Identity in the Contemporary Indonesian Post-Truth Society:

Primordialism on Social Media in the 2017 Election of the DKI Jakarta Governor

Medhy Aginta Hidayat

Department of Sociology, Trunojoyo University, Madura, Indonesia

Keywords: identity, primordialism, social media, post-truth, digital society, Indonesia

Abstract: This article examines the identity politics in contemporary Indonesian post-truth society. The development

of information-communication technology today has given rise to new challenges in contemporary

Indonesian society. On the one hand, it has opened up the communication space among citizens in a more

democratic way. On the other hand, it has also raised a number of issues. One such issue is the rise of

primordialism through social media. A number of studies have shown an increasing trend of primordialism

based on religious, ethnic, and class identity through social media. There is also still an ongoing process of

the production and reproduction of false information on social media focused on a particular political

interest. Fake news, hoaxes and slander can be spread through social media. Furthermore, facts and truth

seem to no longer be important. In a post-truth society, the most important thing seems to be convincing the

masses of a certain goal. Using the critical discourse analysis method, the author analysed the netizen

conversations in the election of the Governor of DKI Jakarta in 2017 as a case study of identity politics in

Indonesia. This article underlines the role of social media utilisation as a part of identity politics in

contemporary Indonesian post-truth society.

1 INTRODUCTION

The 2017 Governor of DKI Jakarta election was

considered by many observers to be one of the worst

local elections in Indonesia (Nugroho, 2016;

Erizaldi, 2017; Sirait, 2018). One of the most

prominent phenomena in the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election was the use of primordial symbols, such as

ethnicity, religion and class, as a sound picking voter

toolkit. In order to win the Pilkada contestation, a

number of supporters of certain governor candidates

utilised the facts of ethnic differences (pribumi

versus non-pribumi), religious differences (Islam

versus non-Islam) and class differences (wong cilik

versus conglomerate) as a strategy to influence

prospective voter decisions. Primordial sentiment

was waged, rather than candidate competencies and

track records.

Furthermore, in contrast to the elections in the

previous year, the 2017 DKI Jakarta election took

place in the reality of a contemporary Indonesian

post-truth society. This is the reality of people who

live and who have lived in the time of the current

development of the latest communication and

information technology. This is the reality of people

who are familiar with using the internet and various

online tools. It is in this reality of digital society that

identity politics finds a new space of existence,

namely social media, in Indonesia. Data from a

number of studies shows that social media is the

latest political propaganda tool that is very effective

at achieving certain political goals (Sunstein, 2018).

Moreover, in the reality of today's society, which is

often referred to as the "post-truth society" in which

facts and truth are no longer singular, social media is

the main tool for spreading false news, hoaxes and

uncensored slander. In this context, the 2017 DKI

Jakarta election took place in the contemporary

Indonesian post-truth society, where there is the

widespread use of social media especially for

political interests, as well as the rise of identity

politics and primordialism based on ethnicity,

religion and class in local political contestation.

This article has tried to answer the main question

of the research carried out in early 2018, namely on

how the phenomenon of identity politics through

social media occurred in the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election. More specifically, this article will underline

the role of social media as the main driving factor of

identity politics and the rise of primordialism in the

Hidayat, M.

Identity in the Contemporary Indonesian Post-Truth Society.

DOI: 10.5220/0008816500420046

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs (ICoCSPA 2018), pages 42-46

ISBN: 978-989-758-393-3

reality of contemporary Indonesian post-truth

society.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Identity often becomes a battlefield of political

interests. A number of studies have shown that

ethnicity, race, religion, gender and class

background are widely used as "political capital" to

gain power (Appiah, 2006; Heryanto, 2012; Afala,

2018). Hindu and Islamic religious identities in India

and Pakistan, for example, are the main social

capital used for political purposes (Appiah, 2006).

On the other hand, identity is also often formed

through political processes. A number of new

countries born after the end of the Second World

War were largely formed based on similarities of

identities (especially race, ethnicity and religion) and

through identity politics (Appiah, 2006; Castells,

2010).

