ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes to an understanding of contemporary Indonesian political dynamics by addressing the informal authority wielded by civilian security groups. It examines some of the ways in which security has configured by civilian policing groups on the island Lombok in their engagement with other local actors, bureaucrats and aspiring politicians. Broader shifts in state power, including decentralization and the introduction of electoral democracy, have provided the conditions in which a plethora of civilian security groups have emerged and thrived. Security concerns and measures are infiltrating the fabric of everyday life in many parts of Indonesia, giving rise to a plethora of social formations that claim to provide protection. Indonesia illustrates the political nature of everyday policing as groups across the archipelago seek to enforce and consolidate particular notions of order. The assertion of masculine prowess and autonomy has boosted in the context of democratization and the re-traditionalism of politics in post-New Order Indonesia.
