Dr. Y.M. (Yatun) Sastramidjaja
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group: Moving Matters: People, Goods, Power and Ideas
Area of expertise: Political and sociocultural anthropology, Political culture and citizenship, Repression and resistance, Youth activism, protest movements, Digital cultures and new technologies, Heritage and memory cultures, Indonesia and Southeast Asia studies
Visiting address
- Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
- Room number: B 5.05
Postal address
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Postbus 15509
1001 NA Amsterdam
Contact details
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Profile
Yatun Sastramidjaja is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, affiliated with the AISSR program group Moving Matters. She obtained her PhD at the University of Amsterdam, with a dissertation on the Indonesian student movement, and conducted postdoctoral research at the Erasmus University Rotterdam on Indonesia’s globalizing heritage industry. She was a visiting fellow twice (and currently an associate fellow) at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, for research projects on 1) the digitally mediated ecosystem of contemporary youth movements, and 2) cyber troops and online political influencing campaigns, in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Both topics remain the focus of her current research, which examines the interplay between repression, resistance, and resilience in a world where power, politics, and struggle move into the cybersphere, with real-world effects.
Yatun Sastramidjaja is the director of the Master’s Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She is also a member of the board of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS), and a member of the board of the magazine Inside Indonesia. Her book on the Indonesian student movement and an edited volume on digital technologies and democracy in Southeast Asia are forthcoming.
Administrative role
- Programme Director Master’s Cultural and Social Anthropology
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Research
Research methods
- Ethnography, qualitative methods
- Digital ethnography, digital mixed-methods
Current research projects
- “Cyber Troops and Computational Propaganda in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of Public Opinion Manipulation”: brings together researchers in social sciences, humanities, and computational science, from Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, to investigate the dynamics and networks of online political influencing.
- “Social Media and the Youth Vote in Indonesia’s 2019 and 2024 Elections”: examines how first-time and second-time voters (aged 18-25) in Indonesia use social media in the upcoming 2024 elections, compared with the 2019 elections.
- “Digitally-mediated youth movements in Southeast Asia”: examines how youth activism transforms at the interface of virtual and material spaces, focusing on cross-sectoral and cross-national connections.
Research grants & honours
- 2024: Visiting Fellowship at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, for research project on “Social Media and the Youth Vote in Indonesia’s 2019 and 2024 Elections”.
- 2022: Research funding from Onderzoeksfonds KNAW Instituten for research project on “Cyber Troops and Computational Propaganda in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of Public Opinion Manipulation”, with Ward Berenschot.
- 2021: Visiting Fellowship at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, for research project on “Cyber Troops and Computational Propaganda in Southeast Asia”.
- 2021: Research funding from the Global Digital Cultures RPA, University of Amsterdam, for research project on “P(R)OTESTAS: The Politics and Aesthetics of Digital Authoritarianism and Protest in the Global South”, with Julienne Weegels and Luisa Gonzalez Valencia.
- 2020: Research funding from the Anticipation Grant Indonesia-The Netherlands, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), for research project on “Cyber Troops and Public Opinion Manipulation: A Mixed-Method Study of Social Media Propaganda in Indonesia”, with Ward Berenschot, Wijayanto, and Ismail Fahmi.
- 2020: Visiting Fellowship at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, for research project on “Viral Citizenship: Digital Youth Activism and Reconfigurations of Democratic Citizenship in Southeast Asia”.
Involved in Research Priority Area
- Global Digital Cultures
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Teaching & PhD supervision
Courses
Current courses:
- Practicing Ethnography
- Designing Applied Fieldwork
- (Anti-) Utopian Tensions in a Polycrisis World
- RMSS Workshop Digital Methods
- (Research) Master thesis supervision
Past courses:
- Youth Cultures in a Transnational Context
- Contemporary Debates: Youth
- Youth and Health
- Political Anthropology
- Mobility, Migration and Security
- Age, City and Work
- Anthropology in Action
PhD Supervision
- Fatjri Nur Tajuddin, "Community in Transition: Navigating Food Security in Agricultural Transformation in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia", in progress.
- Saur Marlina Manurung, “Navigating ‘Evil with Spiked Eyes’: An Ethnography on How the Orang Rimba Hunter-Gatherers Organize their Education to Address Pressures of Assimilation”, in progress.
