Between a rock and a hard place: second-order minorities in the Aceh conflict
2015; Routledge; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/14631369.2015.1003689
ISSN1469-2953
Autores Tópico(s)Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography
ResumoAbstractSecessionist movements are often motivated by a sense of exclusion, abuse, and assimilation at the hands of host states. But in waging armed struggles and constructing ethnic nationalisms, they may replicate such grievances against their own minorities. This paper seeks to provide a deeper understanding of how ‘second-order minorities’ respond to secessionist ethno-nationalism. Based on ethnographic research in Aceh, Indonesia, this paper looks to how Javanese, Malay, Alas, and Gayo communities responded to Acehnese secessionism. Aceh’s minorities did not support Aceh’s rebels, opting to flee or resist rebellion. In explaining their reaction, I suggest that the same ethno-nationalist project which united many Acehnese in the secessionist struggle served to repel non-Acehnese communities, leading to ethno-nationalist revivals among Aceh’s minorities and continued tensions in the post-conflict era.Keywords: AcehAcehneseGayoAlasMalayJavanesesecond-order minoritiessecessionism Notes1. Wood, “Secession,” 112–124.2. Donald Horowitz provides a useful rule of thumb: the emergence of secessionism is typically a result of domestic forces, while the rare successes are products of international factors. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, 230.3. Alesina, Easterly, and Matuszeski, “Artificial States,” 2.4. Barter, “The Free Aceh Elections?”5. Bowen, Sumatran Politics and Poetics, 25.6. Sulaiman, ““From Autonomy to Periphery,” 123.7. Barber, Aceh: The Untold Story, 25.8. Dandy, Sejarah daerah dan Suku Gayo; Iwabuchi, The People of the Alas Valley. For a valuable exception which looks at Malay–Acehnese interactions, see McCarthy, The Fourth Circle.9. Hiorth, “A Sketch of Aceh’s History,” 6; McCulloch, “Aceh: Then and Now.” Ross also excludes the Javanese, citing 1976 data to place ethnic Acehnese at 79%. Ross, “Resources and Rebellion in Aceh, Indonesia,” 38.10. Such comments are strange coming from Australian, American, or other New-World writers, who likely do not refer to themselves as European migrants.11. McCulloch, “Aceh: Then and Now,” 10. On Gayo origins, see Bowen, Sumatran Politics and Poetics, 15.12. McCulloch, “Aceh: Then and Now,” 17.13. Ibid., 11.14. One writer suggests that the Indonesia government exaggerated the number of ‘organic’ troops in Aceh (those born in the province) on the grounds that the troops have ‘distinctive Batak clan names’. This confuses ‘Acehnese’ with ‘born in Aceh’, as Alas are known to share marga names with their Batak cousins, and are clearly Aceh natives. See Davies, Indonesia’s War over Aceh, 63.15. Interview with ‘Jungle Tiger’, Panglima GAM Teunom, West Aceh (30 April 2006).16. Ramly, “Modes of Displacement during Martial Law,” 18; Czaika and Kis-Katos, “Civil Conflict and Displacement.”17. Interview with Javanese IDPs in Bakti Suci, North Sumatra (23 April 2007).18. Kingsbury, Peace in Aceh, 11–12; Robinson, “People’s War.”19. Interview with militia members, Jangar, Aceh Tenggara (7 April 2009).20. Davies, Indonesia’s War over Aceh, 180.21. Bowen, Islam, Law, and Equality in Indonesia, 25.22. King and Rasjid, “The Golkar Landslide in the 1987 Indonesian Elections.”23. Barter, “The Free Aceh Elections.”24. Aspinall, “Modernity, History, and Ethnicity,” 15.25. Barter, “Resources, Religion, and Rebellion.”26. McCarthy, “The Demonstration Effect.”27. Interview with Gayo farmers, Kutacane, Aceh Tenggara (9 April 2009).28. Anonymous interview with former militia member, Kutacane, Aceh Tenggara (8 April 2009).29. Bowen, “The New Anthropology of Ethnicity and Identity,” 11.30. Interview with Gayo farmer, Jangar, Aceh Tenggara (7 April 2009).31. Cited in Ehrentraut, “Dividing Aceh?”32. di Tiro, The Price of Freedom.33. Interview with Udin, Panglima GAM Aceh Besar (3 November 2007).34. Gould, “Sumatra – America’s Pepperpot,” 103.35. Bowen, Muslims through Discourse, 33.36. ‘Sama Dua refers to the fact that Adat Padang and Adat Aceh were both here.’ McCarthy, The Fourth Circle, 28.37. Aspinall, Islam and Nation; Barter, “Resources, Religion, and Rebellion.”38. International Crisis Group, “Aceh: Why Military Force Won’t Bring Lasting Peace,” 3.39. Interview with Hussin Amin, former Keucik of Saree, Aceh Besar (29 January 2008).40. Amnesty International, “Briefing on the Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in Aceh.”41. Aspinall, Islam and Nation, 172.42. Lubis, “Javanese Transmigrants Refuse to Leave Aceh.”43. Buiza and Risser, Anywhere but War, 40.44. Another interesting parallel concerns official reactions to these grievances. With the fall of Suharto, various Indonesian leaders apologized for human rights abuses, but continued to carry them out. While GAM has never issued an apology to Aceh’s Javanese, the 2002 Stavanger Declaration did lay out official residence criteria based on birth, which suggested that Javanese are Acehnese citizens, although again, abuses against Javanese continued.45. Aspinall, Islam and Nation, Chapter 3, 49–83.46. Rayda, “Southeast Aceh Head Indicted for Graft.”47. Winoto, “Iwan Gayo.”48. Aspinall, Islam and Nation, 8.49. di Tiro, The Legal Status of Acheh-Sumatra under International Law.50. Bowen, Sumatran Politics and Poetics, 124.51. Sulaiman, “From Autonomy to Periphery,” 123.52. Bowen, Sumatran Politics and Poetics, 99.53. Aspinall, Islam and Nation, 4.54. Interview with ‘Kowboy’ Effendi, Panglima GAM Bireuen, Bireuen (4 February 2008).55. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, 72.56. Bowen, Sumatran Politics and Poetics, 124.57. Barter, “The Free Aceh Elections?”58. McWilliam, “Marginal Governance in the Time of Pemekaran.”59. Interview with Alas farmer, Kutacane, Aceh Tenggara (6 April 2009).60. International Crisis Group, “Indonesia: Tensions over Aceh’s Flag,” 7.Additional informationNotes on contributorsShane Joshua BarterShane Barter is the Associate Director of the Pacific Basin Research Center and Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at Soka University of America. He is the author of Civilian Strategies in Civil War: Insights from Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines (Palgrave 2014).
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