In Indonesia, marriage still serves the only legal institution of family formation. However, at least since 1950s, the pattern of mate selection to expectedly end up in marriage has undergone a silent transformation from the traditional arranged to self-choice. Following the transition, two major cultural trends termed: pacaran and ta’aruf rise as popular ways of young Indonesian Muslims finding their life partner. This study would examine how the changing pattern of mate selection took place in Indonesia and how, under an influence of Giddens’ modernization theory, increasing cultural trends of mate selection were elaborated. Ethnographic evidence provided by previous research was presented. Current trends of mate selection were discussed. The analysis incorporated dimensions of family relations and gender differences to see how much those two aspects influenced the process of spouse choice in Indonesia. The study found that the two most-contested ideals of spouse choice in Indonesia were adopted from ‘traditions’ already existing in other part of the world. However, in the modern Indonesian context, to fully understand how these two emerge and currently contested cannot by simply mentioning a process of globalization without taking into account a complex social and political policy happening particularly during the last century.

Backpacking seems to become a cultural symbol of contemporary youth nomadism. Backpackers arrange their own trip with more flexible itinerary and construction of identity that often opposes tourists’ identity. The characteristics of their travel makes backpacker capable of forming their own travel subculture. By interviewing 15 Indonesian backpackers and intensively observing their travel journeys posted online in backpacker forum and their social media pages, this study explores the backpacking activity as a potential for subcultural career among today’s traveling youth. Three types of backpacker subcultural career are identified under the headline of open trip, endorsed trip and business trip. This finding contributes to enrich backpacker discussion in the frame of traveling as a work activity.

Australia is very important to Indonesia’s tourism recovery strategies after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines tourism issues in Indonesia as represented by Australian websites. By mapping actors and issue networks in Australian sites, this study identified the status and behavior of actors in online networks. This study applies a Bourdieusian framework adapted to an online setting called online field theory. Applying web data to study the behavior of actors or organizations, this study combined the hyperlink network and content analysis. It has been found that tourism policies and tourism impact on the economy in Indonesia is a major concern for Australian actors. The web narratives indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic contextualizes the emergence of major issues and prominent actors dealing with the issues. A map of the hyperlink network confirmed the structure of the fields in which privileged actors in Australia, such as the government and the media, are more central in framing and diffusing the issues. It is argued that issue formation and adoption on the web reflect multiple Australian interests to Indonesia’s tourism.

Blogs as a growing online platform came to be seen as a ‘newly ideal’ space for social interaction, identity construction and negotiation. Bloggers became a social actor who showcase and perform their roles and identities online. This paper would attempt to analyse the presentation of gender identities on travel blogs managed and written by female travellers. The research questions raised were “how online technology (travel blogs) become a space for women to perform gender identity online? In performing their identity, how these women may challenge the conception of male domination in “travel world” as presented through their narratives in a travel blog?” Adopting West and Zimmerman’s (1987) concept of doing gender, gender identities would be viewed as something individuals achieve or accomplish through ongoing social interactions (p. 129). The study found that travel blogs have become a space for female travellers to express and extend their identities online. Female identity presented in travel blogs substantially informs the traditionally exclusion of women in travel world. As has also been elaborated, travelling itself can be understood as a gendered phenomenon. Since traveling is gendered, perception of being on the road and the roles played by male and female traveller is different.