Prabowo’s Populism in Indonesia: Primary Concept and Secondary Ideas

In this chapter, populism is analysed according to a discursive or ideational approach that stands in contrast to political-strategic, organizational, sociocultural, structuralist and class approaches, as well as combinations thereof. A populist discourse is conceptualized as consisting of recurring and predominating attacks on “the corrupt elite” and the claim to represent “the pure people” and the general will. Populism is distinguished from elitism and “thick” ideologies such as fascism, socialism and Islamism. The case of Prabowo Subianto, candidate in Indonesia’s presidential elections in 2014 and 2019, serves to exemplify this approach and define the scope of populism against other forms of political mobilization. The chapter shows that an ideational concept of populism captures key elements of the political discourse, but only if a primary concept (a “thin ideology”) and secondary ideological components are clearly distinguished. The chapter analyses Prabowo’s primary concept from attached, secondary elements with reference to 17 of his campaign speeches. Prabowo is a prime example of a populist who constructs an essentialist antagonism between “friend” and “foe”; this thin ideology is surrounded by diverse ideational elements that could easily be substituted.