Hometown Volunteers: A Case Study of Volunteer Organizations in Surakarta Supporting Joko Widodo's Presidential Campaign

Abstract

This article discusses the phenomenon of volunteer organizations supporting Joko Widodo – better known as Jokowi – in Surakarta and the surrounding area during Indonesia's 2014 presidential election. This research is important because, although volunteerism has been commonly replicated since Barack Obama's victories in the 2008 and 2012 American presidential elections, profi les of volunteers (their identities, motivations and self-defi nitions of their activities) and their activities (how they organize carry out and fund them) are still largely unknown. The article aims to address this lack of research within both the context of political transformation in Indonesia as well as the broader context of volunteerism, and to show how it contributes to democratization in Indonesia. This article reveals that volunteerism as a movement crosses class, age, ideological and gender boundaries, while its organizational form at the local level seems to be based on class, gender and/or age. Through their organizational models, activities, approaches and motives, volunteers have restored activism and volunteerism to Indonesian political processes. Nonetheless, this article cannot be certain of the movement's contribution to the development of Indonesian democracy.

Analysis of Netnographic Methods on Account Activities on Social Media Actors

“…Various kinds of hate speech discourses that have become issues as a tool of war to attack the Bembang Banteng party include: 1) The party bearing the symbol of the Bull chaired by Megawati Soekarno Putri is considered to have the power to control President Jokowi. Whatever the President's policy is considered the decisive one is Megawati Soekarno Putri (Lay 2018). In this case, President…”

Affective Polarization: Not Always Between Ingroup Vs Outgroup (Evidence from Twitter Conversation with Keywords Jokowi and PDIP)

“…Political volunteers also arise from dissatisfaction with clientelistic or patronage practices [29]. Cornelis also reveals that voluntarism as a movement transcends class, age, ideological, and gender boundaries, while its organizational forms at the local level are based on class, gender, and/or age [30].…”

An Urban Explanation of Jokowi’s Rise: Implications for Politics and Governance in Post-Suharto Indonesia

“…Society-centred explanations of Jokowi's rise have mainly analysed the role of social movements, social media, and grassroots activism in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial elections and the 2014 presidential election (Sefsani and Ziegenhain, 2015;Suaedy, 2014;Tomsa and Setijadi, 2018;Lay, 2018). To begin with, Suaedy (2014) has discussed the significance of "partisan" social movements in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial elections, treating it as a turning point in Indonesia's history of social movements.…”

“…Similar assessments of Jokowi's campaign in the 2014 presidential election followed, as Sefsani and Ziegenhain (2015) found the enormous support of civil society organisations and volunteer groups (relawan) as a crucial factor of Jokowi's victory in 2014. In a case study of volunteer organisations in Surakarta that worked for Jokowi's presidential campaign, Lay (2018) has also argued that Indonesia's volunteerism has become an integral part of Indonesian political processes. As such, this group of scholars has characterised Jokowi's rise in 2014 as a case of bottom-up change brought about by democratic-minded citizens, non-governmental organisations, and volunteers.…”

“…His pluralist platform kindled excitement among the marginalised, while his democratic orientation appealed to those who saw Prabowo's authoritarian tendencies as a threat to Indonesia's democracy (Aspinall and Mietzner, 2014;Mietzner, 2015). Others argued that the unprecedented nature of Jokowi's campaign led to an influx of grassroots support comprising voluntary organisations and social media users (Sefsani and Ziegenhain, 2015;Suaedy, 2014;Tomsa and Setijadi, 2018;Lay, 2018). Such are the explanations of Jokowi's rise that have been mainstream, especially within the field of political science.…”