Islamic Militias and Capitalist Development in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia

Bibliographic Data

ID3987046
AuthorsAbdil Mughis Mudhoffir (0000-0002-3045-5327, LabSosio, Sociological Research Centre, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume47
Issue4
Pages495-514
Publication date2017-08-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00472336.2017.1336564
OpenAlexW2625372493
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited54

This article examines the emergence of Islamic militias that are often involved in political gangsterism in post-authoritarian Indonesia. It is argued that these groups are an outcome of the complex structural changes accompanying state formation in the context of capitalist development, instead of the product of a weak state or because of decentralisation of power and authority in the democratic context. Their existence is intricately related to the way the state organises institutions of coercion according to specific exigencies. In addition, these militias are an element of the rise of Islamic identity politics following the fall of Soeharto. The approach advanced here contrasts with two dominant approaches: an institutionalist approach that emphasises a lack of state capacity and the anthropology of the state approach that draws on Migdal's state-in-society approach, which underlines the fragmentation of authority as the condition for the emergence of militias. It is shown that such groups could exist in a "weak" state and in a "strong" state, and in decentralised and centralised settings

Coercion (linguistics · State formation · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Asian Studies and History · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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