Institute of Asian Studies

This article examines the ongoing negotiations between the postcolonial Indonesian state and the Christian minority, focusing on how the Christians use the state ideology of Pancasila to claim legitimacy and cultural citizenship rights in the majority Muslim, multicultural society of Indonesia. It needs to be highlighted that the Christians are not a homogeneous group and their attitude towards Pancasila is not unified. While most Christians depend on Pancasila for protection of their rights as a minority, their commitment towards the pluralistic spirit of the state ideology varies; this article attempts to unpack such varying attitudes. This paper article draws upon knowledge from interviews conducted by the author in Java during intermittent periods of fieldwork in 2011. Views of Christian and Muslim intellectuals and activists on Pancasila were solicited to enable a critical examination of recent appeals of interfaith activists, religious leaders and academics who have sought to revitalize Pancasila as a force to re-unify the people, restore the value of tolerance and uphold the respect for difference in Indonesia’s multicultural society.

The dominant discourse in accommodating the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia during Suharto’s regime was one of assimilation, which forcefully aimed to absorb this minority into the national body. However, continuous official discrimination towards the Chinese placed them in a paradoxical position that made them an easy target of racial and class hostility. The May 1998 anti-Chinese riots proved the failure of the assmilationist policy. The process of democratization has given rise to a proliferation of identity politics in post-Suharto Indonesia. The policy of multiculturalism has been endorsed by Indonesia’s current power holders as a preferred approach to rebuilding the nation, consistent with the national motto: ‘Unity in Diversity’. This paper critically considers the politics of multiculturalism and its efficacy in managing cultural diversity and differences. It deploys the concept of hybridity to describe as well as analyze the complex identity politics of the ethnic Chinese in contemporary Indonesia.

Scholarship on the Chinese Indonesian community has largely been concerned with the tensions between the community and the majority pribumi. The fault lines were usually examined against the background of Suharto’s assimilation policy, the 1998 anti-Chinese riots, the stark imbalance of the nation’s wealth within this minority group, and Chinese loyalty — or chauvinism — in the time of nation-building, and in the face of the rise of modern China. Little attention has been given to Christianity as offering a shelter for the inconspicuous propagation of Chineseness; particularly in terms of the conduct of services in Chinese, the teaching of the language, and business-management leadership. The network of Chinese churches locally, and extending internationally beyond Indonesia, represents a rich field for further scholarship. This article sets out an epistemological map in the service of such research.

This article examines the ways in which multiculturalism as a policy, discourse and practice have been conceptualized, implemented and applied in Indonesia. The post-Suharto democratization process has allowed new space for the expressions of previously oppressed identities. While literature on multiculturalism focuses mainly on ethnic and racial difference, this article endeavors to broaden the scope of the term to include religious difference, and evaluate the possibility for “religious multiculturalism”. It addresses the following questions: What are the different interpretations of multiculturalism? How is multiculturalism different from pluralism? How is multiculturalism understood and implemented in Indonesia? How is the western discourse of multiculturalism different from Indonesian discourses of diversity (kebhinnekaan or kemajemukan), heterogeneity (keberagaman) and unity-in-diversity (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika)? And lastly, in what ways can the concept of multiculturalism be expanded to accommodate multi-religiosity?

Scholarly predictions of the secularization of the world have proven premature. We see a heterogeneous world in which religion remains a significant and vital social and political force. This paper reflects critically upon secularization theory in order to see how scholars can productively respond to the, at least partly, religious condition of the world at the beginning of the twenty first century. We note that conventional multiculturalism theory and policy neglects religion, and argue the need for a reconceptualization of understanding of religion and secularity, particularly in a context of multicultural citizenship-such as in Australia and Indonesia. We consider the possibilities for religious pluralism in citizenship and for "religious citizenship". Finally, we propose that religious citizenship education might be a site for fostering a tolerant and enquiring attitude towards religious diversity.

A school is an institution in which student subjectivity is constituted and reinscribed through various 'disciplinary technologies'. The interplay between discipline and discipleship in the practice of Christian education is mutually constitutive. Through the study of a Protestant Christian school in Jakarta, this article explains the disciplinary technologies deployed by the school in its inculcation of discipline and character building. By examining the school's religious education practices the study provides insight into the perceptions of the school management, teachers and students with regard to various ethical, moral and religious issues. The author considers how Christian schools can develop critical reflective skills and respect for differences, and so can contribute to a tolerant, peaceful and multicultural Indonesia.

