Aesthetics of authority

Islam Nusantara' and Islamic 'radicalism' in Indonesian film and social media

Bibliographic Data

ID4372328
AuthorsLeonie Schmidt (0000-0001-5215-048X, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume51
Issue2
Pages237-258
Publication date2021-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0048721x.2020.1868387
OpenAlexW3118433646
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited15

In Indonesia, Islamic ‘counter-terror culture’ contests Islamic ‘radicalization’. Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), takes a leading role in initiating counter-terror culture. Central to their initiatives are ideas about ‘Islam Nusantara’ (Islam of the Archipelago). This article analyzes two NU initiatives: (1) the documentary Rahmat Islam Nusantara (2015), which challenges how ‘radical’ groups interpret the Quran, and (2) the ‘cyber warrior initiative’ in which volunteers contest ‘radicalism’ on social media. The article explores how these initiatives construct ‘counternarratives’ that frame Islam Nusantara as antidote against ‘radicalism’ and analyzes how, in doing so, these initiatives negotiate the binary frame between ‘moderate’ and ‘radical’ Islam. The article proposes that Rahmat Islam Nusantara and the cyber warriors uphold this binary frame and that meanwhile, these initiatives are marked by an aesthetics of authority, which constructs traditional figures of Islamic authority as role models who can help protect the country against radicalism

CONTEST · Indonesian · Islam · Media studies · Political radicalism · Political science · Politics · Radicalization · Sociology · Terrorism · Theology · Asian Studies and History · Islamic Finance and Communication · Islamic Studies and Radicalism · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies

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