Zones of Control & Civilian Strategy in the Aceh Conflict

How do civilians respond to and shape civil war? Dominant approaches emphasise territorial control, while rival sociological explanations understand civilian behaviour as rooted in justice, pleasure, and social norms. This paper assesses these divergent sensibilities by examining rebel-controlled areas from Aceh, Indonesia. Many civilians provided the rebels with symbolic support, information and provisions, support that deepened over time as the rebels established control. By disaggregating ‘civilians’ into social groups, a more complex story appears. Only some civilian groups supported the dominant armed group, suggesting that control and sociological approaches can be complementary in explaining civilian behaviour.