Abstract

The presentation traces the meaning of infrastructure in Indonesian context since post-independence until Jokowi administration. Particularly, it focuses on two aspects. First, it analyzes how the symbolic meaning of infrastructure changes over time, from Sukarno’s search of national identity awakening, Suharto’s governing of fear and economic stability, post-New Order’s private-sector led infrastructure development, and Jokowi’s infrastructure ambition to promote economic growth through engaging state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In parallel, it analyzes Indonesia’s dependence on multilateral and bilateral donors’ financial and technological support in infrastructure development and Indonesia’s continuous search for autonomy. It examines how Indonesia mobilizes donor competition especially between China and Japan as a mechanism to enhance its agency when engaging with foreign capital and technologies. At the end of the presentation, I would like to explore how to conceptualize this chapter from the aspects of dependency, agency and (non)alignment etc.