Ketika Dollar Tidak Dipakai Tetapi Dirasakan: Studi Fenomenologi Persepsi Masyarakat Perdesaan di Jawa Barat terhadap Pernyataan Presiden Prabowo Subianto, "Mau Dolar Berapa Ribu Kek, Orang Rakyat di Desa Enggak Pakai Dolar, Kok."

Niken Vintang Erdwiyana; Muhammad Faishal Dienul Haq; Kinanti Maryam Jamilah; Andika Fibio Kusumawardana

doi:10.37478/als.v16i02.8632

Authors

Niken Vintang Erdwiyana Institut Teknologi Bandung
Muhammad Faishal Dienul Haq Institut Teknologi Bandung
Kinanti Maryam Jamilah Institut Teknologi Bandung
Andika Fibio Kusumawardana Institut Teknologi Bandung

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37478/als.v16i02.8632

Abstract

This study examines the lived experiences of rural communities regarding the indirect transmission of the US dollar exchange rate and their perceptions of the "Dollar Immunity" (Kebal Dolar) discourse. It explicitly analyzes phenomenological responses to President Prabowo Subianto's statement made during the inauguration of the Marsinah Museum in Nganjuk, East Java, on May 16, 2026: "Rupiah begini, rupiah begitu, apa? dolar begini, dolar. Orang rakyat di desa enggak pakai dolar kok. " (Let the dollar reach however many thousands, village people don't use dollars anyway). This statement, intended to reassure the public amid global panic by asserting domestic food and energy security, constructed a narrative that rural communities are immune to foreign exchange fluctuations. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) combined with a vignette technique, this study involved six purposively selected informants from various socio-economic backgrounds (e.g., farmers, traders, and laborers) to capture diverse grassroots perspectives. As a knowledge translation component, an interactive dissemination microsite was developed. The findings reveal three core themes: (1) awareness of indirect transmission, where economically active informants identified exchange rate transmission channels to local prices (agricultural inputs, food, energy) without formal terminology, leading to behavioral adaptations; (2) dominant dissonance in debunking the "Dollar Immunity" myth, with four out of six informants explicitly disagreeing with the political claim based on empirical price increases; and (3) perceptions of elite–community distance. As an additional finding, the mismatch between the "Dollar Immunity" narrative and daily economic realities is aligned with an erosion of institutional trust among highly impacted informants. This research contributes to development economics by demonstrating that macro-level exchange rate transmission is phenomenologically real to rural communities, emphasizing the need for data-driven, context-aware policy communication.

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Keywords:

exchange rate transmission, policy communication, rural economy, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Knowledge Translation

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