Identity politics is a concept that describes how

various backgrounds of the individual actors’

identities are used for the benefit of gaining political

power. Initially, identity politics was a social

movement against injustice and the discrimination of

minority groups in the United States during 1960s,

such as black people, native Americans, women, gay

men and diffable groups (Appiah, 2006; Fauzi,

2010). In its later development, the subject of

identity politics does not only refer to subordinate

groups, but it also now includes subjects who have

considerable political capital. Nowadays, the

category of identities for identity politics has

developed to include ethnicity, religion, class,

family, occupation and other identities (Fauzi, 2010;

Afala, 2018).

The politics of identity in Indonesia has been

going on since the era of the formation of the nation-

state to date (Haboddin, 2012). Fighting and

mobilising political forces based on identity

backgrounds is not a new phenomenon in Indonesia.

However, it must be admitted that the practices of

identity politics in Indonesia found an explosive

momentum after the Reformasi Order. The adoption

of a decentralised system of government, regional

territory expansion, multi-party systems and a local

electoral system, has triggered a resurgence of

identity politics (Haboddin 2012; Ramstedt, 2011).

Since the Reformation Era, for example, in various

Pilkada in Indonesia, the phenomenon of clashes of

identity symbols has emerged as the political capital

of potential regional leaders. Furthermore, the

impact of the rampant practice of identity politics in

Indonesia is related to the rise of primordialism,

which is the understanding or belief that the ties of

origin and background of certain identities (race,

ethnicity, religion) are the main elements of

individual identity (Ubed, 2002; Haboddin, 2015).

Other identities are considered to be unimportant. As

a result, society is vulnerable if there are inter-group

conflicts based on divisive primordial sentiments.

Such conditions are exacerbated by the reality of

contemporary Indonesian post-truth society, in

which facts and truths are defeated by mere beliefs

and emotions (Ball, 2017; McIntyre, 2018).

The 2017 DKI Jakarta Governor’s election is

widely regarded as the culmination of the practice of

identity politics in Indonesia (Nugroho, 2016;

Kharisma, 2017; Suntoro, 2018; Sirait, 2018). With

the support of social media, identity politics carried

out by certain governor candidates in the 2017 DKI

Jakarta election utilised primordial ties in the form

of ethnic, religious and social class identity in order

to gain power, rather than demonstrating their

competence, track record and vision as a leader. A

number of studies show that social media, more than

others, plays an important role in the practice of

identity politics, including in the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election (Nichols, 2017; Erizaldi, 2017; Nugroho,

2016; Saraswati, 2017; Taplin, 2018). With the help

of social media, the process of information

dissemination, discourse and issues, as well as

mobilisation and opinion formation took place both

massively and effectively.

3 METHODS

This qualitative research study used the critical

discourse analysis method. The critical discourse

analysis method is one of the newer methods in

social and cultural sciences research. Three

important postulates in this method are that it is an

interdisciplinary approach, that it seeks to demystify

ideology and that it is reflective and critical of both

the data and research objects (Wodak, 2009;

Fairclough, 2010). According to Fairclough (2010),

the method of critical discourse analysis includes

three dimensions: text, discursive practices and

social praxis. Text in this case includes speech,

writing, stories, pictures, films and others.

Discursive practice refers to all forms of textual

relations of production and consumption. In this

dimension, there is a subjective interpretation

process. Finally, social praxis is an action taken

based on discursive inter-textual understanding.

Identity in the Contemporary Indonesian Post-Truth Society

In this study, the author utilised data in the form

of texts (including speech, writing, stories, pictures,

films, etc.) on social media related to the identity

politics during the 2017 DKI Jakarta election.

Approximately 300 texts in various forms and media

channels have been used as the data in this study.

Furthermore, this text was then sorted into themes

based on the primordialism symbols and content, in

turn based on ethnicity, religion and social class.

The social media platforms chosen in this study

were Facebook and Twitter. The selection of these

two types of social media platforms is because they

are the main media platforms used during the 2017

DKI Jakarta election (other less important social

media used was Instagram). Through these two

types of social media, it is hoped that the ongoing

identity politics and the rise of primordialism in the

case of contemporary Indonesian post-truth society

can be described and analysed.

