The existence of a strong culture
of patronage that makes the class dichoto-
my is maintained to tie loyalty and legiti-
macy of power.
The condition reminds us that the
presence of “new society” in Indonesia has
a dierent character with other communi-
ty groups. Those who are skilled in admi-
nistrative matters such as intellectuals, tac-
tical workers, and also the bourgeoisie are
actually categorized as a new occupational
groups in Indonesia that were previous-
ly relying on the agricultural sector. The
emergence of the middle class in the history
of Indonesia also marks the modernization
of the structure of Indonesian society which
is shown by the emergence of lifestyle as
part of social capital and cultural capital.
As described by Furnivall, the emergence
of the middle class in Indonesia marks their
community spirit of plural society living in
harmony, but not be a as a political entity.
The analysis of the emergence of the
middle class in Indonesia in the era of post-
colonialism itself can be described into
two forms namely embourgeoization and
also proletarization. Both forms of analy-
sis are part of a macro view of institutio-
nal perspective in seeing the middle class
as part of the process of the establishment
of the state and society relations. The rst
analysis of the embourgeoization is more di-
rected to the entrepreneur class establish-
ment by the government through a variety
of economic stimulus. The analysis of the
proletarization is more directed in the form
of a ready-made and reliable job creation in
order to support economic development.
Two analyzes are essentially comes in res-
ponse to developmental programs initiated
by the New Order regime when in power.
However, the case with the political
condition of the middle class when it is in
a period of political independence revoluti-
on toward the socio-political development
is dierent. At this developmental age,
middle-class political conditions are in a
state of subordination. The change of poli-
tical side to be apolitical becomes a unique
study of political studies of the Indonesian
middle class. Some reviewers of political
studies of the Indonesian middle class such
as Howard Dick, Aswab Mahasin, Richard
Robison, and also Robert Hefner view the
transformation of the middle class in terms
of Neo-Marxian and also structuralism. And
the expert on the study of middle class such
as Ariel Heryanto, Farchan Bulkin, and also
Kenneth Young put their own middle-class
development located in the outskirts of the
capitalist perspective. As for the understan-
ding of periphery capitalism (laissez-fraire
capitalism), it is interesting to examine in
studying the political developments of the
Indonesian middle class. The term is initi-
ated by Kunio Yosihiro in his book “Articial
Capitalism in Southeast Asia” to comparati-
vely analyze the patterns of industrializati-
on in the Southeast Asian country. This is
important to address the analysis of capita-
list relations in the Southeast Asian country
in establishing and developing the indust-
rialization and economic development au-
tonomously and independently. The role of
the state is getting bigger in the control of
economic activity. This also applies in the
form of the bourgeoisie as the backbone of
the economy. In other words, the bourge-
oisie is a motor forming a country’s middle
class politics. Therefore, the emergence
of the middle class during the New Order
Indonesia is sometimes called as the New
Rich Group (OKB). The symptoms of new
rich people is also struck in various parts of
other Asian countries that show their mas-
sive economic growth
The establishment of the Indonesi-
an middle class in the developmental era
also follows the pattern similarity. Howe-
ver, the developments of the middle class
in Indonesian case Indonesia thrive within
the framework of the elite. It then puts the
relationship in terms of the position of the
middle class and elitist prismatic. The mid-
dle class cronies thrive within the frame-
work of power. The inux of middle-class
within the circle of power is part of the poli-
tical corporatism establishment process run

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 280
UNNES
JOURNALS
by the New Order government to bind the
community loyalty. An important premise
that needs to be recorded in analyzing o-
ating mass policy that applies in Indonesian
society. The emphasis of de-ideologization
and de-politicization in the new society is
what creates the presence of the Indonesian
middle class.
However, what is interesting is the
rise of Islamic political negotiations with
the countries which later results in the face
of the new middle class of Indonesian Mus-
lim as compared with the more common
middle class. The emergence of the Muslim
middle class is a form of oppression of the
old regime which then undergoes revival du-
ring the New Order begins to slacken their
power. However, the emergence of the spi-
rit of militancy students as agents of change
marks a new chapter in reading Indonesian
middle class. It can be seen from the emer-
gence of ICMI as a political mouthpiece of
the Muslim middle class. In addition, the
emergence of the PRD in 1996 is also impor-
tant conclusion about the middle-class po-
litical activism which now begins to explore
the underground movement action. The
emergence of various movements marks
the “radicalization” of political movements
that are previously unheard of. The ideolo-
gies that frame the movement of the middle
class are such as socialism, democracy, and
also Islamism. The peak of the movement
is when there was demonstrations in 1998
that dropped the New Order regime. This
was actually a part of the political synergy.
