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The Dynamics of Local Religion in Indonesia's Multireligious Community

Bibliographic Data

ID5797936
AuthorsAlfonsus Sutarno (University of Indonesia), Semiarto Aji Purwanto (0000-0003-1335-7925, University of Indonesia), Jajang Gunawijaya (0000-0003-2578-4641, University of Indonesia)
Year2023
Volume3
Issue1
Pages32-41
Publication date2023-05-22
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Gender Culture and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2754-3293 • E-ISSN: 2754-3293
PublisherAl-Kindi Center for Research and Development (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.32996/jgcs.2023.3.1.4
OpenAlexW4377240696
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited2

This paper examines the dynamics of local religions in the multi-religious society of Indonesia from the perspective of religious and cultural anthropology. The focus of the study is on the local religion of Sunda Wiwitan in Cigugur, Kuningan, West Java, Indonesia, which has managed to exist despite never being recognised as a religion. We collected data using qualitative research strategies through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and a literature review. The data was analysed based on the perspective of religious and cultural anthropology developed by Emilè Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Hans Küng. Local religions in Indonesia have never been officially recognized as religions. The disappearance of a large number of local religions is an inevitable fact. The followers of local religions that still exist experience discrimination in various dimensions of life. Categorizing religions as right-wrong, correct-incorrect, or legal-illegal will only absolutize one and exclude the others. The local knowledge of the Sunda ethnic community known as Sineger Tengah could be an alternative solution. Sineger Tengah is a cultural way of thinking, a collective awareness of the community to place all differences or even conflicts as complementary, coexisting, and completing pairs of existence

Dynamics · Ethnic community · Local community · Participant observation · Asian Studies and History · Cultural and Religious Practices in Indonesia · Multicultural Education and Local Wisdom

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Citations per year2
Citation span2025 - 2025 (1)
Highly citedNo

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