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 Pribumi versus Non-Pribumi

This study found that the first primordial sentiment

that emerged in the practice of identity politics in the

social media of the 2017 DKI Jakarta Election was

related to ethnic identity. Netizen conversations on

social media are dominated by the issue of "pribumi

versus non-pribumi." The term pribumi refers to the

idea of native citizens, who are not foreign

descendants. Although the concept of "pribumi" has

been widely criticised by scholars because it is

considered to be misleading (Ubed, 2002; Haboddin,

2015), in the reality of the people of DKI Jakarta,

this vague identity is still considered to be important.

In the 2017 DKI Jakarta election contest, the

pribumi identity was represented by the candidate

for the governor of Anies Baswedan, while the non-

pribumi candidate was Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or

Ahok, of Chinese descent.

The main texts that dominated social media,

especially Facebook and Twitter at that time, were

"Ahok Cina", "Ahok not pribumi", "Ahok was born

in Cina", "Ahok is a communist Cina", “Ahok PKI”

and "Ahok is not a native Indonesian" (Sarwanto,

2017). Popular hashtags on Twitter during the

election included #AhokSumberKegaduhan for

example, and discussed a lot about Ahok’s ethnic

background. Disinformation was also disseminated

through social media massively, and was not

infrequently manipulative in order to gain voter

support. Although the facts prove that Ahok was

born in Indonesia and has Indonesian citizenship,

discursive interpretations show that the texts of

politicised ethnic identity have been accepted and

trusted by netizens.

On the other hand, the perception of netizens that

Anies Baswedan is a pribumi seems to be well

received, even though actually Anies is a Yemeni

descendant. Although the text that "Anies pribumi"

and its variants do not appear too many times on

social media, but the dichotomy of "pribumi versus

non-pribumi" seems to have convinced netizens that

Anies Baswedan is a pribumi. Discursive

interpretations like this certainly cannot be separated

from the long history of hatred and discrimination of

Chinese descendants in Indonesia, who are always

considered to be "immigrants", "rich people" and

"greedy." As a consequence, the netizen's social

practices in the 2017 DKI Jakarta election resulted

in them giving their votes to Anies Baswedan, who

is considered to be "pribumi" rather than their votes

going to the "non-pribumi", Ahok

4.2 Muslim versus Non-Muslim

In addition to ethnic identity, religious identity was

also one of the dominant primordial sentiments

during the 2017 DKI Jakarta election. Identity

politics distinguishes between Basuki Tjahaja

Purnama or Ahok as a non-Muslim (Christian) and

Anies Baswedan as a Muslim, and he consciously

utilised religious identity as an important voter getter

during the election. In the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election, religious-based hatred sentiments were

even getting stronger when Ahok was considered to

have defamed Al-Qur'an, Surat Al Maidah 51. The

accusation of blasphemy then sent Ahok to jail,

sentenced to two years.

Moreover, the dominant text relating to religion-

based identity politics in social media is dominated

by lawsuits against Ahok, the prohibition on

choosing kafir leaders (non-Muslims), as well as the

prohibition of worshiping Ahok's supporters when

they pass away. Netizen conversations on Facebook

were also mainly filled with suggestions not to

choose Ahok as the governor of DKI Jakarta. While

on Twitter, popular hashtags such as

#TangkapAhok, #AhokPenistaAgama,

#GeloraJihad, as well as #SaveUlama were

scattered throughout during the election.

This study further found that this discursive

interpretation of the primordial text of religious

identity has a stronger influence than ethnic identity.

Superficial religious understanding, as well as the

lack of digital literacy, has made netizens easily

ICoCSPA 2018 - International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs

receive misleading information on social media. As

a consequence, at the level of social praxis, these

political texts and disputes between Muslims and

non-Muslims have been proven able to mobilize

some of the DKI Jakarta residents to carry out large-

scale demonstrations demanding that Ahok should

be detained and punished. Identity politics,

supported by the power of social media, once again

has proven to be overthrowing Ahok as a governor

candidate considered once to be clean, competent

and visionary.

