Join Professor Marcus Mietzner for the launch of his latest book on former Indonesian president Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
For the event, Professor Mietzner will be in conversation with Dr Eve Warburton, who will ask the author questions about the book and will also moderate a Q&A session with the audience.
Date: Wednesday 22 April 2026
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
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5:00 – 5:30 pm light refreshments
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5:30 – 6:30 pm book launch
About the book:
Joko Widodo--popularly called Jokowi--ruled Indonesia for a decade, from 2014 to 2024. The world's fourth-largest nation and third-largest democracy, Indonesia had embarked on a messy democratic transition in the late 1990s, with the country's ethnic and religious heterogeneity posing significant challenges to governance. Initially seen as a reformer who might challenge oligarchic structures, Jokowi was slowly but steadily seen as himself being a threat to democracy. By the time Jokowi wrapped up his presidency, he had achieved the highest approval ratings among Indonesia's post-authoritarian presidents--and became the president with the tightest grip over Indonesia's political elite.
Based on exclusive interviews with Jokowi and many of Indonesia's top leaders, Ruling Indonesia shows Jokowi as a president obsessively preoccupied with his economic development agenda, subordinating all other aspects of governance to this goal. His focused approach delivered economic successes and unprecedented popularity, but also seriously undermined the health of Indonesia's democratic institutions. Offering a holistic appraisal of his decade in office, Marcus Mietzner analyzes Jokowi's domestic record in the context of his attempts to position Indonesia more favorably in the international competition for power and resources. Crucially, his obsession to push Indonesia closer to industrialized status while neglecting democratic development represented the ambitions and trials of many Global South leaders who are trying to juggle economic development, growing Sino-American tensions around the world, and concerns for democratic rights. As such, this book provides valuable insights into how the great power rivalry of the 21st century and the global recession of democracy are playing out in central arenas of the Global South.
Access the book: https://press.umich.edu/Books/R/Ruling-Indonesia3. Open Access available from 14 April 2026.
Event Speakers
Marcus Mietzner
Marcus Mietzner is a Professor in the Department of Political & Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, in the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU.
Eve Warburton
Eve Warburton is a research fellow at the Department of Political and Social Change in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. She is also Director of ANU’s Indonesia Institute at the College of Asia and the Pacific.