Seminar Series: Abstract

Radical Islam in Indonesia: Darul Islam under the New Order
Quinton Temby - Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political and Social Change, ANU

This research seeks to understand the dynamics of radical Islam in Indonesia. Taking a historical approach, it will examine the ideological and institutional evolution of the Darul Islam movement - Indonesia's seminal radical Islamic movement - during Suharto's New Order regime. Benedict Anderson's definition of the nation as an 'imagined political community' will be posited as a way of conceptualizing the movement and understanding its remarkable endurance, despite the futility of its claim to Indonesia as an Islamic State. Social Movement Theory will be drawn upon to analyze the dynamics of this 'imagined community'.