Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia
Indonesia democratized after the long and authoritarian New
Order regime ended in May 1998. But the transition was far less
peaceful than is often thought. It claimed about 10,000 lives in
communal (ethnic and religious) violence, and nearly as many in
separatist violence in Aceh and East Timor. This book is the first
comprehensive analysis of the episodes of long-running, widespread
communal violence that erupted during the post-New Order
transition. Communal violence on this scale is new to Indonesia. It
has been poorly understood by the interested public and specialists
alike, whether within Indonesia or outside it. By adopting a
contentious politics approach that examines the sociological
processes of communal violence, the book details six episodes
including ethnic fighting in West and Central Kalimantan, and
MuslimChristian violence in Central Sulawesi, Maluku (Ambon) and
North Maluku. Drawing on exhaustive empirical material and detailed
reports gathered from field visits to all the affected areas, van
Klinken argues that there exists enough similarity between these
episodes of communal violence to consider them as a single
phenomenon. This violence can be linked to the practice of politics
in Indonesias frontiers, namely provincial towns beyond Java where
democratization and decentralization has led key figures to compete
for control of the local state in emergency mode, by mobilizing
ethnic and religious crowds. Such occurrences demonstrate how
communal violence can erupt in a poor Third World country when the
state is weak. By providing an alternative understanding of violent
ethnic conflict in Indonesia through new source material and
up-to-date field research, Communal Violence and Democratization in
Indonesia will be essential reading to students of Southeast Asian
studies, social movements, political violence and ethnicity. Gerry
van Klinken is a Research Fellow at KITLV/Royal Netherlands
Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, The
Netherlands.
Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
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Land Tenure, Conservation and Development in Southeast Asia
Peter Eaton The Politics of Indonesia Malaysia Relations One kin,
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in Indonesia Yasuyuki Matsumoto The Revival of Tradition in
Indonesian Politics The deployment of adat from colonialism to
indigenism Edited by Jamie S. Davidson and David Henley Communal
Violence and Democratization in Indonesia Small town wars Gerry van
Klinken
3 Governance and Civil Society in Myanmar Education, health and
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Edited by Maribeth Erb, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto and Carole Faucher
5 Living with Transition in Laos Market integration in Southeast
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Analysis, representation, resolution Edited by Charles A. Coppel 8
Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia Cambodia, Laos
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Communal Violence and Democratization in IndonesiaSmall town
wars Gerry van Klinken
First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park,
Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and
Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge
is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis
e-Library, 2007. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor
& Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks
please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. 2007 Gerry van Klinken All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage
or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A
catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Klinken,
Geert Arend van. Communal violence democratization in Indonesia :
small town wars / by Gerry van Klinken. p. cm. (Routledge
contemporary Southeast Asia series ; 15) Includes bibliographical
reference and index. 1. Indonesia Politics and government 1998 2.
Communalism Indonesia. 3. Ethnic conflict Indonesia. 4. Political
violence Indonesia. I.Title. DS644.5.K597 2007 956.804dc22 ISBN
0-203-96511-6 Master e-book ISBN 2006023831
ISBN10: 0415417139 (hbk) ISBN10: 0203965116 (ebk) ISBN13:
9780415417136 (hbk) ISBN13: 9780203965115 (ebk)
To all who suffered through the wars and to those unsung heroes
in remote places who worked for their end
Contents
List of illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Glossary 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 Introduction Why now? Temporal contexts Why here? The
town beyond Java Identity formation in West Kalimantan Escalation
in Poso Mobilization in Ambon Polarization in North Maluku Actor
constitution in Central Kalimantan Concluding reflections Notes
Bibliography Index
viii xvii xix xxi 1 15 34 53 72 88 107 124 138 147 157 177
Illustrations
Figure1.1 Deaths and incidents of non-secessionist collective
violence in Indonesia, 19902003 5
Maps1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Indonesian archipelago (an overview)
West Kalimantan Central Kalimantan Central Sulawesi Maluku (an
overview) Maluku Province (after North Maluku splits off) Ambon
city North Maluku ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv xvi
Tables2.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jakarta politics, regional unrest Towns
and communal violence Proportion of non-agricultural workers
Proportion of civil servants to non-agricultural workers (%), 1990
[B] 3.4 Change in number of civil servants/1000 population, 1980s
3.5 Vulnerability to ethnic conflict 28 35 39 41 42 44
VIETNAM
N
WTHE PHILIPPINES
E
THAILAND
SSABAH SULU TALAUD
ACEH
PENANG
Malay Peninsula
MALAYSIA BRUNEISANGIHE SARAWAK Manado Pontianak KALIMANTAN Palu
Palangkaraya SULAWESI HALMAHERA
Medan SIMEULUE
Kuala Lumpur
NIAS
SINGAPORE RIAU Minahasa Gorontalo TERNATE
SUMATRA
LINGGA
Padang Banjarmasin Makassar SELAYAR FLORES Buton
BANGKA
SULA BURU
SERAM AMBON BANDA MALUKU KEI ARU IRIAN JAYA
Bengkulu
BELITUNG
Lampung
MADURA JAVA Tasikmalaya Semarang Surabaya BALI LOMBOK Situbondo
SUMBAWA SUMBA
Jakarta
Kupang SAVU
WEST TIMOR
TIMOR LESTE ROTI
Map 1 The Indonesian archipelago (an overview).
SAMBASJawal Sambas Tebas Siluas
M
A
L
A
Y
S
I
A
Sanggau Ledo Pemangkat Ledo Singkawang Samalantan Bengkayang
Balaikarangan Monterado town Mempawah
KAPUAS HULU
SANGGAUSanggau
Pontianak
Kapu
er as Riv
Sintang
PONTIANAK SINTANG
KETAPANGBRUNEI SARAWAK
SABAH
SULU
Pontianak KALIMANTAN SULAWESI BELITUNG Banjarmasin
Map 2 West Kalimantan.
SABAH BRUNEI SARAWAK
SULU
Pontianak KALIMANTAN SULAWESI BELITUNG Banjarmasin
Tumbang Samba Ka ti
BaritoBuntokan River hay KaKuala Kapuas to BanjarmasinB
Kasongan Parenggean
Palangkaraya
Pangkalanbun Kumai
Ri v
Sampit
e
r
ya ta en
Samuda
arit
o R
Map 3 Central Kalimantan.
M
ive r
RiverR an ng
r ive
Manado
Palu
BUOL-TOLITOLI
Makassar
Una-Una
DONGGALADonggala town Palu Poso town
TOGIAN ISLANDSParigi Ampana
BANGGAI
Tentena Lake Poso
POSO
BANGGAI ISLANDS
to Palopo
Map 4 Central Sulawesi.
N
WTERNATE TIDORE HALMAHERA
E
SBACAN OBI
IRIAN JAYA
SULAWESI
SULA
SERAM BURU AMBON BANDA
Banda Sea
KEI
ARU WETAR
TANIMBAR
TIMOR LESTE
Map 5 Maluku (an overview).
CERAM SAPARUA HARUKU Ambon
BURU
AMBON
Tual Dobo BANDA KEI
ARU WETAR
TENGGARA TIMOR LESTE
TANIMBAR
Map 6 Maluku Province (after North Maluku splits off).
Batukuning
Poka
Pattimura University Rumah Tiga
Wayame Sahuru
Hative Kecil
Galala
