ABSTRACT

The victory of Anies Baswedan (a Muslim of Arabic descent) defeating the incumbent, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (a Christian of Chinese descent) reflects the increasingly complex relationships of ethnicity and local politics in Jakarta, the most multicultural city in Indonesia. Ethno-religious identity is opportunistically played out by political elites from both sides by denigrating Islam and anti-diversity as the main rallying points. Understanding the ways movement framed and (re)produced in digital media and transferred into the physical urban space, this chapter discusses to what extent urban political developments, particularly local elections, push Jakarta, a city of migrants, onto the brink of being a divided city.