State of Fear: Controlling the Criminal Contagion in Suharto's New Order

Abstract

In keeping w ith the overt symbolism that marked political monuments in Suharto's New Order, the Department o f the Interior on Jakarta's main square was ornamented with a giant kentongan. A kentongan is an instrument made from a hollowed branch that is struck to give off a sound. Kentongan have been used by neighborhood watches (rondo) in Jav a's towns and villages for centuries as devices to keep thieves away, to call forth populations for territorial defense, and to keep people alert and ready to ward off threats to community well-being.1 Hung by a mosque, in a guard house, or in front of the village head's house, it is the quintessential technology for community policing. The kentongan at the Department of the Interior, by virtue of its size and location, would seem to represent a departure from the strictly local connotations of village kentongan. This grand kentongan was undoubtedly meant to provide the many thousands of kentongan in the nation's villages and towns with a new center w ith which to resonate. Through a sort of crude symbolism, the installation of this kentongan signified the subordination of local security apparatuses to the overarching security framework provided by the state.

“Sorcerer” Killings in Banyuwangi: A Re-Examination of State Responsibility for Violence

“…they carried significance for people". While some evidence of a sense of fear among petty criminals has been demonstrated (Barker, 1998), no evidence is provided to support this notion of intimidation of the public or "potential trouble makers". Rather than "shock", participants in my research recalled feeling "safe" [aman] during Petrus.…”

Playing with publics: Technology, talk and sociability in Indonesia

“…To a certain extent, these initiatives were a function of the times. The early-to mid-1980s was a period when the Indonesian government was placing a great deal of emphasis on the importance of neighborhood security (Barker, 2001). The police encouraged heads of neighborhood associations to improve their guardhouses and to work with the local precinct to organize their neighborhood watches and report the presence of visitors.…”

When Large Conflicts Subside: The Ebbs and Flows of Violence in Post-Suharto Indonesia

“…Throughout the New Order years , the security arms of the state used violence to retain control, build power, and scare off challenges (Anderson 2001;Colombijn and Lindblad 2002). State-sponsored violence included the petrus (or "mysterious") killings of alleged criminals from 1983-1985, when as many as 2,000 might have died (Bourchier 1990;Barker 1998;Siegel 1998). The military, which received a small share of its budget from official state sources, also used violence to generate income (Liem 2002).…”