%0 Journal Article
%T Reformasi, Religious Diversity, and Islamic Radicalism after Suharto
%A Noorhaidi Hasan
%J Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities
%D 2009
%I 
%X This paper examines the rising tide of ethno-religious conflicts and Islamic radicalism in the political arena of post-Suharto Indonesia. In the climate of Reformasi that heralded freedom of expression, ethnic and religious violence flared up in various regions of Indonesia, threatening a society apparently imbued with a culture of tolerance based on harmonious inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations. In a flurry of conflicts, a number of militant Muslim groups arose and engulfed the political arena of post-Suharto Indonesia by calling for jihad and other violent actions. The rise of the groups gave a remarkable boost to the explosion of militant religious discourses and activism that threaten Indonesia¡¯s reputation for practising a tolerant and inclusive form of Islam and threaten, too, the integrity of the Indonesian nation-state as well. Against the backdrop of the state¨CIslam relationship in the New Order, this paper looks at how this phenomenon is embedded in the state¡¯s failure to manage properly religious diversity and civic pluralism. In the context of mounting competition among elites, religion has become tremendously politicised and has served more as a tactical tool used by political contenders in their own interests. Herein lies the importance of the proper management of religious diversity as a mechanism to guarantee individual freedoms and maintain the rights of religious minorities.
%K Indonesia
%K social sciences
%U http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/jissh/article/view/3632