Anticipating Identity Political Years

Kompas/Handining

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If we want to, we can call the year 2017 as an identity political year. This year we see how the identity issue shows its strength nakedly. It does not only affect trajectory of the political settings, but also change it through a mobilization in a scale we never saw previously.

However, I think, it is not exaggerating too to say the year 2017 is just a beginning. We will still see a series of fiercer dynamics in the next years. First, of course because the identity politics is considered to have achieved its objective. With the success story of the identity politics to undermine the electability of a governor, who was extraordinarily popular, it will be easy to predict it will become a maneuver to be applied again in the political contestation in the future. On the contrary, in order to counter the identity political maneuvers, the incumbent party will also develop an identity politics of its own version.

However, the success of the identity politics to remove or build its political legitimacy is one of the easiest things among aspects which will decide the fact of being salable to happen in the future. Without being much realized, political dynamics happening lately also sows fertile areas for the openings of identity expressions which will have political implication in our daily activities.

We have to realize, aggressiveness to defend identity now is identical to social reputation. What happened over the last several months, thanks to issues to defend religion – and is also help by the social media – many people, whose voices were previously not heard, now become influential figures, at least in their own environment. They get attention, acknowledgement, and honor because of their vocal articulations to condemn enemies, imagined to threaten their groups.

Its indicators? If you closely watch the social media around you, you will surely find accounts whose number of followers and appreciations to what they upload jump phenomenally as they have become identity fighters. The accounts which specialize in emphasizing identity issues appear and what encourages it is really an “identity war” which attracts the attention in the social media more than anything.

On the fact that these people find a meaningful position which they never got earlier, we can guess, they will continue maintaining articulations which accompany they in this place. In the future, they will become powers which will echo identity politics in the grass root level.

Mobilization techniques

Besides that, techniques to mobilize political support are now increasingly sharpened and the executors are fully aware that identity has to be present at the base of their actions. From the political contestation in 2017, people apparently learn that the mobilization of masses could now be carried out notably when the contestation is wrapped in heroism on the identity war. On the one side, there has to be an enemy whose presence and behavior threaten their groups. On the other hand, there are also groups which do not have choices to defend their existence aside from competing with the others.

When it is framed in such a way, it turns out, parties will be agitated to move to give their political supports to one party or undermine political support to other parties. A clear example on how identity issue is effective to garner support is seen from the effectiveness of provocation of “identity defenders” accounts, which happens nearly every day in the social networking sphere. Whenever a news on conflict among groups appeared, the accounts will immediately boost the event as a signal of tyranny by other religious followers to their congregation.

Its results? Through a technique which cannot always be said correct, they get followers rapidly and its uploads spread everywhere. They become the movers and dynamic centers in social media.

What does this mean? In line with the time, it means, various parties are increasingly getting mature in conducting identity political maneuvers. The parties which need political support are able to reach circles which are not organized and even apolitical, and get support by promoting this issue. After 2017, we can predict political identity will take place more fiercely.

Negative effects

Unfortunately, this development will not have much meaning to emancipate the people, the subject of democracy itself, in real terms. Identity politics has one very basic problem. Indeed it focuses on symbols or attributes which arouse and be meaningful for many people. However, quoting anthropologist Levi-Strauss, at the same time it has a “floating” character.

From regional elections to regional elections, which taken place, for example, identity politics even force real issues to go out from the contestation stages. Amid imaginations of war against others grip the voters, their obsession to get someone who can become a savior of their groups cause them not to see the candidates in a concrete way as administrators who are capable with the track records which are relevant to settle their problems. The candidates were chosen on their closeness to a certain identity, regardless of maneuvers of the candidates on the past which betrayed the closeness.

After a candidate was chosen the imagination of identity which has developed aggressively will continue to product its bad excesses. The residents usually will enthusiastically search for news which confirms their imaginary expectation about the elected officials, rather than objective news linked to his policies. His legitimacy will continuously be confirmed or undermined base the imaginary expectation. Finally, concrete knowledge on how the government should have really been implemented is never touched at all.

What is vulnerable to happened in such a condition is the political processes will be vulnerable to be hijacked by the elite. Parties, which have capital to create self image as the defenders of the identity, regardless that their real interests have the potential to losses to the public in general, will get momentum to defend or gain political positions. More than that, after being in power, the elite can create popular support – a maneuver which usually will be unfavorable to vulnerable groups which are projected as their enemies.

Unfortunately, seeing what has been discussed above, we apparently have to anticipate even the most unpleasant scenarios. In line with the many political contestations being held, our obsession with identity will not only become indiscriminate. It will also be vulnerable to be utilized by various parties which are cleverer in mobilizing popular legitimacy.

Nevertheless, I still believe, this is not a situation with any way out. Years, which are full of polarization, are awaiting. And we should be aware that our real problems which are very complex cannot be settled by dividing identities which are simplifying.

GEGER RIYANTO

Essay writer; Sociology Researcher; Lecturer of Social Philosophy and Constructivism in the University of Indonesia