CHAIRPERSON
Dr Michelle Ann Miller, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
ABSTRACT
Since the mid-2000s, Indonesia’s Ahmadiyah community have experienced unprecedented levels of persecution. However, although many scholars have looked at this phenomenon, the temporal and spatial variation of anti-minority activity. Utilizing a compiled geo-coded database of anti-Ahmadi activity and drawing on 14 months of fieldwork, I argue that explaining patterns of emergence and diffusion requires a focus on both formal and informal institutions. I argue that temporal patterns of anti-Ahmadiyah activity can be explained by the institutional incentives of decentralization that incentivized local political actors to exploit Ahmadi/Sunni divides. Decentralization increased political competition and also made local, personal networks more important for gaining and maintaining political power. Spatial patterns of diffusion, however, can be explained by looking at structures of power in clientelistic broker types.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jessica Soedirgo is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation research explores inter-religious and intra-religious conflict in post-Reformasi Indonesia. Jessica is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship and several Ontario Graduate Scholarships.
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