You might also like

More about Mobilizing Mainstream Islam

• Book details
• Synopsis
• Trending among others

You get 384 loyalty points

Book synopsis

Mobilizing Mainstream Islam explains the rise and changing shape of religious nationalism in Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998. In the 2000s, a time of electoral democratization, Indonesia's religious and political landscape experienced significant competition and reshuffling as religious and political elites formed an alliance to challenge Indonesia's official policies of tolerance and religious pluralism. As Saskia Schäfer argues, state and religious authorities have in the post-Suharto era constructed a homogenized, bureaucratized form of Islam – which she terms "Mainstream Islam"—that deliberately marginalizes people framed as minorities, such as Ahmadiyya, Shia Muslims and LGBTQI-identifying people, through securitization and theological delegitimization. She shows how the discourses of human rights have only sharpened the contours of these identities within the national imaginary. Through diverse case studies, Mobilizing Mainstream Islam explores how competitive electoral politics, decentralization, and media fragmentation facilitated the emergence of Islamist majoritarian rule and compares Indonesia's decentralized model with Malaysia's state-driven approach. Schäfer examines how competition over resources and public support shape religious nationalism. As the case of Indonesia illuminates broader global trends of religious nationalism, this book offers fresh insights into the challenges of maintaining pluralism in electoral democracies.

Book details

Book category Books in German Geisteswissenschaften, Kunst, Musik Geschichte Kulturgeschichte einzelne Themen und Gegenstände

• Full title: Mobilizing Mainstream Islam
• Author: Saskia Schafer
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Number of pages: 277
• EAN: 9781501785245
• ISBN: 1501785249
• ID: 49683078
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Weight: 907 g
• Dimensions: 229 × 152 mm
• Date of publishing: 15. January 2026

---

---

---