Vigilante Citizenship: Sovereign Practices and the Politics of Insult on Lombok
This article examines the informal auhority wielded by civilian security groups (pamswakarsa) on the island of Lombok. Taking as its point of departure the Balinese minority's plan to build a large Hindu temple in northern Lombok, the article shows how the project was thwarted by a combination of rumours, pamphlets, violence as well as legal obstacles from district and provincial authorities. Outlining how the campaign against the temple gained momentum, I suggest that rumours and documents issued by a security force claiming to represent the island's Muslim majority played an important role in preventing the realization of the temple. Discussing the 'convivality' between non-state security groups and state officials in post-Suharto Lombok, I argue that civilian security groups exercise a form of vigilante citizenship.
https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-12340029
