State of Disorder: Privatised Violence and the State in Indonesia

Through rich case studies analysing the use of privatised violence throughout Indonesian history up to the present, combined with rich comparative analysis, State of Disorder provides groundbreaking insights into the relationship between violence and capitalism. This sophisticated work is a must read in order to better understand modern Indonesia and comparable predatory states of the Global South.
Joshua Barker

University of Toronto

In this remarkable book, Mudhoffir offers a refreshing new perspective on vigilantism in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Mudhoffir develops a powerful critique of neo-Weberian accounts of privatised violence and makes a compelling case for considering how such violence is in fact underpinned by the demands of Indonesia’s brand of “predatory capitalism”. With this timely intervention, Mudhoffir establishes himself as a formidable new voice in Indonesian studies.


Paul K. Gellert

University of Tennessee
Mudhoffir’s important and eye-opening State of Disorder shows that privatised violence is not an atavism of a pre-modern state or an inherent characteristic of a fragmented state. Violence is rather an accompaniment of the contemporary political economy. Thus, Mudhoffir rightly emphasises that violence will not be eliminated by simple calls for democracy, for strengthening a state that is too “weak” to control violence or for establishing “rule of law”.


This book examines the theme of privatised violence in different political settings by focusing on the Indonesian case. It argues that the persistence of privatised violence is not solely related to the historical formation of the institutions of state power and authority; it is also intricately related to predatory forms of capitalist development. Within such contexts, privatised violence is not an obstruction, but instrumental for the capital accumulation process, constituting a state of disorder. The book contributes to understanding not only Indonesia’s privatised violence but also the nature of Indonesian politics and the state.

Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir is an honorary fellow at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, and an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology, State University of Jakarta.