Indonesia is a remarkable case study for religious politics. While not being a theocratic country, it is not secular either, with the Indonesian state officially defining what constitutes religion, and every citizen needing to be affiliated to one of them. This book focuses on Java and Bali, and the interesting comparison of two neighbouring societies shaped by two different religions - Islam and Hinduism. The book examines the appropriation by the peoples of Java and Bali of the idea of religion, through a dialogic process of indigenization of universalist religions and universalization of indigenous religions. It looks at the tension that exists between proponents of local world-views and indigenous belief systems, and those who deny those local traditions as qualifying as a religion. This tension plays a leading part in the construction of an Indonesian religious identity recognized by the state. The book is of interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asia, religious studies and the anthropology and sociology of religion.
Author(s): Michel Picard, Rémy Madinier
Series: Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 255
Title......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
Contributors......Page 10
Preface: The politics of agama in Java and Bali......Page 12
Introduction: ‘Agama’, ‘adat’, and Pancasila......Page 18
Part I: Java......Page 38
1 The Catholic politics of inclusiveness: A Jesuit epic in Central Java in the early twentieth century and its memory......Page 40
2 The constrained place of local tradition: The discourse of Indonesian Traditionalist ulama in the 1930s......Page 65
3 Where have all the abangan gone?: Religionization and the decline of nonstandard Islam in contemporary Indonesia......Page 88
4 The return of Pancasila: Secular vs. Islamic norms, another look at the struggle for state dominance in Indonesia......Page 109
Part II: Bali......Page 132
5 From Agama Hindu Bali to Agama Hindu and back: Toward a relocalization of the Balinese religion?......Page 134
6 A new perspective for ‘Balinese Hinduism’ in the light of the pre-modern religious discourse: A textual-historical approach......Page 159
7 The withdrawal of the gods: Remarks on ritual trance-possession and its decline in Bali......Page 184
8 Spiritualized politics and the trademark of culture: Political actors and their use of adat and agama in post-Suharto Bali......Page 209
Bibliography......Page 231
Index......Page 249
