Overview

Indonesia's Muslims are still pondering the role of religion in public life. Although the religious violence marring the transition towards democratic reform has ebbed, the Muslim community has polarised into reactionary and progressive camps with increasingly antagonistic views on the place of Islam in society. Debates over the underlying principles of democratisation have further heated up after a fatwa issued by conservative religious scholars condemned secularism, pluralism and liberalism as un-Islamic. With a hesitant government dominated by Indonesia's eternal political elites failing to take a clear stance, supporters of the decision are pursuing their Islamisation agendas with renewed vigour, displaying growing intolerance towards other religions and what they consider deviant Muslim minorities. Extremist and radical exponents of this Islamist bloc receive more international media coverage and scholarly attention than their progressive opponents who are defiantly challenging this reactionary trend. Calling for a true transformation of Indonesian society based on democratic principles and respect for human rights, they insist that this depends on secularisation, religious toleration, and freethinking. Conceived as a contemporary history of ideas, this book aims to tell the story of these open- minded intellectuals and activists in the world's largest Muslim country.

Full Product Details

9780190247775

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Ideas matter deeply in contemporary Muslim politics. Their urgency and richness are particularly compelling in Indonesia, which is in the throes of one of the most hopeful if contested political transitions in the contemporary Muslim world. In this timely and well-written book, Carool Kersten provides an intellectual history of the ideas and debates among rival Muslim thinkers vying for influence in Indonesia's unfinished democratic transition. His account of debates over secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and Islamic law is without peer, and shows a keen understanding of the relevance of these ideas for political and ethical reform elsewhere in the Muslim world. This superb book should be read by anyone interested in the ideas at stake in Indonesia and the varied contests animating modern Muslim politics everywhere."" -- Robert W. Hefner, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, and author of Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia ""Kersten s breakdown of contemporary Islamic intellectual history provides a complex framework for thinking about the formation of Islamic sensibilities in Indonesia. His framework does not solidify stereotypical dichotomies 'traditional/modern' or 'conservative/liberal' which continue to not only haunt the study of Islam in Indonesia, but discussions of Indonesian Islam more broadly. His work is invaluable in this regard...Kersten s critique of the isms, [secularism, pluralism, and liberalism] in trying to more accurately understand what is at stake in Indonesian debates within and between the reactionary and progressive Muslim intellectual community opens productive possibilities for future research.""--Reading Religion"

Ideas matter deeply in contemporary Muslim politics. Their urgency and richness are particularly compelling in Indonesia, which is in the throes of one of the most hopeful if contested political transitions in the contemporary Muslim world. In this timely and well-written book, Carool Kersten provides an intellectual history of the ideas and debates among rival Muslim thinkers vying for influence in Indonesia's unfinished democratic transition. His account of debates over secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and Islamic law is without peer, and shows a keen understanding of the relevance of these ideas for political and ethical reform elsewhere in the Muslim world. This superb book should be read by anyone interested in the ideas at stake in Indonesia and the varied contests animating modern Muslim politics everywhere. -- Robert W. Hefner, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, and author of Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia Kersten s breakdown of contemporary Islamic intellectual history provides a complex framework for thinking about the formation of Islamic sensibilities in Indonesia. His framework does not solidify stereotypical dichotomies 'traditional/modern' or 'conservative/liberal' which continue to not only haunt the study of Islam in Indonesia, but discussions of Indonesian Islam more broadly. His work is invaluable in this regard...Kersten s critique of the isms, [secularism, pluralism, and liberalism] in trying to more accurately understand what is at stake in Indonesian debates within and between the reactionary and progressive Muslim intellectual community opens productive possibilities for future research. --Reading Religion

Ideas matter deeply in contemporary Muslim politics. Their urgency and richness are particularly compelling in Indonesia, which is in the throes of one of the most hopeful if contested political transitions in the contemporary Muslim world. In this timely and well-written book, Carool Kersten provides an intellectual history of the ideas and debates among rival Muslim thinkers vying for influence in Indonesia's unfinished democratic transition. His account of debates over secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and Islamic law is without peer, and shows a keen understanding of the relevance of these ideas for political and ethical reform elsewhere in the Muslim world. This superb book should be read by anyone interested in the ideas at stake in Indonesia and the varied contests animating modern Muslim politics everywhere. -- Robert W. Hefner, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, and author of Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia Kersten s breakdown of contemporary Islamic intellectual history provides a complex framework for thinking about the formation of Islamic sensibilities in Indonesia. His framework does not solidify stereotypical dichotomies 'traditional/modern' or 'conservative/liberal' which continue to not only haunt the study of Islam in Indonesia, but discussions of Indonesian Islam more broadly. His work is invaluable in this regard...Kersten s critique of the isms, [secularism, pluralism, and liberalism] in trying to more accurately understand what is at stake in Indonesian debates within and between the reactionary and progressive Muslim intellectual community opens productive possibilities for future research.--Reading Religion

Ideas matter deeply in contemporary Muslim politics. Their urgency and richness are particularly compelling in Indonesia, which is in the throes of one of the most hopeful if contested political transitions in the contemporary Muslim world. In this timely and well-written book, Carool Kersten provides an intellectual history of the ideas and debates among rival Muslim thinkers vying for influence in Indonesia's unfinished democratic transition. His account of debates over secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and Islamic law is without peer, and shows a keen understanding of the relevance of these ideas for political and ethical reform elsewhere in the Muslim world. This superb book should be read by anyone interested in the ideas at stake in Indonesia and the varied contests animating modern Muslim politics everywhere. -- Robert W. Hefner, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, and author of Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia

Author Information

Carool Kersten is Lecturer in Islamic Studies at King's College London and has a PhD in the Study of Religions from SOAS. He worked for many years in the Middle East and has taught Asian his-tory and religions in Thailand. He is the author of Cosmopolitans and Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available