ABSTRACT By explaining the different trajectories that the “Bandung spirit” has taken since its inception in the mid-1950s, including various popular organizations which have not only been influenced by the Bandung conference but have taken the original ideas and actions into more progressive directions, I argue in this article that the inclusion of the popular element is not only important to understand the history of the “Bandung spirit” but is also a necessary part of our thinking about the future of Bandung as a political project.