Strategic Use of Public Space: Exploring Women, Labour, LGBT, and Anti-Corruption Actions in Bundaran HI, Jakarta

This paper analyses the city square as a space for democratization by exploring how women, labour, LGBT, and anti-corruption activist groups use the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia, Jakarta (Bundaran HI) as a place of protest. The analysis is done through several entry points. One is a detailed reading of how Kompas—as printed media—represents social and political actions in Bundaran HI. Secondly, it explores the experiences of the four different groups of activists in using Bundaran HI as a public space with a specific focus on subjectivities, gender relations, and embodied experiences. The findings show that Bundaran HI is a contested space that is used strategically by civil society groups in their own engagements as well as in their engagement with. Although there is surveillance and containment from the state, the research shows that Bundaran HI is perceived by the activists groups as an important place to transform knowledge and raise awareness of their concerns. It is neither a starting point, nor an ending point, in their struggles; it is part of the process that allows these four movements to keep going in their struggle for democracy.