State of Disorder / Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia (PDF)

Katharine McGregor

President of the Asian Studies Association of Australia

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

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".