Iqra Anugrah

Populism, Ideology and Discourse in the Global South

Contact: i.anugrah(at)iias.nl

Research Fellow, International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University
Research Associate, Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education, and Information (LP3ES)

Iqra Anugrah is an interdisciplinary political scientist/theorist. Trained in comparative politics, political theory, and area studies, he is mainly interested in democracy, development, social movements, modern and contemporary political thoughts, and Southeast Asia. He has published in PS: Political Science and Politics, Regional and Federal Studies, Monthly Review, TRaNS, International Quarterly for Asian Studies, and Cornell University Press, among others.

After finishing his past project on agrarian politics in post-authoritarian Indonesia, Iqra is conducting a new project on conservatism and right-wing populism in modern Indonesia (1966-2019) and their transnational connections and resonance through three case studies: anti-communist intellectuals, economic technocrats, and Islamist writers and activists.

Iqra holds a PhD in Political Science from Northern Illinois University and currently serves as a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University and a Research Associate at the Institute for Economic Research, Education, and Information (LP3ES) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Research project

Conservatism and Right-Wing Populism in Modern Indonesia, 1966-2019

This project aims to test the general explanations of conservatism and right-wing populism through the Indonesian experience, analyze parallels and divergences between Western and Indonesian conservatism, and identify key features of Indonesian conservatism and right-wing populism. Conservatism, defined as a reactionary, pragmatic, and cross-class idea-cum-movement in defense of tradition and hierarchies, has attracted vast support across the globe in recent years, manifested in symptoms such as illiberal politics, capitalism with nationalist characteristics, and traditionalist populism.

The evolution of Indonesian conservatism (1966-2019) as a variant of modern conservatism provides a vantage point from which to critically analyze conservative and right-wing populist thoughts globally. Anti-communist intellectuals and military leaders, pro-market technocrats and economists, and Islamist activists and celebrities have exerted significant influence in Indonesia, one of the world’s major democracies. This project will study the abovementioned case studies against an international backdrop with the aim of contributing to a global, decolonized understanding of contemporary conservative populism.

My main hypothesis is this: the gradual rise and consolidation of conservatism and right-wing populism in modern Indonesia is an expression of turbocharged mesocracy or middle-class rule, where the middle-class, out of fear of mass democratic and redistributive demands and socio-cultural dislocations under capitalist development, support an elitist form of democracy, market economy with limited social welfare, and illiberal and patriarchal cultural values. This vernacular conservatism is marked by free borrowing of ideas, political savviness, technocratic expertise, and cultural trendiness.