Digital Marhaens: Soekarno's Thought, Technology, and Generation Z

Abstract

Digital technology and platform capitalism have transformed economic and political relations while producing new forms of inequality. This conceptual study examines the contemporary relevance of Soekarno's Marhaenism and its relationship to platform workers and Generation Z. It synthesizes literature on Marhaenism, digital labor, algorithmic management, gig-work hazards, and digital activism. The analysis defines digital Marhaens as economically vulnerable actors who may own operational tools such as motorcycles, smartphones, or computers but do not control the platforms, algorithms, data, pricing, or access rules that organize their work. Technology is therefore ambivalent: it expands market access, livelihood options, and public voice while also intensifying dependence, surveillance, work insecurity, and unequal value extraction. Generation Z is positioned as a potential ally because of its familiarity with networked media and digital mobilization, not as a uniformly progressive or homogeneous group. The meeting point between digital Marhaens and Generation Z lies in collective visibility, critical digital literacy, worker organization, and demands for platform accountability. Digital Marhaenism should consequently be understood as a normative framework for technological justice rather than a rejection of technology. Because the study does not collect worker interviews, platform data, or Generation Z survey evidence, its conclusions remain conceptual propositions that require empirical testing in Indonesian platform economies.