Peringatan Darurat: Understanding the Ongoing Struggle to Protect Democracy and Civil and Political Rights in Indonesia

In recent years, several nationwide protest events have occurred in Indonesia. 2019 saw Indonesia’s largest student movement since the Reformasi of 1998, as protests broke out against a range of bills related to political, social and environmental issues. They were followed by protests against the Omnibus Law in 2020 and the ‘Emergency Warning’ (Peringatan Darurat) protests in 2024 against local election law. These protests have drawn diverse groups of people and been reactive in nature. This paper, based on interviews conducted in June-July 2024 and April 2025 with 30-35 activists who have participated in social movements to protect democracy and civil and political rights, will investigate the nature and meaning of social movements in Indonesia from 2019 to 2024. Key questions are how participants frame their struggles, what they view as challenges and constraints to their efforts and whether not their movement has a clear collective identity. The paper draws on theories of social movements as sustained interaction with authorities and opponents, participants in which share common purpose and solidarities and can develop collective identities. Although participants feel that their movement lacks a clear identity, is fragmented along lines such as class, region and ethnicity and riven by disagreements over political strategy, there nevertheless exists a coherent movement with a clear political agenda. This could be defined as protecting political and civil rights and consolidating democracy in Indonesia. Generally, participants share frustration at political inertia and apathy, and believe that democracy and the gains of the Reformasi in 1998 have not been fully consolidated. Salient issues for movement participants include democracy, human rights, corruption, inequality, gender issues and environmental issues. Indonesia’s pro-democracy social movement has received less scholarly attention than those of other Asian countries and regions, including Myanmar, Thailand and Hong Kong, possibly due to its sporadic and fragmented nature. This paper will not only provide new insights on an evolving social movement with great potential political and social impacts but also contribute to a growing body of literature on recent pro-democracy social movements in Asia and the connections between them.