The Symbolic Convergence Within the Transformation of City of Bekasi From the Most Intolerant City Into the Most Tolerant City

Abstract

Out of 94 Cities that become the object of assessment within the Index of Tolerant City by Setara Institute, the City of Bekasi is the only city that has undergone the transformation from the second most intolerant city in 2015 into the sixth most tolerant city in 2018. Departing from the statement, through this article the researchers would like to explain the transformation within the ranking of the index. By using the theory of symbolic convergence, the results of the study show that such transformation has been the result of the action taken by the City of Bekasi Government. The stigma of being the most intolerant city has been stripped off by the City of Bekasi Government through a number of political programs and policies such as the deprivation of the discriminative policies, the provision of construction permit for several churches that used to be refuted by several mass organizations, and continuous campaigns of diversity (kebhinekaan). The reason is that the City of Bekasi Government has been impacted by the stigma of being the most intolerant city and this situation has urged the Government to turn tolerance into the most important issue within the City of Bekasi nowadays.