- Remco Vermeulen, “Colonial Heritage Engagement in Postcolonial Indonesian Cities”, in progress.
- Arifah Arum Candra Hayuningsih, “The Javanese Diaspora in New Caledonia: From Indentured Labourers to a Fractured Community”, completed April 2023.
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Publications
2024
Sastramidjaja, Y. (2024). Rhizomatic Protest, Generational Affinity and Digital Refuge: Southeast Asia’s New Youth Movements. In G. Facal, E. Lafaye de Micheaux, & A. Norén-Nilsson (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Political Norm in Southeast Asia (pp. 501-520). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9655-1_29 [details]- Wijayanto, Berenschot, W. J., Sastramidjaja, Y. M., & Ruijgrok, K. (2024). The Infrastructure of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Public Opinion Manipulation Through Social Media in Indonesia. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241297832
2023
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2023). Indonesia's COVID-19 Infodemic: A Battle for Truth or Trust? (Trends in Southeast Asia; No. 12/23). ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TRS12_23.pdf [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2023). Rhizome vs Regime: Southeast Asia's Digitally Mediated Youth Movements. (Trends in Southeast Asia; No. 6/23). ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. [details]
2022
- Sastramidjaja, Y., & Wijayanto (2022). Cyber Troops, Online Manipulation of Public Opinion and Co-optation of Indonesia’s Cybersphere. (Trends in Southeast Asia; No. 7/22). ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TRS7_22.pdf [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y., Rasidi, P. R., & Elsitra, G. N. (2022). Peddling Secrecy in a Climate of Distrust: Buzzers, Rumours and Implications for Indonesia’s 2024 Elections. ISEAS Perspective, 2022(85). https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/2022-85-peddling-secrecy-in-a-climate-of-distrust-buzzers-rumours-and-implications-for-indonesias-2024-elections-by-yatun-sastramidjaja-pradipa-p-rasidi-and-gita-n-elsitra/ [details]
2021
- Sastramidjaja, Y., & Adli Rosli, A. (2021). Tracking the Swelling COVID-19 Vaccine Chatter on TikTok in Indonesia. ISEAS Perspective, 2021(82). https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/2020-82-tracking-the-swelling-covid-19-vaccine-chatter-on-tiktok-in-indonesia-by-yatun-sastramidjaja-and-amirul-adli-rosli/ [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y., & Rasidi, P. P. (2021). The Hashtag Battle over Indonesia’s Omnibus Law: From Digital Resistance to Cyber-Control. ISEAS Perspective, 2021(95). https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/2021-95-the-hashtag-battle-over-indonesias-omnibus-law-from-digital-resistance-to-cyber-control-by-yatun-sastramidjaja-and-pradipa-p-rasidi/ [details]
2020
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2020). Indonesia: Digital Communications Energising New Political Generation`s Campaign for Democracy. ISEAS Perspective, 2020, Article 16. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ISEAS_Perspective_2020_16.pdf [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2020). Indonesia: Digital Communications Energising New Political Generation’s Campaign for Democracy. ISEAS Perspective, 2020(16). https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/indonesia-digital-communications-energising-new-political-generations-campaign-for-democracy-by-yatun-sastramidjaja/
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2020). Indonésie: Évolution Rhizomique d'une Nouvelle Résistance Juveniles. Alternatives Sud, 28(4), 49-62.
2019
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2019). Keywords and Key Words in AE:: The Logic of Recognition and the Limits of Algorithmic Relevance. American Ethnologist, 46(4), 387-403. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12835 [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2019). Student Movements and Indonesia’s Democratic Transition. In T. Dibley, & M. Ford (Eds.), Activists in Transition: Progressive Politics in Democratic Indonesia (pp. 23-40). Cornell Southeast Asia Program. [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2019). Youth “Alienation” and New Radical Politics: Shifting Trajectories in Youth Activism. In M. Lane (Ed.), Continuity and Change after Indonesia's Reforms: Contributions to an Ongoing Assessment (pp. 238-262). ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/continuity-and-change-after-indonesias-reforms/9A3B1F58416C922FF5978ADD55E3533B [details]
2014
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2014). "This is Not a Trivialization of the Past": Youthful Re-Mediations of Colonial Memory in Jakarta. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 170(4), 443-472. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-17004002 [details]
2011
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2011). Virtual identities and the recapturing of place: Heritage play in Old Town Jakarta. In M. Halbertsma, A. van Stipriaan, & P. van Ulzen (Eds.), The Heritage Theatre: Dynamics of Cultural Heritage in a Globalizing World (pp. 189-214). Cambridge Scholars Publishers.
