Since the end of Suharto's long authoritarian rule in 1998, there has been a dramatic increase in the rise of ethnic and religious conflict in Indonesia. Jacques Bertrand argues that these conflicts were the result of the constraints imposed by Suharto's regime, which left the country unprepared for political and social change. Consequently, the very definition of the Indonesian nation and what it means to be Indonesian has come under scrutiny. The book is a major contribution to the understanding of religious and ethnic conflict in a complex and often misunderstood arena.

Jacques Bertrand is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

List of figures and tables; Preface; Maps; 1. Introduction; 2. Critical junctures, nationalism and ethnic violence; 3. The national model and its institutional history; 4. Exclusion, marginality and the nation; 5. Islam and nation: the Muslim-Christian dimension; 6. The escalation of religious conflict; 7. Conflict in Maluku; 8. Late integration into the nation: East Timor; 9. Aceh's ethnonationalist conflict; 10. Autonomy as a solution to ethnic conflict; 11. Unity in diversity; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.