4.3 Wong Cilik versus Conglomerate

Although less prominent than the two previous

identities, the last primordial sentiments that

emerged in the 2017 DKI Jakarta election were to do

with differences in social class. Some scholars do

not include social class as a part of primordial

identity (Haboddin, 2015). However, some others

place social class as one aspect of primordial

identity (Afala, 2018). The author followed the

second group of scholars and found data in the field

stating that social class can be part of the primordial

identity.

In the 2017 DKI Jakarta election, social class-

based identity politics sought to be seen in the

differences between the lower class people

commonly referred to as "wong cilik" and the upper

class or conglomerates. In order to win over the

sympathy of the electorate, the supporters of each

governor candidate tried to build the image as them

being the defender of the "wong cilik" and on the

other hand, they sought to get away from their

proximity to the conglomerate group.

Netizen' conversations on social media on this

topic were dominated by words such as "governor of

the people", "advocate of wong cilik", "wong cilik

party", and also texts about "against black

conglomerates", "anti-Aseng", "anti-foreigners" and

the "Governor of the 9 Dragons". Interestingly, in

contrast to the two previous identities that tend to

show a sharp dichotomy between the candidates, in

the issue of class identity, almost all of the

candidates tried to build an image as being the

"defender of wong cilik" and "enemy of the

conglomerate".

An analysis of the texts on social media at the

time showed the tendency of the supporters of

governor Anies Baswedan to place Ahok in the

position of supporting "capital owners". The term

"Governor of the 9 Dragons", for example, was

given to Ahok which was considered to bring in the

interest of wealthy Chinese businessmen. The

expression "anti-Aseng" also emerged as a symbol

of the rejection of Chinese businessmen in Indonesia

(Aseng is a typical Chinese Indonesian name). These

texts appear to be in the form of writing, meme

images and both factual and hoax videos that tend to

corner the identity of one of the governor candidates.

In a scheme like this, discursive interpretations

that arise later can be read as an attempt to discredit

Ahok as a candidate as he is a governor of Chinese

descent from a family of businessmen, and close to

the Chinese business circle. Meanwhile, on the other

hand, Anies Baswedan was quite successful in

building the image of the identity of candidates who

were siding with the wong cilik. His rejection of the

Jakarta Bay reclamation project, for example,

became popular campaign material that was widely

shared through social media by his supporters. This

is, of course, because the reclamation project is

considered to be a symbol of support for Chinese

business class groups.

This symbolic association in turn had positive

results for the support team of the governor of Anies

Baswedan. At the level of social praxis, this study

found that the texts of "wong cilik advocates" and

"anti-Aseng" proved to be able to mobilise voters to

support Anies Baswedan. That is, although less

prominent, primordial sentiments based on class

identity through social media turned out to play a

role in the identity politics of the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Identity politics during the 2017 DKI Jakarta

election took place on a massive scale through social

media. The data in this study shows that the

presence of social media, especially Facebook and

Twitter, has become a strong trigger for the

development of primordial sentiments being more

open and intense. In the 2017 DKI Jakarta election

in previous years, the intensity of the practice of

identity politics did not take place as it did in 2017.

The emergence of a DKI Jakarta governor candidate

from minority groups, namely Basuki Tjahaja

Purnama, who is of Chinese descent and Christian,

has encouraged the rise of identity politics and

primordialism in Indonesia.

Social media texts in identity politics during the

2017 DKI Jakarta election included three themes of

identity, namely ethnicity, religion and social class.

Of the three, ethnic background (pribumi versus

non-pribumi) and religion (Islam versus non-Islam)

became the point of attention of netizens, while

Identity in the Contemporary Indonesian Post-Truth Society

social class background (wong cilik versus

conglomerate) received less attention.

The existence of social media has proven to play

an important role in the identity politics in the 2017

DKI Jakarta election. Societal divisions based on

primordial background (ethnicity, religion and social

class) took place more openly and dangerously. In

the reality of contemporary Indonesian post-truth

society, a better political will is needed for managing

primordial differences and preventing the negative

side of identity politics.

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