Afterlives and Alter-lives

Abstract Indonesia has long employed competitions as means of improving ‘human resource quality,’ believing to elicit fantasies achievement that, even if unrealized, motivate participants self-cultivate in ways generative for the nation. Meanwhile, scholarly critics argue that such policies encourage a counterproductive competitive individualism serves interests neoliberal capitalism. This article complicates both these understandings what competition does. I show Indonesians may participate out desire provide for, and receive recognition from, family, mentors, state. When afterlives fail live up this ideal, competitors can become alienated from relations institutions they blame thwarting ‘alter-life’ could have been, subsequently embracing market.