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Jokowi and the New Indonesia: A Political Biography
In 2014, Joko Widodo--popularly known as Jokowi--was elected the seventh president of the Republic of Indonesia, going on to win a second five-year term in 2019. Raised amid poverty in a riverside slum and with a background in the furniture export trade, Jokowi broke the mold for political leaders in the world's third-largest democracy. His meteoric rise came without the benefit of personal connections to the traditional elites who have dominated Indonesian politics for three-quarters of a century, making this a true "rags to riches" story.
This new official biography tells the story of how the boy from the riverbank made it to the presidential palace in record time. Readers will learn how his personal background and heritage have created a distinctive style of politics and informed his ambitious development goals--including massive infrastructure projects, universal healthcare and a reimagining of Indonesia's educational system. It also looks at how a man raised with a traditionally Javanese worldview negotiates the tensions, contradictions and conflicts of this vast archipelagic nation.
Written by a political insider with unparalleled access to the president and an intimate first-hand knowledge of his decision-making processes, this book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the political present--and the future--of Southeast Asia's largest nation.
This new official biography tells the story of how the boy from the riverbank made it to the presidential palace in record time. Readers will learn how his personal background and heritage have created a distinctive style of politics and informed his ambitious development goals--including massive infrastructure projects, universal healthcare and a reimagining of Indonesia's educational system. It also looks at how a man raised with a traditionally Javanese worldview negotiates the tensions, contradictions and conflicts of this vast archipelagic nation.
Written by a political insider with unparalleled access to the president and an intimate first-hand knowledge of his decision-making processes, this book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the political present--and the future--of Southeast Asia's largest nation.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 5, 2023
"Jokowi and the New Indonesia" recounts the story of Joko Widodo's (popularly known as Jokowi) political career from Surakarta (Solo) mayor to the Republic of Indonesia's seventh president and second directly elected president. Excluding the authors' introduction and prologue, the book contains 12 chapters. The first four chapters provides (1) a broad historical context behind Indonesia's first six presidencies and describes (2) Jokowi's childhood, background, and character; (3) Jokowi's entrance into politics as mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta; and (4) Jokowi's campaign during the 2014 elections. The next six chapters zoom in on Jokowi's policies during his first-term, focusing mainly on his approach to (5) tourism, (6) energy and infrastructure, (7) education and health care reforms, (8) rural development, (9) Papua, and (10) foreign policy. The last two chapters then look at (11) Jokowi's campaign during the 2019 elections and (12) Jokowi's presidency up to the year 2021 before closing with an epilogue discussing what would be considered the legacy of Jokowi's presidency.
In writing this book, Prasodjo and Hannigan aimed to provide a narrative-driven and accessible account of Jokowi's presidency. Using Prasodjo's insider knowledge and accounts of both Jokowi's personal life and Indonesian social, political, cultural, and historical context, the two authors were able to provide an insightful exploration of not only Jokowi's policies but also the rationale and drivers behind them. Presented in conversational language, packaged in relatively well-themed chapters, and furnished with details and footnotes, the book is a handy record of Jokowi's presidency and policies and a good introduction to Jokowi's story before delving into more detailed accounts or "specialist publications" which will likely emerge after the end of his presidency in 2024.
Given Prasodjo's background, however, the book tends to provide a pro-Jokowi narrative. This should not pose a problem for descriptions of the first term of his presidency or Indonesian historical contexts (e.g. Suharto era, Papua) given the abundance of more critical, foreign analysis on these topics. Indeed, the authors themselves seem to think that they are providing a niche in the market, offering a publication that offers a cohesive, domestically informed perspective on Jokowi's presidency for international audiences to balance critical foreign accounts lacking in context.
What may pose a problem for readers, both abroad and in Indonesia, is the book's perspective on Jokowi's second presidential term. The weakening of Indonesia's anti-corruption agency (KPK), the ratification of the Job Creation Omnibus Law (UU Cipta Kerja), and the push for an expensive, long-term, binding project for a new capital city in Kalimantan (IKN) were three key political controversies that occurred before 2021 during the book's time, but its exploration of these events were brief. It blamed the Indonesian parliament for seemingly abusing its unprecedented majority coalition for the first two controversies. Meanwhile, the third controversy, initiated by the president instead of the parliament, was justified by mentioning the long-term issues of the current capital city, Jakarta, which is increasingly at risk of sinking, amongst other things.
