Country: Indonesia
Group: Madurese
Date Finalized: 4/5/2020
Team: Rayna Castillo (lead), Colleen Clauss
Content Warning: homicide, physical violence
Approximate Time Period: 1996-2001
In 1996 and 1997, ethnic conflict erupted between the indigenous Dayak and migrant Madurese and continued to flare up sporadically until at least 2001 (Dove, 2006). These altercations resulted in the death of thousands and the displacement of thousands more Madurese (though, these exact numbers vary source to source) (Dove, 2006; Bouvier & Smith, 2006). Some hypothesize that the reasons for these conflicts can be attributed to cultural tensions, while others attribute them to a history of political and economic oppression (Dove, 2006). One source claims that “a relatively minor incident or an isolated killing served as the trigger to a conflict more profoundly rooted in interethnic grievances, historical injustices, growing ethnic empowerment, & burgeoning political competition in Indonesia’s transition to decentralized governance” (Bouvier & Smith, 2006). Although both groups were participants in these conflicts, the Madurese were outnumbered, and as a result, were disproportionately affected by the violence (Dove, 2006). However, these events are evidence of targeted lethal violence since our definition includes ethnic conflict between two groups (Bouvier & Smith, 2006). The data quality for this code would be a 3/3 because this information is consistent and present in multiple peer-reviewed papers.
Sources
- Bouvier, H., & Smith, G. (2006). Of Spontaneity and Conspiracy Theories: Explaining Violence in Central Kalimantan. Asian Journal of Social Science, 34(3), 475–491. JSTOR.
- Dove, M. R. (2006). ‘New Barbarism’ or Old Agency among the Dayak?: Reflections on Post-Suharto Ethnic Violence in Kalimantan. Social Analysis, 50(1), 192-202.