Decolonization of Lifestyle and Local Values in the Nightlife Tourism Experience in Yogyakarta
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25120/jre.6.2.2025.4296Keywords:
Decolonisation, Cultural Resilience, Local Values, Nightlife Tourism, LifestyleAbstract
The phenomenon of nightlife tourism in Yogyakarta represents a form of urban lifestyle consumption while simultaneously serving as a site of value negotiation between global and local cultures. The purpose of this study is to understand the process of decolonization occurring within the practices of lifestyle and nightlife experiences through the perspective of local knowledge and sociocultural resilience. A qualitative approach was employed using participatory observation and in-depth interviews with visitors and stakeholders in several prominent nightclubs in Yogyakarta. The findings reveal that while nightlife is often identified as a hedonistic practice, it also reflects local communities’ efforts to negotiate identity and traditional values amid the forces of globalization. The study shows that nightlife spaces function as venues for social solidarity, self-expression, and reinterpretation of local values such as familiarity, mutual cooperation, and tolerance. Nightlife tourism in Yogyakarta can thus be understood as a form of cultural resilience—a mechanism through which communities negotiate colonial influences on lifestyle and economic practices. This research contributes to expanding the discourse on decolonizing tourism by demonstrating that urban lifestyles can serve as symbolic resistance to Western dominance while simultaneously reinforcing local cultural sovereignty.
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