The Construction and Protection of Individual and Collective Identities by Street Children and Youth in Indonesia

Indonesia has a proliferation of children living on the streets of its larger cities. In the eyes of the state and dominant society, these children are seen to be committing a social violation, as their very presence contradicts state ideological discourse on family values and ideas about public order. Such an offence justifies the “cleaning up” of children from the streets, arrests, imprisonment and, in some extreme cases, torture and extermination. As a response to their marginalisation and subordination, street children in Yogyakarta, Central Java, have developed a “repertoire of strategies” in order to survive. These include the appropriation of urban niches within the city, in which they are able to earn money, feel safe and find enjoyment. These spaces have become territories in which identities are constructed, and where alternative communities are formed, and where street kids have created collective solutions for the dilemmas they confront in their everyday lives.