Yoes C. Kenawas, IFAR Atma Jaya Researcher and former Northwestern Arryman Scholar, Quoted in New York Times Article on Recent Unrest in Indonesia

In a recent article published in the New York Times covering ongoing domestic unrest in Indonesia, a former Arryman Scholar at Northwestern University and current researcher at the Institute for Advanced Research (IFAR) at Atma Jaya Catholic University, Indonesia, Yoes C. Kenawas, provided his perspective as a scholar of political science and democracy.

When asked about the intensification of protests following the death of Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver who was struck and killed by a speeding police vehicle pursuing a group of protesters, Dr. Kenawas’s response was simple: Indonesians, especially the young and economically disempowered, saw themselves in Mr. Affan, who has become a symbol of the average citizen working a difficult, dangerous, low-wage job just to make ends meet.

Protests erupted in Indonesia in late August after growing disillusionment with the government’s lack of responsiveness to the economic hardship of average citizens, including rising inflation and the highest unemployment rate in Southeast Asia. After Mr. Affan’s death, the subject of police brutality became yet another rallying cry for the largely youth-driven demonstrations.

Dr. Kenawas’s contribution to the article serves as a reminder of the importance of, sensitivity to, and awareness of, public sentiment in the production of scholarship. The All-Indonesia Students’ Union, an alliance of various unions representing the interests of Indonesian students, helped organize the recent demonstrations, as well as earlier demonstrations in April 2022, October 2023, and more recently in February of this year following the passage of a law permitting members of the Indonesian military to play more of an active role in civilian life, which was seen by many as an erosion of civilian control of the military.