Zane Goebel

I am a linguistic anthropologist whose work focuses on Indonesia. Put simply, I study how language shapes social life. This means looking closely at everyday communication, including ordinary conversations, public statements, media messages, campaign slogans, policy language, and online debates, to understand how people build relationships, negotiate power, and make sense of the world around them.

My research also examines how communication today is shaped by earlier conversations that have become embedded in policy, public opinion, or ideology. Since 1993, I have worked across a range of Indonesian settings, including urban neighbourhoods in Semarang, government offices, traditional and social media, political campaign signage, and, most recently, communities in Java affected by tidal flooding.

I have published three books on these topics with Cambridge and Oxford University Presses, as well as four edited books and numerous academic articles. Across this work, I bring together long-term field research, close attention to language, and a broader concern with how Indonesians navigate social, political, and environmental change.