Illegality for the general good? Vigilantism and social responsibility in contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

This article analyses the impact of ormas – mass organizations – as non-state violent actors in the politics and economy of Indonesian regional society. The central element is the question whether threats of violence as well as the actual performance of violence by non-state actors serve the ‘general good’ that the state, and therefore these non-state actors appropriating its authority, stand to protect or rather the particular interests of those in charge of the organizations. The article considers the tainted history of ormas as militias affiliated to the New Order regime and involved in crime in seeking to come to terms with the present claim of regional ormas to being lawful and patriotic defenders of regional interests against predatory national elites. Using heuristic analyses of ormas activities, the article considers discourses of ormas legitimacy in the light of the appropriation of sovereign violent practices as manifestations of democracy.