Conclusions

Abstract

The young men of kampung Malang articulate an explicit idea about growth and their need to “move forward in life.” While they are involved with street gangs in Surabaya and then in South Bali, they conceptualize their life experience in terms of a transition to adult life. This perspective shows a substantial continuity in terms of expectations and preoccupations with the previous generation of men who live in the same area. I have argued that, to look at youth as a life phase in isolation is counterproductive in a context in which youth share the same goals and objectives of their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers. In this respect, there are models to understand masculinity that encompass the gap between generations and are well reiterated in contemporary Indonesian society.