Globalization and Ethno-Religious Violence in Central Sulawesi Indonesia

Globalization and Ethno-Religious Violence in Central Sulawesi Indonesia

Arianto Sangaji

Friday, March 13, 2009
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
208N – Seminar Room, North House
Munk Centre For International Studies
1 Devonshire Place

Register http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventid=6347

One of the most serious types of conflict across Indonesia since the downfall of the Suharto’s authoritarian regime in 1998 arises from a tension among communities based on ethno-religious affiliation. The dominant discourse about the violence among scholars, international donor agencies, civil society organizations, mass media, government, and the like tends to highlight a certain kind of “clash of civilization,” in which, for example, Islam is pitted against Christianity. I argue that such an explanation is too limited. In my talk, which focuses on the province of Central Sulawesi, I will situate the current violence in the context of globalization. The global dimension of the violence has a historical trajectory that began in the colonial period and continues up to the present, neo-liberal era. Among the elements I will discuss are the legacy of colonial religious ‘pillarization’ and its political consequences, the formation of the post-colonial state, the extension of market based economy in natural resources with uneven patterns of dispossession, and the more specific global factors at play in the outbreak of the violence in 1998 and its continuation through to the present.

Arianto Sangadji is Director and co-founder of Yayasan Tanah Merdeka, (Free Land Foundation), a Sulawesi-based NGO that works on the protection of indigenous land rights; working with populations affected by the expansion of transnational mining operations; researching the causes and consequences of violence; popular education, policy intervention and advocacy. Since 2001, Sangadji has been involved in organizing campaigns against human rights abuse and corruption connected to the so-called religious conflict, exposing manipulation by military, political and corporate players, and supporting popular demands for accountability.

Sangadji is speaking in the Dr David Chu Distinguished Leaders program and is a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto November 2008-April 2009.