APPROPRIATING TOLERANCE: STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC POLICY AND DIGITAL DISCOURSE YOGYAKARTA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30868/ei.v15i02.10028Keywords:
Tolerance, appropriation, digital communication, Critical discourse analysisAbstract
Indonesia's religious and cultural plurality demands social management strategies that are not only normative but also structured through public policy and discourse. The Special Region of Yogyakarta is often positioned as a representation of a tolerant region, but this image construction is rarely critically examined from the perspective of symbolic appropriation and digital communication. This study aims to explain how symbolic appropriation and digital communication strategies are integrated in constructing the narrative of "Yogyakarta, a Tolerant Province." This study uses a qualitative approach with a Critical Discourse Analysis model modeled after Norman Fairclough. Data were obtained from policy documents, press releases, and official digital media content of the local government representing religious, cultural, and interfaith public communication activities. The analysis was conducted interpretively, combining James O. Young's theory of cultural appropriation with José van Dijck's concept of digital culture. The results show that the narrative of tolerance is constructed through the integration of five forms of appropriation: content, motif, object, style, and subject, which are systematically curated and circulated through digital platforms. Cultural and religious symbols are not merely represented as social facts but are also managed as symbolic capital to construct Yogyakarta's political cultural identity. Several public indicators, such as the high community participation in interfaith activities and the achievement of a tolerant city index that places Yogyakarta in the high category, also help strengthen the legitimacy of this narrative of tolerance. These findings suggest that tolerance operates as a result of hegemonic symbolic digital orchestration, functioning as a collective identity, policy legitimacy, and regional branding strategy. This study makes a theoretical contribution by expanding the study of tolerance from the normative realm to a critical analysis of power relations, symbols, and digital platforms in the context of public policy.
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