A critical discourse analysis of women, power, and social-political change in the Indonesian online news media

Abstract

In recognition of the increasing relevance of the online news media and women’s political subjectivity to Indonesia’s democratic transformation since the fall of the authoritarian New Order in 1998, this thesis examines the discursive representation of three prominent Indonesian female political leaders and their relationship with power in the political reportage of mainstream online news media site, Kompas.com. The three women in focus are the leader of the ruling PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle), Megawati Soekarnoputri; Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti; and Mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini. Situated in the broader historical context of post-authoritarianism, the specific time period of enquiry spans the two-year transition from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015, centred upon the fiercely contested 2014 presidential election. By focusing on the mediated representation of three prominent women in the language of the online news media, this thesis aims to interrogate shifting representations of relations of power in a context of social and political change in Indonesia. It aims more broadly to evaluate the implications for Indonesia’s democratisation, the associated role of the Indonesian news media, and identify obstacles and opportunities for women to participate in democratic political life.This thesis presents a new approach to investigating power relations by using language to link the normally discrete fields of politics, media and gender. It also fulfils an urgent need for critical analysis of the rapidly burgeoning role of online news discourse. By focusing on the mediated representation of female leaders as “outsiders” in the male-dominated political realm, this thesis captures a unique view of shifting dimensions of power in a post-authoritarian context. It applies a theoretical framework derived from Critical Discourse Analysis to study the discursive manifestation of power relations. Power is defined as a hierarchical, yet highly fluid relationship among social actors positioned discursively in an interactive power network. Power relations are examined according to a tripartite approach based on the practices of maintaining, negotiating, and contesting power. Social Actor Analysis forms the core methodological framework to study these discourse practices. Through the adaptation of Social Actor Analysis, this thesis identifies unique discourse strategies built upon distinct clusters of social actor representations that function to bridge the micro-linguistic features of the texts with macrostructures of power.Analysis reveals great diversity in the representations of the leaders and their relationship with power, and points to social-political continuity and change. Maintaining power is realisedthrough strategies that reflect worldwide trends of personalised political leadership, alongside ongoing practices of authoritarianism that subtly reproduce hierarchical power arrangements. These representations define specific conditions through which to maintain power, by establishing individual authority and control over subordinates. Negotiating power reveals gendered representations interwoven with the broader discourse of political change. Kompas.com reports constrain the women’s agency and highlights their “marked” public status, while portraying them as political norm-breakers and partially relaxing hierarchical relations of power. The practice of contesting power focuses on rumour, conflict, and transgression. Covert strategies of contestation enable Kompas.com to produce reports that fulfil news values of negativity on the basis of insubstantial evidence, while maintaining an apparently objective position in light of ongoing constraints on journalistic expression. These strategies of contestation contribute to a minor rearrangement of power relations.