Description

                 The failure of the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS, and the extraordinary growth of anti-Muslim populism in the West have led to widespread pessimism and anxiety about Islam and democracy.  In this context, scholars who study Indonesia are especially committed to bring knowledge of that country’s success as a democracy to wider audiences, both in the West and in the Muslim-majority world. 
 
                  Building on three decades of policy-oriented research on religious pluralism, the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA) at Boston University (BU) proposes to create documentary films and publications to highlight the best practices of civic pluralism in contemporary Indonesia, along with political, cultural and ethical challenges to these practices. 
 
                  Robert Hefner and Zainal Bagir, scholars of Indonesian religion based respectively at BU and Universitas Gadjah Mada, have been studying Islam and civil society for several decades, and most recently co-directed a research project supported by the Contending Modernities project at Notre Dame University.  That collaborative effort, “Scaling-Up Pluralism,” produced case studies on pluralist co-existence and ethics, law and everyday sociability in six regions of Indonesia, including religiously mixed as well as Muslim-majority areas. As a next step, Hefner and Bagir now want to share their findings with educators, journalists, NGOs and policy analysts in the U.S., Indonesia and elsewhere. 
 
                  The core of the project is the production of five 20-minute and one 60-minute documentary film, each drawing on earlier research featuring groups and events that illustrate best practices as well as challenges to pluralism.  Among the stories to be covered in the shorter films: the 2019 presidential campaign as it unfolds in Jakarta against the backdrop of a highly-charged sectarian mayoral race of early 2017; inter-religious dialogue in post-conflict communities in the Moluccas; women’s and religious minorities’ responses to implementation of Islamic law in Aceh; and religious discourses and practices promoting gender equity in Muslim women’s organizations. 
 
                  The longer film will feature interviews with key public intellectuals from different traditions, as well as stories from across the archipelago that illuminate the challenges of pluralism.  That film will be narrated by a prominent news anchor, Najwa Shihab, the daughter of Indonesia’s most famous Islamic cleric and an outspoken proponent of democracy, plural citizenship and women’s rights.  Shihab is expected to attract a large audience of Indonesian viewers.
 
                  The Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) at Gadjah Mada University and CURA will partner with Watchdoc, an independent documentary film production company in Jakarta.  To assist in the crafting and distribution of the films for American viewers, Kira Kay from the Bureau for International Reporting (a recipient of several HRLI grants) will serve as consultant, attending an initial workshop for all team members and as an advisor at later stages.  The goal is to make the films available for television broadcast initially, and subsequently for free downloading.
 
                  Hefner and Bagir will also produce a booklet that contains commentaries on each case for viewers interested in exploring the issues in greater depth, and a longer (approximately 100-page) publication that is a state-of-the-field, comparative essay.  The latter will situate the case studies within contemporary discussions of citizenship and plurality in democratic, Muslim-majority societies.  All print publications will be in English and Indonesian-language versions; the films will be released with English subtitles. 
                 
                  CURA, founded in 1985 by Peter Berger, a prominent sociologist of religion, received HRLI grants in 2005, 2010 and 2014.   Hefner, professor of anthropology and global studies, served as CURA’s executive director from 2009-2017.  Bagir is the director of CRCS, founded in 2010 at the Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, as the only interdisciplinary academic program focusing on religious studies at a non-religiously affiliated university in Indonesia. Students and faculty at CRCS come from diverse religious and disciplinary backgrounds, creating an environment of lively, critical exchange on the study of religion in cultural contexts.  
 
                  Our grant would provide for video production, travel, a consultant, modest salary support, and a training workshop for researchers and video teams.