This article explores the role of schools in responding to the ambivalent relationships between the Chinese and non-Chinese in Indonesia. It examines the multicultural position that Indonesian teachers and the pedagogical strategies and provisions that they employ in promoting positive inter-ethnic relations. Through interviews with teachers and head teachers in three schools with different student ethno-religious compositions in the multicultural city of Medan, the article argues that the multiculturalism paradigm embraced by the majority of teachers lean towards conservative and liberal multicultural outlook, employing mostly content integration and prejudice reduction approaches – to refer to Banks’ terms. The heterogenous school in the study exhibits more conscious efforts in promoting multicultural education beyond content integration in classroom learning and has more potential to empower a multicultural school culture due to the school demography compared to the homogenous school in our study. However, such efforts still focus heavily on maximising intergroup contact and setting a multicultural ‘habitus’, and less on engaging students in activities that challenge existing power relations and addressing systematic inequalities in the society. This article considers theories of multiculturalism in tandem with the concept of Indonesian nationalism and national identity which includes the vision of diversity enshrined in the national motto, ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ (Unity-in-Diversity).

The momentous rise of China as a new global super power has given rise to renewed interest in Chineseness among diasporic Chinese communities. The impact of China's rise has a tremendous influence on the ways in which Chinese culture is being strategically reconstructed in contemporary Indonesia. To many Chinese overseas, Chineseness has become an indispensable social asset capital, cultural resource and ethno-commodity that can benefit them in their commercial dealings with China. The economic incentive that China has to offer has become a major impetus for Chinese Indonesians to resinicize by reconnecting to their Chineseness, learning Mandarin and enthusiastically consuming Chinese cultural products. Through examining the historical trajectory and contemporary dynamics of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, this article argues that for the time being, Chineseness is embraced positively among Chinese Indonesians as an economic asset. However, the fate of this community, which has experienced numerous violent traumas in the past, remains uncertain in the future.

Christianity has experienced rapid growth in Indonesia, particularly the Evangelical and Pentecostal/Charismatic movements, which find fertile ground among the urban middle class. This phenomenon has given rise to fears of Christianisation among the Muslim majority, who perceive the Christian growth as a moral threat. Tensions between Christians and Muslims have been part and parcel of religious developments in Indonesia. The author addresses the ways in which Protestant churches in Indonesia negotiate between evangelism (to fulfil the 'Great Commission') on the one hand, and multiculturalism (peaceful coexistence with difference) on the other. The article will examine how Christians in Indonesia navigate through the multicultural environment of otherness, and how they negotiate plurality within Christianity. By highlighting the diversity and dynamics within Christianity, this article provides a new perspective on Indonesian Christians, beyond the popular Muslim perception of Christians as a monolithic and homogeneous group. Résumé En Indonésie, le christianisme connaît une expansion rapide en raison notamment de mouvements évangéliques pentecôtistes et charismatiques qui trouvent auprès des classes moyennes urbanisées un terrain particulièrement fertile. Ce phénomène nourrit beaucoup d'appréhension de la part d'une majorité musulmane qui perçoit une menace sur le plan moral. Les tensions entre chrétiens et musulmans sont partie intégrante

Recognizing that the Christians in Indonesia are not a homogeneous group, this article examines the various contested spiritual, social, and political aspirations of urban Christians in the contexts of the historical trajectory of Indonesian modernity, forces of globalization and urbanization, the role of capital, and the development of Islam-the indispensable religious 'Other' to this minority religion in contemporary Indonesia. It sheds light on the ways in which this minority exercises agency in using political participation and social activism as a counterbalance to the growing Islamization of Indonesia, and how they strategically utilize their extensive economic, social, and political capital to navigate the treacherous waters of rising religious intolerance in the country where the world's largest Muslim population resides.

The sexual and religious ecosystem in Singapore represents an intricate interplay of factors that religious homosexuals navigate to attain a well-adjusted personal identity. A qualitative research project was conducted to understand how Christian and Muslim homosexual men in Singapore integrate their religious and sexual identities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine religious homosexuals to elicit responses on their dualidentity experience, and coping strategies. Narrative analysis revealed three themes (and a number of subthemes): (1) Intrapersonal factors (a personal journey, knowledge seeking, reinterpreting belief system, redemption by good deeds, and love prevails over sin), (2) Interpersonal factors (segregating social circles, involvement in the gay community, role models, and social support), and (3) Sociopolitical factors (state and societal tolerance of homosexuals, and homosexual events). Interestingly, the participants assigned positive attributes to being both religious and homosexual, and reported that embodying both identities was enriching than if they had possessed just one of the two identities. This suggests that integrating positive psychological frameworks (e.g., stress-related growth) to existing ones may provide a more holistic account of identity integration among religious homosexuals.