Manggala Ismanto is a PhD candidate in the Moving Matters program group within the Anthropology Department at AISSR. He is also affiliated with the Department of Anthropology at Brawijaya University, Indonesia, as a junior lecturer. His research focuses on the future-making processes in the formation of Indonesia's new capital city. By combining insights from the anthropology of the future, urban anthropology, and the anthropology of infrastructure, he examines how various actors shape and navigate the rapid spatial and social changes in the new urban landscape. Through his work, he highlights how social agents develop strategies and tactics to adapt to the new planned environment by focusing on the entanglement of social practices from the past, present, and future. 

Media appearances

• Cerita Si Pemilik Wisma dan Peladang dengan Rumah Cat Kusam

• Siasat Hidup Warga di Tengah Proyek IKN

Research methods

• Ethnography

Current research projects

• Navigating Uncertainty : The Future of Nusantara, Hope and Fear around  Indonesia’s New Capital City

Research grants & honours

• Indonesian Endownment Fund (LPDP)