Human Rights Cities in Indonesia - A case study of diverse approaches in Bandung City and Wonosobo Regency

Abstract: Building on a previous thesis, which focused on the historical emergence and transformations of different conceptions of so-called human rights cities (HRCs), this study focuses on the ramifications of operationalising the concept in practice in two cities on the Indonesian island Java. The thesis adopts sociological- and discursive new institutionalism as a point of departure for its analysis, looking at the social- and political practices of diffusing HRC. Fieldwork was conducted during a period of 10 weeks, in the mega city Bandung, which since 2015 have been known as Indonesia’s first human rights city, and in the rural region Wonosobo, which since 2013 have been working actively with the concept. The two cases represent vastly different societal contexts, and they have gone about the process of becoming human rights cities in very different ways. Still this study is able to identify certain commonalities and common challenges. In this way, it is possible to draw valuable lessons learned from the cases and get an understanding of the complexities of working with human rights at the local level through a concept that has yet to gain a clear definition or common understanding across actors.