This period has seen the flourishing of Indonesian CSOs following the fall of the

authoritarian regime. Some organisations from previous periods, such as

Muhammadiyah and NU, continue to operate due to their ability to generate funding,

by using religious social capital as a basis for resource mobilisation including financial

funding. In addition, many new CSOs have also been established. However, I point

out that CSOs started to focus on disaster relief only after the 2004 Boxing Day

earthquake and tsunami.

In 1998, Suharto had to step down after three decades of dictatorship. A year

earlier, the 1997 economic crisis had hit Southeast Asian countries. It started with the

collapse of the Thai Baht, and the Indonesian currency (Rupiah) was also affected.

Consequently, the Indonesian economy was ruined. At the same time, the streets were

full of student protests demanding freedom and reform and there were also antiChinese riots. The

communal conflict in Maluku and an insurgency movement in Aceh