Gangs and militias were a permanent feature of Indonesia's social and political life. During the system of the new authoritarian regime, they formed part of a vast network of subcontracted coercion and social control on behalf of the state.

The subsequent democracy of Indonesia has led to the adjustment and utilization of gangs with the changing political context. New types of street-based grass-roots organizations have emerged that combine the search for predatory rent with claims to represent marginalized social and economic groups.

Based on intensive field work in Jakarta, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the changing relationship between gangs, militias, political power and power in post-system Indonesia. It argues that gangs and militias have built various kinds of legitimacy in the consolidation of local land monopolies and protection economies. As mediators between informal street politics and the official policy world, they have often become influential mediators in Indonesia's decentralized electoral democracy.

More than just criminal extortion, it is said that protectionism as a social bond of coercion and hegemony remains a prominent feature of Indonesia's post-tyrannical political scene. This pilot study will be of interest to students and scholars of Indonesian politics and Southeast Asia, political violence, gangs and urban policies..