This chapter explores the politics of the middle class in Indonesia after reformasi. It argues that different sections of the middle class have expanded their political roles into more and varied arenas than in the previous era. They are also increasingly ideologically fragmented, and this pattern relates to the type of resources they base themselves upon: either state resources or those from the market.

Generally, the social entity located in the “middle” — between a wealthy elite and a mass of the poor — economically, socially and politically is regarded as the “middle class”. One point of view regards the middle class as inherently having progressive or at least liberal political views and as being independent from dominant political and economic power. Socially, they are seen as distinct too: they have a stronger educational background (compared to the rest of the population), and this allows them access to social and economic resources. They may not be rich, but with their social network, they can access significantly greater resources than the poor majority. However, in the context of Indonesia, it is not clear that all of the middle class can be described as having such liberal political views. If we use that as a defining feature, we will focus only on groups outside the state, ignoring those inside.

Taking into account the above factors, this chapter explores the Indonesian middle class in two areas: the middle class in the political society arena (parties and legislature), and the middle class in the civil society arena. The first group are members of the middle class who have careers in national and local politics. They make a living (in addition to any other income) from their participation in electoral institutions. The second group are activists, both professional (working for non-governmental organizations or NGOs), and non-professional (who voluntarily contribute on issues they think important). While the first group is very political, in the sense of being directly oriented to power, there are varieties in the second. They can be grouped relating to their view on democratic politics: pro-politics or anti-politics. Sociologically, those active in these two arenas belong to the middle class. If they did not have access to middle class resources, they would not be able to become a member of parliament, or even a candidate. The same applies to activists in civil society.