2006
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2006). Memories of Protest: Students, History, Space, and the Loss of Agency in Post-Suharto Indonesia. In H. Schulte Nordholt, & I. Hoogenboom (Eds.), Indonesian Transitions (pp. 249-287). KITLV Press.
2024
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (Author). (2024). Indonesian Voters’ Preferences in 2024: Less Determined, More Diverse. Web publication or website, Fulcrum. https://fulcrum.sg/indonesian-voters-preferences-in-2024-less-determined-more-diverse/ [details]
2021
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2021). Beating the Buzzers. Inside Indonesia, 146. Advance online publication. https://www.insideindonesia.org/beating-the-buzzers [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2021). Digital Youth and Rhizomatic Protest Movements. IIAS Newsletter, 89(Summer). https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/digital-youth-and-rhizomatic-protest-movements [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y., Berenschot, W., Wijayanto, & Fahmi, I. (2021). The Threat of Cyber Troops (Introduction to Special Edition). Inside Indonesia, 146. Advance online publication. https://www.insideindonesia.org/the-threat-of-cyber-troops [details]
- Weegels, J. (Author), Sastramidjaja, Y. (Author), & Gonzalez Valencia, L. (Author). (2021). Between digital democratization and securitization: Looking into the politics and aesthetics of digital authoritarianism and protest in the Global South. Web publication or website, Global Digital Cultures. https://globaldigitalcultures.org/2021/03/09/between-digital-democratization-and-securitization-looking-into-the-politics-and-aesthetics-of-digital-authoritarianism-and-protest-in-the-global-south/ [details]
2020
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (Author). (2020). Contranormal. Web publication or website, americanethnologist.org. https://americanethnologist.org/features/pandemic-diaries/post-covid-fantasies/contranormal [details]
2017
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2017). In Search of Young Citizens. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 173(4), 539-543. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-17304003 [details]
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2017). [Review of: D. Lee (2016) Activist Archives: Youth Culture and the Political Past in Indonesia]. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 39(1), 220-222. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44683895 [details]
2002
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2002). Indonesian youth and Islamic revival. ISIM Newsletter, 9, 15. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/17553
2000
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2000). Dromenjagers in Bandung: Twintigers in het Moderne Indonesië. Het Spinhuis.
2022
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2022). Interview: Bonnie Triyana on History as a Movement. Inside Indonesia, 150. https://www.insideindonesia.org/interview-bonnie-triyana-on-history-as-a-movement
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2022). Revolusi Revisited. Inside Indonesia, 150. https://www.insideindonesia.org/revolusi-revisited [details]
2020
- Sastramidjaja, Y. (2020). Leveraging the Digital Sphere for Democracy in Southeast Asia. ASEANFocus, 2020(4), 11-12. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ASEANFocus-December-2020.pdf
2015
- Sastramidjaja, Y., & Naafs, S. (2015). Youth employment prospects and aspirations. Inside Indonesia, 120. https://www.insideindonesia.org/youth-employment-prospects-and-aspirations [details]
2011
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2011). Being Indo (Introduction to Special Edition). Inside Indonesia, 103. https://www.insideindonesia.org/being-indo
2010
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2010). Playing with the past. Inside Indonesia, 101. https://www.insideindonesia.org/playing-with-the-past
2001
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2001). Sex in the city: Between girl power and the mother image, young urban women struggle for identity. Inside Indonesia, 66. https://www.insideindonesia.org/sex-in-the-city
2000
- Sastramidjaja, Y. M. (2000). Internetjeugd in Jakarta. Archipel.
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Ancillary activities
- No ancillary activities
Sastramidjaja, Y. (2024). Rhizomatic Protest, Generational Affinity and Digital Refuge: Southeast Asia’s New Youth Movements. In G. Facal, E. Lafaye de Micheaux, & A. Norén-Nilsson (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Political Norm in Southeast Asia (pp. 501-520). Palgrave Macmillan.