ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes Indonesia’s “uncivil” society. Indonesian uncivil society comprises heterogeneous social interests, including those prone to mobilizing various kinds of discriminatory politics as instruments in social conflicts within a democratic political context. While these interests are by no means hegemonic, Hadiz argues that they influence social conflicts and electoral politics, undermining democratic, liberal, and pluralist values. We see this in the proliferation of paramilitary organizations, which recruit especially from amongst poor youths and engage in violence and intimidation, targeting vulnerable elements in society, often in the service of oligarchs.
