The US is not the only country slipping into instability due to a shrinking middle class.
A wave of protests in Indonesia turned violent last week after footage showed elite paramilitary police running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan.
At least eight people have died, hundreds injured and more than 1,240 people have been arrested in the capital, Jakarta, since Thursday — and at least 20 people are missing, according to the KontraS rights group.
The military was deployed across Jakarta on Monday as hundreds gathered outside parliament and clashes were reported in several other cities. Troops were also stationed along major streets in Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Makassar, local reports said.
Mounting economic hardship, policies perceived as indifferent to the struggles of ordinary citizens and a political elite seen as lacking empathy have all converged to fuel public anger.
World Bank data shows that about 60% of Indonesia's workforce still depends on the informal sector, without stable income or social protection.
This has been worsened by a shrinking middle class: millions slipping into lower-income brackets or outright poverty.
According to figures from the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), nearly 10 million Indonesians experienced downward mobility in the past five years.
What is behind Indonesia's deadly protests?
A wave of protests in Indonesia turned violent last week after footage showed elite paramilitary police running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan.
At least eight people have died, hundreds injured and more than 1,240 people have been arrested in the capital, Jakarta, since Thursday — and at least 20 people are missing, according to the KontraS rights group.
The military was deployed across Jakarta on Monday as hundreds gathered outside parliament and clashes were reported in several other cities. Troops were also stationed along major streets in Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Makassar, local reports said.
Mounting economic hardship, policies perceived as indifferent to the struggles of ordinary citizens and a political elite seen as lacking empathy have all converged to fuel public anger.
World Bank data shows that about 60% of Indonesia's workforce still depends on the informal sector, without stable income or social protection.
This has been worsened by a shrinking middle class: millions slipping into lower-income brackets or outright poverty.
According to figures from the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), nearly 10 million Indonesians experienced downward mobility in the past five years.
What is behind Indonesia's deadly protests?
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