Authoritarian practices in democratic settings: Illiberal peacebuilding and violence against the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia

Abstract

Religious conflict involving minority groups remains a significant challenge in Indonesia, particularly regarding violence and discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community. While previous studies have focused on societal intolerance, horizontal conflict, and state responses, limited attention has been given to how conflict management becomes institutionalized and produces illiberal forms of peace. This study examines the institutionalization of illiberal peacebuilding through authoritarian conflict management in the context of violence against the Ahmadiyya community. This research employs a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through archival and document-based research, including government regulations, policy documents, human rights reports, academic literature, and media archives. The data were analyzed using discourse analysis to examine how state narratives, legal instruments, and institutional practices shape conflict management. The findings show that illiberal peacebuilding is institutionalized through authoritarian conflict management operating across three interconnected dimensions: discursive, spatial, and political-economic practices. Rather than addressing the structural causes of conflict, these mechanisms normalize restrictions on the religious rights of the Ahmadiyya community through discriminatory regulations, administrative procedures, and official policy narratives. Although implementation varies across local contexts, these practices collectively reinforce an exclusionary form of stability by reproducing structural discrimination. This study argues that authoritarian conflict management functions as the primary mechanism through which illiberal peacebuilding becomes institutionalized within Indonesia's democratic context, extending the concept beyond post-conflict settings to the governance of religious conflict.