In the book's defense, merely providing brief descriptions could be excusable since these events are too recent to be evaluated properly. Jakarta's issues and the case for moving the capital are also long recognized. However, the least the book could do was mention the Indonesian perspective behind the controversies (i.e. the significance of corruption in Indonesian public discourse and history, the clandestine rushing of the omnibus law despite the parliament's notoriety for being slow, the expenditures for the new capital during the Covid-19 crisis), something the authors seemed more eager to do when discussing the first term of Jokowi's presidency. In addition, as of 2022, other controversies that have emerged include the ratification of the Financial Sector Omnibus Law (UU PPSK), which had threatened to weaken the central bank's (BI) independence in its initial design by the parliament, and the rumors of a movement, separate from Jokowi, trying to give the incumbent president an unconstitutional third term in his presidency (something which Jokowi calmly rejects and dismisses but is unnerving nonetheless given how young Indonesia's democracy is).
All of this neatly brings us to the book's epilogue on legacy. Without a doubt, Jokowi represents a unique milestone in Indonesian political history. He is Indonesia's first elected president who does not come from an elite family with political/military backgrounds. He is both a reformer and a moderate, pushing Indonesia's bureaucracy to new heights while simultaneously building on and expediting the policy plans of his predecessors. He is also a man of distinctly Indonesian character, capable of working flexibly with formidable rivals while remaining constant in his political affiliations and stances. Finally, he has a good reputation as an effective problem-solver sensitive to the public (merakyat) and clean from corruption, but he is surrounded by some allies who seem to have more nebulous motivations and reputations compared to the president's technocrat appointees. It is with this background and the controversies mentioned above that any discussion on Jokowi's legacy should probably be based on, but the book has failed to do so, even if only because of its premature timing and not because of its tone.
Nevertheless, Indonesian's are surprisingly capable of seeing the silver lining in all sorts of horizons, no matter how skeptical they usually seem to be. As the late presidents of Indonesia (Soekarno, Soeharto, Gus Dur, Habibie) were still respected despite the controversies of their presidencies, so too should the achievements of Indonesia's living and incumbent presidents be remembered for what they're worth.
As the authors noted while describing the impact of Jokowi's infrastructure development, which mattered a great deal to people in rural areas and peripheries, "Individual policies; furious debates over new laws; controversies over particular appointments; the divisive rhetoric of an election campaign: such things tend to be revealed as ephemera as any given presidency passes its endpoint. It is the concrete changes that typically retain their weight in the longer term, and in that Jokowi already has a legacy." This was true for Indonesia so far, and hopefully it will also be true for the "New Indonesia" the authors foresee after Jokowi's presidency.
In short, Prasodjo and Hannigan's book is a neat, insightful record of Jokowi's presidency up to 2021. It fails to explore the controversies of the president's second term due to the book's timing and tone, but readers won't help but feel hopeful as they read through Jokowi and Indonesia's journey from a more domestic, insider's perspective. It would certainly be good company for politically-conscious Indonesians or observers during the pandemic.
In writing this book, Prasodjo and Hannigan aimed to provide a narrative-driven and accessible account of Jokowi's presidency. Using Prasodjo's insider knowledge and accounts of both Jokowi's personal life and Indonesian social, political, cultural, and historical context, the two authors were able to provide an insightful exploration of not only Jokowi's policies but also the rationale and drivers behind them. Presented in conversational language, packaged in relatively well-themed chapters, and furnished with details and footnotes, the book is a handy record of Jokowi's presidency and policies and a good introduction to Jokowi's story before delving into more detailed accounts or "specialist publications" which will likely emerge after the end of his presidency in 2024.
Given Prasodjo's background, however, the book tends to provide a pro-Jokowi narrative. This should not pose a problem for descriptions of the first term of his presidency or Indonesian historical contexts (e.g. Suharto era, Papua) given the abundance of more critical, foreign analysis on these topics. Indeed, the authors themselves seem to think that they are providing a niche in the market, offering a publication that offers a cohesive, domestically informed perspective on Jokowi's presidency for international audiences to balance critical foreign accounts lacking in context.
What may pose a problem for readers, both abroad and in Indonesia, is the book's perspective on Jokowi's second presidential term. The weakening of Indonesia's anti-corruption agency (KPK), the ratification of the Job Creation Omnibus Law (UU Cipta Kerja), and the push for an expensive, long-term, binding project for a new capital city in Kalimantan (IKN) were three key political controversies that occurred before 2021 during the book's time, but its exploration of these events were brief. It blamed the Indonesian parliament for seemingly abusing its unprecedented majority coalition for the first two controversies. Meanwhile, the third controversy, initiated by the president instead of the parliament, was justified by mentioning the long-term issues of the current capital city, Jakarta, which is increasingly at risk of sinking, amongst other things.
