Cultural Political Economy of Identity Politics in Indonesia: The Case of the 2019 Presidential Elections

This article uses a cultural political economy framework to interpret identity politics in Indonesia’s electoral politics by taking the case of the 2019 presidential elections. Using empirical evidence from thematically analysed mis-/disinformation, it explains how supporters of presidential candidates have consistently deployed narratives to shape specific notions of threats that undermine the nation’s unity. We see such efforts in the cultural and material forces of religion and race mobilized by the political campaign industry. This article reveals how mediated electoral narratives discursively conjure the image of a strong state that defends national sovereignty, and this image reproduces the fundamental issues of class and inequalities that neither presidential candidate can address in neoliberal times.