Violence and vengeance : religious conflict and its aftermath in eastern Indonesia /

This study examines the outbreak of Muslim-Christian violence in North Maluku, Indonesia, which began in 1999 and continued for many months. Duncan (Arizona State Univ.) has extensive experience in this understudied part of Indonesia, including local language ability, and so is able to penetrate down to a very fundamental level in telling the story of what happened and what it means. Unlike many analysts, he is most interested in the specifically religious cast of the confrontation as voiced by local people. As Duncan notes, while other scholars maintain that the roots of religiously tinged violence can usually be found emerging out of economic or political disputes or conflict, he urges readers to see how religious belief itself can be a specific spur to action. This interpretation is a reminder to those concerned with the problem of religious violence in the modern age that faith can very much shape what people do. Readers may feel, however, that this emphasis still only tells part of the story, and that more context regarding the potential relevance of new national policies, local economic concerns, and political maneuvering in the region could have been provided. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. S. Maxim University of California, Berkeley