Violence in Indonesia

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Since the fall of Suharto in 1998, violence has dominated Indonesia's political landscape. The anti-Chinese riots of May 1998 foreshadowed the chaos in East Timor following its independence vote on August 30, 1999, where the Indonesian military and paramilitary militias perpetrated widespread atrocities, including mass rape and murder. Reports of violence in regions like Maluku, Aceh, and Irian Jaya raised critical questions about Indonesia's image as a harmonious society. Concurrently, this turmoil sparked intense academic interest, leading to a conference titled “Conflicts and Violence in Indonesia” at Humboldt University in Berlin. The conference aimed to explore local and national factors contributing to violence, rather than discussing global theories or essentialist views. This volume compiles diverse papers from the conference, offering various perspectives on violence, its manifestations, and the socio-political contexts that generate it. Contributors analyze how violence is produced, represented, imagined, and addressed, providing a comprehensive understanding of its complexities and implications for prevention and punishment.