Today’s post-authoritarian politics
even leads the middle class of Indonesia to
uctuating position for a political move-
ment. In general, the political movement
of middle-class that occurs during refor-
mation experienced signicant turbulence
depending on the context and the events
that followed. However, the emergence of
social media as a representation platform
becomes an important point in forming a
channel of political representation for the
middle class.
Table 4.
Political Base Phase
of Indonesian
Middle Class
Parameter of
Political Base
Political ide-
ology Middle Class Actors
1 Indonesian Middle
Class of 1920 until
1965
•Political Activ-
ism
•Resistance
•Political cam-
paign
•articulation
Interests
• Liberalism
• Socialism
• Communism
• Nationalism
• Community organi-
zation
• Bureaucracy
• College student
• Press
• Political parties
• College intellectual
2 Indonesian Middle
Class of 1965 until
1998
•Political apathy
•Political corpo-
ratism
•Underground
Political Move-
ment
•dissemination
idea
•Democracy
• Liberalism
• Socialism
• Islamism
• Democracy
• Democracy Activist
• College student
• College intellectual
• Bourgeoisie
• Bureaucracy
3Indonesian Middle
Class of 1998 until
now
•Online activ-
ism via Social
Media
• Liberalism
• Democracy
• Socialism
• Young executive
• College student
• Bureaucracy
• Housewife
• Bourgeoisie
Source: compiled from various data

281 Wasisto Raharjo Jati, Investigating the Political Base of Indonesian Middle Class...
UNNES
JOURNALS
To read the political analysis of the
Indonesian middle class, it is important to
look at several variables such as the context
of events, ideologies, and also actors who
play a role and also become important mo-
tor. It is also noted that since the emergen-
ce of the Indonesian middle class politics
that began in 1920 with their ethical politics
until now, they show the characteristics of
the Indonesian middle class which is die-
rent. Hence, for more details, the division
of the political base of the Indonesian mid-
dle class can be described in the following
table.
Toward a wide range of parameters,
an outline of the Indonesian middle class
political experiences various uniquely poli-
tical turbulences. At the initial appearance,
the Indonesian middle class is able to ap-
pear as an active political movement. Ho-
wever, over time, the Indonesian middle
class political position is always uctuating.
Another thing to note is the political basis
of the media movement. As it can be drawn
from the tabulation, the content of politi-
cal aspiration which was originally based on
demonstration and also a political message
now begins to explore the social media. But
the critical question that needs to be disclo-
sed is how eective social media has be-
come a tool of the political representation.
CONCLUSION
The discussion of the Indonesian middle
class politics is directed to its form of con-
tent and context. In its content, the port-
rait of the Indonesian middle class actual-
ly has a uctuating society basis. As a new
social class in the hierarchy of society, the
middle class of Indonesia does not have a
strong base of mass and the media is rather
intermediary. This is because the Indone-
sian middle class society is formed by the
state and always follows the country so it
is not grounded in the community. And
in the context of Indonesian middle class,
they show their existence as elitist and legi-
timize themselves as a dierent class to the
community.
The pattern of development of the
middle class, basically follow the linear
pattern of middle-class development lo-
cated in the Asian region with symptoms
of booming post the high economic growth.
However, the Indonesian middle class is
expected to become an economic power-
house. In fact, the middle class of Indonesia
is hoped to be the host in the country.
However, behind the public skep-
ticism, the political potential addressed
by the Indonesian middle class is actually
high. This can be seen from a variety of po-
litical activism both committed openly or
clandestinely. In other words, the Indone-
sian middle class is actually a political lite-
racy class, but it depends on the gures and
events which follow them. Especially with
the advance of social media and internet,
they are at least expected to be able to build
their strong political representation chan-
nels and to articulate their interests.
In the future, the role of the Indone-
sian middle class will play a signicant role
in the political reality of Indonesia both as
a group and also the interests of pressure
groups. It depends on how far the political
activism and also criticism of the middle
class in any advocacy of interests that is
fought for.
REFERENCES
Chen, J., & Lu, C., 2011. Democratization and the
middle Class in China: The Middle Class’s At-
titudes Toward Democracy. Political Research
Quarterly, 64(3), pp.705-719.
