Doctoral Dissertation: Manufacturing Models for the Middle Class: Television and Influence in Indonesia

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract 0079941 This project investigates the formation of a new middle class in the Indonesia, a developing country that has experienced rapid economic growth. Focusing on the societal elites who create the nation's influential mass media, this research examines how private television producers (appealing to new social tastes) are creating and manipulating a new middle class culture where none had previously existed. It will specifically look at the media predominance of various societal forces including nationalism, consumerism, and religion in that culture. Methods include participant observation, analysis of TV production systems and seven popular TV programs, and the collection of demographic data. This project will contribute to our understanding of the development of class structures, as well as a national culture and national identity, in an ethnically and linguistically diverse modern state.