Under a Rebel Flag: Social Resistance under Insurgent Rule in Aceh

• In Event: Social Mobilization, Governance, and Polarization in Southeast Asian Politics

Abstract

The ability of civilians to engage in social resistance is trying in the best of times and is especially challenging in authoritarian settings. One might think that social resistance is nearly impossible in conflict areas. Sidney Tarrow emphasizes two major structural factors that condition the likelihood of sustained social resistance. Writers looking at armed conflicts have prioritizes the first factor, threat, while downplaying the importance of the second factor, political opportunity. Armed conflicts necessarily involve contestation, so while resistance is dangerous, it can also be surprisingly effective because armed groups are competing for hearts and minds. What forms of resistance are possible among civilians in armed conflicts? Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this paper looks at social resistance in Aceh, Indonesia. I examine four forms of civilian resistance against armed groups: engagement, weapons of the weak, defiance, and combined support and resistance. The rebels tolerated resistance in part because they could afford to in their strongholds, but also because they did not want to be seen in the same light as their enemy.

Author

• Shane Barter, Soka University of America