In the book's defense, merely providing brief descriptions could be excusable since these events are too recent to be evaluated properly. Jakarta's issues and the case for moving the capital are also long recognized. However, the least the book could do was mention the Indonesian perspective behind the controversies (i.e. the significance of corruption in Indonesian public discourse and history, the clandestine rushing of the omnibus law despite the parliament's notoriety for being slow, the expenditures for the new capital during the Covid-19 crisis), something the authors seemed more eager to do when discussing the first term of Jokowi's presidency. In addition, as of 2022, other controversies that have emerged include the ratification of the Financial Sector Omnibus Law (UU PPSK), which had threatened to weaken the central bank's (BI) independence in its initial design by the parliament, and the rumors of a movement, separate from Jokowi, trying to give the incumbent president an unconstitutional third term in his presidency (something which Jokowi calmly rejects and dismisses but is unnerving nonetheless given how young Indonesia's democracy is).
All of this neatly brings us to the book's epilogue on legacy. Without a doubt, Jokowi represents a unique milestone in Indonesian political history. He is Indonesia's first elected president who does not come from an elite family with political/military backgrounds. He is both a reformer and a moderate, pushing Indonesia's bureaucracy to new heights while simultaneously building on and expediting the policy plans of his predecessors. He is also a man of distinctly Indonesian character, capable of working flexibly with formidable rivals while remaining constant in his political affiliations and stances. Finally, he has a good reputation as an effective problem-solver sensitive to the public (merakyat) and clean from corruption, but he is surrounded by some allies who seem to have more nebulous motivations and reputations compared to the president's technocrat appointees. It is with this background and the controversies mentioned above that any discussion on Jokowi's legacy should probably be based on, but the book has failed to do so, even if only because of its premature timing and not because of its tone.
Nevertheless, Indonesian's are surprisingly capable of seeing the silver lining in all sorts of horizons, no matter how skeptical they usually seem to be. As the late presidents of Indonesia (Soekarno, Soeharto, Gus Dur, Habibie) were still respected despite the controversies of their presidencies, so too should the achievements of Indonesia's living and incumbent presidents be remembered for what they're worth.
As the authors noted while describing the impact of Jokowi's infrastructure development, which mattered a great deal to people in rural areas and peripheries, "Individual policies; furious debates over new laws; controversies over particular appointments; the divisive rhetoric of an election campaign: such things tend to be revealed as ephemera as any given presidency passes its endpoint. It is the concrete changes that typically retain their weight in the longer term, and in that Jokowi already has a legacy." This was true for Indonesia so far, and hopefully it will also be true for the "New Indonesia" the authors foresee after Jokowi's presidency.
In short, Prasodjo and Hannigan's book is a neat, insightful record of Jokowi's presidency up to 2021. It fails to explore the controversies of the president's second term due to the book's timing and tone, but readers won't help but feel hopeful as they read through Jokowi and Indonesia's journey from a more domestic, insider's perspective. It would certainly be good company for politically-conscious Indonesians or observers during the pandemic.
January 29, 2023
Dipping my toes into Indonesian politics, for the first time -- which is long overdued, given that I'm born and raised an Indonesian. Haha
The book contains the biography of Jokowi -- the friendly nickname of Indonesia's 7th President. I love the book in general. It's nice getting to know your own leader, especially when he came from a normal, unremarkable, middle-low income family, by the banks of "Kali Anyar". It's like Cinderella story - but one with good morale.
He's our first, democratically elected President, who's not from the established political elite, and without any significant potical or military background. He arrived at where he is now, through hard work, dedication, a good deal of determination, and his love for his country; aka. entirely on his own merits.
Having read this book, I also admire his pragmatism, his love for peace and 'unity in diversity', his courage to dream big, his tenacity to march forward, and his ability to sail this country through various storms.
It was really an enjoyable read. However, I have to say that this book is so full of rainbows. In fact, there was nothing but rainbows. As you and I should learn growing up, nobody is perfect. No one has a perfect, flawless career. It is simply impossible. Thus, the book rightly indicated that it is a "political biography" (written by the President's personal associate, and later, Chief of Staff).
I think readers may get a healthier, more balanced view of the President, by reading the other side of the story. I heard there's another book written by Ben Bland called "Man of Contradictions" which is not published in Indonesia. Perhaps that's worth considering. Always listen to both sides of the arguments!
"If you want to attack me, you're welcome; if you want to make fun of me, you're welcome. After all, the public can filter out what's true and what's not true. If you want to support me, you're welcome; if you don't want to support me, you're welcome. Aku rapopo, aku rapopo..."
The book contains the biography of Jokowi -- the friendly nickname of Indonesia's 7th President. I love the book in general. It's nice getting to know your own leader, especially when he came from a normal, unremarkable, middle-low income family, by the banks of "Kali Anyar". It's like Cinderella story - but one with good morale.
