Talking Indonesia

Researchers in Indonesia studying human society and its workings no longer operate under the strictures of the authoritarian era, when those working in the field of social science were expected to support the regime's policies. But do contemporary Indonesian social scientists enjoy the freedom to conduct socially relevant research on any topic of their choosing? How is their research funded, and how does the government view their work? More broadly, how does the entanglement of universities with the Indonesian state shape the work of social science researchers? In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae chats with Dr Inaya Rakhmani , the founding director of Universitas Indonesia's Asia Research Centre , and the lead researcher of an 11-country study on mobilising social sciences in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh supported by the Global Development Network . Today’s episode is the latest in the “Policy in Focus” series of Talking Indonesia episodes, supported by the Knowledge Sector Initiative (