Ekologi dan Agama

Menelusuri Perubahan Ekologi di Asia Tenggara Maritim

Bibliographic Data

ID20352376
AuthorsLilis Shofiyanti (Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume32
Issue3
Pages553-571
Publication date2025-12-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSTUDIA ISLAMIKA (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0215-0492 • E-ISSN: 2355-6145
PublisherStudia Islamika, Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University of Jakarta (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.36712/sdi.v32i3.46649
OpenAlexW7117534093
LanguageEN
References cited9

This article reviews Faizah Zakaria’s book, The Camphor Tree and the Elephant: Religion and Ecological Change in Maritime Southeast Asia (2023). The book investigates the interactive role of religion and colonialism in shaping ecological change in the North Sumatran Highlands and the Malay Peninsula during the “long nineteenth century.” Zakaria introduces the “spiritual Anthropocene,” arguing that human domination over the planet is inextricably linked to the spiritual transformation. She contends that religious conversion to modern forms of monotheism (Islam and Christianity), accelerated by colonial rule, created a sociopolitical ecology that radically eliminated the “spiritual appeal” (enchantment) of nature. This disenchantment process propelled a transition to a cash economy that prioritized transactions over ritualistic kinship, and relocated ecological authority to elites. Through material case studies of the camphor tree (Dryobalanops aromatica) and the elephant, the book demonstrates how the rationalization of nature by modern monotheistic religions contributed to the accelerated environmental degradation and the loss charisma of non-human beings

Charisma · Colonialism · Disenchantment · Malay · Secularization · Asian Studies and History · Cultural and Religious Practices in Indonesia · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics

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