VVI, LIAS, and Universitas Indonesia to organise Indonesia Human Rights Update in June 2026
This initiative is supported by the Leiden University Global Seed Fund (LUGF) 2025, awarded to Santy Kouwagam (VVI) and Irene Hadiprayitno (LIAS) together with Universitas Indonesia.
The seminar explores theoretical debates and gaps stemming from Indonesia’s
democratic decline and its implications for human rights.
After the fall of the New Order, Indonesia advanced human rights reforms across politics, society, and the economy. Yet, scholars increasingly see this progress reversing, with citizens feeling its effects daily. The seminar aims to examine how the apparent decline in democratic practices in Indonesia is influencing the legitimacy and effectiveness of human rights networks and civil society movements.
It also considers the future of human rights as democratic foundations, interrogating the content of norms, underlying ethics, and the strategies needed to regain their legitimacy and representativeness in social and political contexts. By bringing together Indonesian studies and human rights scholars, the seminar fosters in dialogue linking theory and practice.