Panel

Islam in the Modern Malay World:
Competing visions, conflicting pasts
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Panel abstract for EUROSEAS conference

Topic:
Islam in the Modern Malay World: Competing visions, conflicting pasts

Main objective:
The Malay world (Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei) has a rich history in religious pluralism, conflict and accommodation. The aim of this panel is to look at the contemporary range of religious incarnations with a focus on Islam in the Malay world and how they are supported or hindered by the state, society at large or specific groups within society and how these relationships affect people's religiosity individually. There is renewed interest in the study of popular religiosity vis-à-vis state sponsored religions. Sufism and popular preaching, whether on TV, via cassettes or the internet are on the rise across the Malay world. The re enchantment of the masses negates the secularisation thesis, which held that modernisation would do away with religion. What does this mean for the state sponsored incarnations of religiosity, especially as it is often tied to ethnicity and ethno-exclusivist politics? How do people configure and practice their religiosity in their everyday lives? Is the Malay world shaped by the waves of religious movements that wash over it or is there an indigenous or alternative version of religiosity and especially Islamic religiosity in the Malay world?

Interested paper contributors:

Prof Joel S. Kahn
Anthropology and Sociology
La Trobe University
'Islam and capitalism: Frontiers of commerce, faith and civilty'

Dr. Wendy Mee
Anthropology and Sociology
La Trobe University
'Religosity and translocality in the Malay World'

Dr. Gerhard Hoffstaedter
La Trobe University
‘Islam and the state: Power, nation and religion in the Malay world’

Paper applicants:
Contact
Dr. Gerhard Hoffstaedter
Institute for Human Security
La Trobe University
Email: g.hoffstaedter@latrobe.edu.au (with 'EUROSEAS' in the subject line.)