<![CDATA[Abstract: This study examines student activism and civil resistance against the Indonesian Armed Forces Bill (RUU TNI 2025), which revises Law No. 34/2005, among campus activists in Bengkulu City. Using an instrumental case-study design within an interpretive-constructivist paradigm, the research combines symbolic interactionism with political sociology to understand how student activists construct political meaning. Data were gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and documentation analysis with thirteen key informants from BEM, HMI, PMII, GMNI, IMM, and HIMA, then analyzed thematically. RUU TNI 2025 provoked controversy due to the expansion of Military Operations Other Than War, the extension of officers' retirement age, and the adjustment of institutional relations among the Armed Forces, the President, and the Ministry of Defense, which are seen as shifting civilian control. Findings show that all informants consistently framed the bill as a threat to civilian supremacy; nine of thirteen participated directly in street demonstrations; and all engaged in academic study and digital campaigns. Three key drivers emerged: organizational ideology, cross-organizational solidarity, and prior activism experience. Theoretically, the findings affirm that students act as political-sociological agents producing symbolic resistance against the expansion of state power, contributing to the literature on regional student movements in Indonesia. ]]>
Copyrights © 2026
