Conflict Continuity and Change in Social Movements in Southeast Asia

Description

This book demonstrates how preserving ideology and relationships with other activists affords social movements to persist over time amid limited resources and political opportunities in Southeast Asia. Examining two peace movements in Indonesia – the largest democratic country in Southeast Asia – to illuminate discontinuity, continuity, and change in social movements, the author uses a cultural approach to understanding why social movements persist. He argues that the activists’ memory, relationship with others, collective identity, and emotion are reasons for social movements to ascend and peak. This is a direct response to the argument that the availability of resources and political opportunities is the main ingredient for any social movements to rise. While having different fates, the two movements studied arose in the midst of violence between Christian and Muslim communities in Ambon, Indonesia: The Kopi Badati movement and Filterinfo. The book extends the applicability of the cultural approach in explaining why social movements discontinue, continue, and change over time, without discounting the importance of available resources and political opportunities. Addressing a gap in the existing social movement studies, the book explains why a social movement disbands and why the other manages to continue and change after achieving its immediate goal. It will be of interest to academics in the fields of Asian studies, (new)-media and communications, civil society, and international development. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Table 1. Introduction Notes References 2. The life of social movements Notes References 3. Ambon in episodes of violence and peace Peace movements during violent episodes Movements in post-violent Ambon Notes References 4. Badati: what lead a movement to discontinue The peak episode of the Badati movement When money killed camaraderie A dreadful feeling of being unacknowledged Polarized worldviews 5. The rise of Filterinfo Misinformation spread fast Fear of the other was loud. Times were volatile Mass media inaccurate reports Notes References 6. The peak of Filterinfo Note 7. The ebb and dormancy of Filterinfo The dormancy 8. The rise of new community groups The roles of formal community leaders The affective role of informal leaders A continuous collective identity 9. Filterinfo as repository and memory The memories Preserving movement memories New media platforms for preserving movement memories The social triggers 10. Friction, competition, and reconciliation Friction reconciliation: the role of common grounds and leaders 11. Social movements in post-conflict Ambon Ramadan Berbagi Save Aru Ema Movement TrotoArt Social movement infrastructures Repair, maintenance, and scale-up Notes 12. Conclusion Index