Mobilizing the Masses: Street Vendors, Political Contracts, and the Role of Mediators in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

This article explores how a major street vendor organization, APKLI, negotiated its political agency during the New Order and post-Soeharto eras in Indonesia. Tracing the formation of the organization to its current existence, the article argues that APKLI has relied on mediators - both street vendor leaders and others with close ties to the state, other organizations, and/or political parties - to negotiate for street vendors' recognition and support. It then describes how APKLI National sought to engage in electoral populism during the 2014 presidential election by promising to support a particular candidate in exchange for greater recognition and protection of street vendors. We argue that despite APKLI's attempt to generate an 'imagined community' (Anderson 1983) of street vendors across the archipelago, many of its own district branches as well as individual street vendors supported local patrons who would more directly influence their immediate future. Others did not want to support a single political party, and preferred to maintain a neutral stance.