Roots of Violence in Indonesia: Contemporary Violence in Historical Perspective

Jakarta, Sambas, Poso, the Moluccas, West Papua. These simple, geographical names have obtained strong associations with mass killing, just as Aceh and East Timor, where large-scale violence has flared up time and again. Lethal incidents between adjacent villages, or between a petty criminal and the crowd, take place throughout Indonesia. Indonesia is a violent country. Many Indonesia-watchers, both scholars and journalists, explain the violence in terms of the loss of the monopoly on the means of violence by the state since the beginning of the Reformasi in 1998. Others point at the omnipresent remnants of the New Order state (1966-1998), former President Suharto's clan or the army in particular, as the evil genius behind the present bloodshed. The authors in this volume try to explain violence in Indonesia by looking at it from a historical perspective.