STUDIA ISLAMIKA
Vol 29, No 1 (2022): Studia Islamika

Contesting Ethnic and Religious Identities in the 2019 Indonesian Elections: Political Polarization in West Kalimantan

Zuly Qodir (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta)
Hasse Jubba (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta)
Mega Hidayati (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta)



Article Info

Publish Date
22 Jun 2022

Abstract

During Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election, significant religious and ethnic contestations occurred using hatred and stigma in expressing support for favored candidates. This article focuses on the case of West Kalimantan Province which has a divided society and memories of ethnic-based bloody communal violence in the early 2000s.  This article notifies that wherein ethnic Dayak, Javanese, and Chinese voters tended to support Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Ma’ruf Amin, while ethnic Malay, Madurese, and Buginese voters tended to back Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno up in the election. However, such ethnic and religious contestations in West Kalimantan did not generate violent conflicts during the election. Instead, voters continued to interact peacefully and harmoniously among different ethnic and religious groups. This contestation coincided with the emergence of political awareness among the Dayaks, Chinese, and Malays of West Kalimantan, which further contributed to Jokowi’s electoral victory.  Nevertheless, this political contestation produced the political identity.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

studia-islamika

Publisher

Subject

Religion Education

Description

STUDIA ISLAMIKA (ISSN 0215-0492; E-ISSN: 2355-6145) is a journal published by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. It specializes in Indonesian Islamic studies in particular, and Southeast Asian Islamic studies in general, and is intended to ...