He's our first, democratically elected President, who's not from the established political elite, and without any significant potical or military background. He arrived at where he is now, through hard work, dedication, a good deal of determination, and his love for his country; aka. entirely on his own merits.
Having read this book, I also admire his pragmatism, his love for peace and 'unity in diversity', his courage to dream big, his tenacity to march forward, and his ability to sail this country through various storms.
It was really an enjoyable read. However, I have to say that this book is so full of rainbows. In fact, there was nothing but rainbows. As you and I should learn growing up, nobody is perfect. No one has a perfect, flawless career. It is simply impossible. Thus, the book rightly indicated that it is a "political biography" (written by the President's personal associate, and later, Chief of Staff).
I think readers may get a healthier, more balanced view of the President, by reading the other side of the story. I heard there's another book written by Ben Bland called "Man of Contradictions" which is not published in Indonesia. Perhaps that's worth considering. Always listen to both sides of the arguments!
"If you want to attack me, you're welcome; if you want to make fun of me, you're welcome. After all, the public can filter out what's true and what's not true. If you want to support me, you're welcome; if you don't want to support me, you're welcome. Aku rapopo, aku rapopo..."
February 26, 2023
I found this book quite frustrating, President Joko Widodo and Indonesia are essential components of the political and economic environment of Asia that are frequently overlooked. Unfortunately, in recent times no substantial work for an international readership, that I know of, can shed light on either Indonesia's economic prospects, political role in East Asia, or its leaders. This book seeks to fill one of those gaps by detailing the story of the current President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his impact on the country so far.
However, throughout this book I found the relationship between the author to the President(Deputy Chief of Staff to Jokowi) to be alarming and easy to notice. The book consistently shines a positive light on his policies, which to clarify has also been praised frequently by independent sources and publications. However, when it comes to the downsides of initiatives and policies pushed by Jokowi's administration, it is either briefly brought up in the book or not at all. When criticism is brought up it is swiftly refuted or minimized leaving a partial image for the reader.
Stylistically and structurally the book has clearly been hampered by the translation from the Indonesian version. Certain elements are repetitive and read awkwardly. All in all, I was hoping for something more that could move me in the right direction toward understanding more about this rising heavyweight and its often-praised leader.
However, throughout this book I found the relationship between the author to the President(Deputy Chief of Staff to Jokowi) to be alarming and easy to notice. The book consistently shines a positive light on his policies, which to clarify has also been praised frequently by independent sources and publications. However, when it comes to the downsides of initiatives and policies pushed by Jokowi's administration, it is either briefly brought up in the book or not at all. When criticism is brought up it is swiftly refuted or minimized leaving a partial image for the reader.
Stylistically and structurally the book has clearly been hampered by the translation from the Indonesian version. Certain elements are repetitive and read awkwardly. All in all, I was hoping for something more that could move me in the right direction toward understanding more about this rising heavyweight and its often-praised leader.
January 4, 2023
Very informative, but plodding and repetitive style makes it hard going.
June 20, 2023
I have so many thoughts about this, I'm excited to write about it
June 27, 2022
A sentimental biography because of the nature of Jokowi’s early life. This book is also a mixture of politics, history, and culture. It may sound counterintuitive to say, but this book intertwines Jokowi's humble upbringing, which is unique in Indonesia's political landscape (especially in undertaking the position of a president), to the policies and goals he has pursued during his time in government.
The links back to his childhood and early adult years were nice, but at times, repetitive. Despite the recitals, the messages and pictures it paints of Jokowi are clear. This book, as mentioned, extends beyond a personal biography as it delves into the state of the Indonesian economy and outlook. It is thus a great starting point to know more about a populated and diverse nation. It is challenging to find a decent social-economical summary of the nation, but this book seems to begin to fill that void.
The links back to his childhood and early adult years were nice, but at times, repetitive. Despite the recitals, the messages and pictures it paints of Jokowi are clear. This book, as mentioned, extends beyond a personal biography as it delves into the state of the Indonesian economy and outlook. It is thus a great starting point to know more about a populated and diverse nation. It is challenging to find a decent social-economical summary of the nation, but this book seems to begin to fill that void.
November 3, 2021
Belajar berani dari Ayah. Dari ayahnya, Pak Wijiatno, Pak Jokowi banyak belajar soal keberanian mengambil risiko, berdikari, dan percaya diri membuka jalan baru. Namun, salah satu nasihat utama yang dipegang Pak Jokowi dari Pak Wijiatno adalah soal pendidikan. Menurut Pak Jokowi, ayahnya pernah berpesan bahwa sekolah (pendidikan) itu penting. Sebab, dengan bersekolah, seorang anak bisa menjadi pintar sehingga bisa mengubah nasib dan kesejahteraan di masa mendatang. https://blog.periplus.com/trivia-joko...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews