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This multi-authored essay focuses on a series of figures, or cast of characters, that are pervasive in contemporary Indonesia. These are not particular individuals but rather figures whose significance can be understood against the changing social, political, and cultural life of this increasingly frenetic and fast-paced modern island nation. A decade after the fall of Suharto and the end of the New Order regime, we bring together thirteen anthropologists and one geographer to describe a series of characters-some novel, others more enduring-that in important ways illuminate the current post-authoritarian moment. We understand these and others to be" key

1 All the sections of this essay, except those by Carla Jones and Rachel Silvey, were first presented on November 19, 2008, at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in San Francisco, CA. Rosalind Morris was the discussant for the panel, and …