Challenging Islamist Populism in Indonesia through Catholic Youth Activism
Penulis/Author
Pam Nilan (1); Gregorius Ragil Wibawanto, S.Sos., MAPS. (2)
Tanggal/Date
23 2021
Kata Kunci/Keyword
Abstrak/Abstract
: This paper reports data from a study of young Catholic activists. They were concerned
about the expansion of Islamist populism in democratic Muslim-majority Indonesia. They actively
built inter-faith coalitions with local liberal Muslim youth groups and with pan-national Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU), the largest independent Islamic organisation in the world. Islamist populism prioritises
religious identity over the national identity of citizenship. In framing their citizenship activism
against the current tide of Islamist populism, the informants in our study selectively engaged aspects
of Catholic theology. They articulated their religious identity as coterminous with a nationalist
identity centred on multi-faith tolerance and harmony. That discourse in itself refutes a key principle
of Islamist populism in Indonesia, which argues for primordial entitlement.
