Pop Cultures in Indonesia: a New Asian Politics of Pleasure and Identity

This study aims to produce one of the first in-depth studies in English of pop cultures in Indonesia within the broader context of new Asia. It will examine post-1998 popular cultures as significant sites and modes of articulation of competing aspirations, fantasies, fears, anxieties among millions of ordinary Indonesians. The fall of the New Order authoritarian government (1998) has left a very fluid political situation, marked by a fierce contest for the nation’s sense of identity and direction for its future. Intersecting area and cultural studies, this project will make contribution to both, illuminating aspects usually absent in mainstream analyses.