Deradicalization program in Indonesia radicalizing the radicals

Abstract

“Deradicalisation” refers to the process through which members of radical Islamic groups abandon their commitment to extreme ideologies and beliefs that could potentially bring them to organised violence. Since the mid-2000s, Indonesia has witnessed an increasing numbers of deradicalization programmes and activities. This article focuses on how so-called deradicalisation interventions intended to normalise Islamic radicals in Indonesia has instead turned them towards a different kind of radicalism. Deradicalisation should be better understood as a hegemonic project trying to shape and control the meaning of good (and normal) Indonesian citizenship. The process has paved the way for radicals to attribute different meanings to “good Indonesian citizenship”. Theirs are also hegemonic projects centred around the fight against injustice and exclusion. This article is based on interviews with Islamic radical figures and activists, as well as fieldwork in Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo and Poso.