Hauptinhalt

Security and Sovereignty in Indonesia: The State, Vigilantes and Terrorists as Defenders of ‘Just’ Rule

Lecture within the series "Marburg AnthroLab" organized by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. The series offers a venue for sharing information about current projects, field experiences, and research findings with colleagues, students, and the general public and is designed to be a laboratory for the exchange of creative, innovative, but also critical ideas and a space for lively discussions.

Veranstaltungsdaten

Indonesia has a long history of informal security provision by organized citizens who act in addition to, or in lieu of, the police and army. Among these are hardline groups establishing and maintaining their positions through violent actions. While they are regularly framed as ‘terrorists’ by opponents, supporters – such as indigenous communities, urban poor, or religious groups -  perceive of this differently. Relations between such groups and the state are highly dynamic and bringing plural forms of (in)security for society at large as well as broad discussions on the ‘just’ nature of governance. The anthropological study of these is the subject of this talk.