Chilcote, R., Theories of Comparative Politics: The
Search for a Paradigm Reconsidered. Westview
Press, Colorado.
Dursun, G., “Revisiting Karl Polanyi’s Transforming
Market Society and Embedness Thesis” dalam
Yildzi, Hirlal. 2015. Globalization Dimensions
& Impacts: Global Studies Vol. 2. Istanbul: IJO-
PEC Publication.
Fereirra, F. et.al. 2012. Economic Mobility and the Rise
of the Latin American Middle Class. Washing-
ton D.C
Firman, T., 2009. The Continuity and Change in
Mega-Urbanization in Indonesia: A Survey
of Jakarta–Bandung Region (JBR) develop-
ment. Habitat International, 33(4), pp.327-339.
Gerke, S., 2000. Global Lifestyles Under Local Condi-
tions: The New Indonesian Middle Class. Con-
sumption in Asia: Lifestyles and identities, 135.

Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 267-282 282
UNNES
JOURNALS
Hadiz, V.R., & Robison, R., 2013. The political Econ-
omy of Oligarchy and the Reorganization of
Power in Indonesia. Indonesia, 96(1), pp.35-57.
Hasan, N., 2009. The Making of Public Islam: Piety,
Agency, and Commodication on the Land-
scape of the Indonesian Public Sphere. Con-
temporary Islam, 3(3), pp.229.
Heriyati, P., & Siek, T.P., 2011. Eects of Word of
Mouth Communication and Perceived Qual-
ity on Decision Making Moderated by Gender:
Jakarta Blackberry Smartphone Consumer’s
Perspective. Contemporary Management Re-
search, 7(4), p.329.
Heryanto, A., 2011. The New Middle Class and Islam in
Indonesian Popular Culture. Islam and Popu-
lar Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia, pp.60-
82.
Hoesterey, J.B., & Clark, M., 2012. Film Islami: Gen-
der, Piety and Pop Culture in Post-Authori-
tarian Indonesia. Asian Studies Review, 36(2),
pp.207-226.
Jones, C., 2010. Materializing Piety: Gendered Anxi-
eties about Faithful Consumption in Contem-
porary Urban Indonesia. American Ethnolo-
gist, 37(4), pp.617-637.
Kivinen, M., 1990. Analytical Marxism and Class
Theory” in Clegg, Stewart (ed.) Organization
Theory and Class Analysis. Walter de Gruyter,
New York.
Luvaas, B., 2009. Dislocating Sounds: The Deterrito-
rialization of Indonesian Indie Pop. Cultural
Anthropology, 24(2), pp.246-279.
Luvaas, B., 2010. Designer Vandalism: Indonesian
Indie Fashion and the Cultural Practice of
Cut’n’Paste. Visual Anthropology Review, 26(1),
pp.1-16.
Mas’oed, M., 2006. Negara, Kapital, Demokrasi.
Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta.
Naafs, S., & White, B., 2012. Intermediate Generations:
Reections on Indonesian Youth Studies. The
Asia Pacic Journal of Anthropology, 13(1),
pp.3-20.
Nilan, P., 2009. Contemporary Masculinities and
Young Men in Indonesia. Indonesia and the
Malay World, 37(109), pp.327-344.
Pepinsky, T.B., Liddle, R.W., & Mujani, S., 2012. Test-
ing Islam’s Political Advantage: Evidence from
Indonesia. American Journal of Political Sci-
ence, 56(3), pp.584-600.
Poulantzas, N., 1975. Classes in Contemporary Capi-
talism. Verso, London.
Poulantzas, N., 1975. Political Power in Social Classes.
Verso, London.
Rinaldo, R., 2010. . The Islamic Revival and Women’s
Political Subjectivity in Indonesia. In Women’s
Studies International Forum, 33(4), pp.422-
431.
Slama, M., 2010. The Agency of the Heart: Internet
Chatting as Youth Culture in Indonesia. Social
Anthropology, 18(3), pp.316-330.
Smith-Hefner, N.J., 2007. Youth Language, Gaul So-
ciability, and the NEW INDONESIAN MID-
DLE CLASS. Journal of Linguistic Anthropol-
ogy, 17(2), pp.184-203.
Standing, G., 2011. The Precariat: The New Dangerous
Class. Bloomsbury Academic, London.
Wright, E.O., 2009. Understanding Class. New Left
Review, 60, pp.106-116