Table Of ContentCONTESTATIONS IN
CONTEMPORARY SOUTHEAST ASIA
Islamism and the
Quest for Hegemony
in Indonesia
Luqman Nul Hakim
Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia
Series Editors
Vedi Hadiz, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC,
Australia
Jamie S. Davidson, Department of Political Science, National University
of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Caroline Hughes, Kroc Institute for Int’l Peace Studies, University of
Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
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Luqman Nul Hakim
Islamism
and the Quest
for Hegemony
in Indonesia
Luqman Nul Hakim
Department of International Relations
Gadjah Mada University
Sleman, D.I., Yogyakarta, Indonesia
ISSN 2661-8354 ISSN 2661-8362 (electronic)
Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia
ISBN 978-981-19-9660-3 ISBN 978-981-19-9661-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9661-0
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For Ishtar, Arkan and Winda
Acknowledgements
In the research and writing of this book, I owe a debt of gratitude to
many individuals and institutions, from whom I may never fully repay. I
am deeply grateful to Vedi Hadiz and Adrian Little from the University
of Melbourne, whose guidance, mentorship and encouragement allowed
me to turn my research project into a doctoral thesis and, subsequently,
into this book. Insightful comments and suggestions from the reviewers,
Robert W. Hefner, Salman Sayyid and Palgrave’s anonymous reviewer,
were crucial for developing and strengthening the arguments of this
book. My thanks also go to Jacqui Baker and Shahar Hameiri at the
Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, who had been supportive
in the early stages of my research before I moved to the University of
Melbourne. Most of all, I owe my deepest gratitude to Vedi Hadiz and
his family, whose assistance had gone beyond academic matters.
I was fortunate to have benefited from the advice and encourage-
ment from numerous colleagues and friends. At the Asia Research
Centre of Murdoch University, I would like to mention Kevin Hewison,
Garry Rodan, Richard Robison, Ian Wilson, Jane Hutchison and Jeffrey
Wilson. Fellow postgraduates of the Centre have constantly provided
me with valuable support and friendship: Fabio Scarpello, Airlangga
Pribadi, Rebecca Meckelburg, Diswandi, Nurul Aini, Charlotte Min Ha
Pham, Lian Sinclair, Hikmawan Saifullah, Jely Galang, Agung Ward-
hana, Charan Bal and Lisa Woodward. At the Asia Institute of the
University of Melbourne, I would like to thank Dave McRae, Andrew
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Rosser, Edwin Juriens, Ken Setiawan, Richard Chauvel, Lewis Mayo,
Abdullah Saeed, Robyn Borg, Cathleen Benevento and Leena Sookra-
manien. I would also like to acknowledge fellow postgraduate students
and good friends: Wawan Masudi, Nanang Kurniawan, Kylie Moore-
Gilbert, Hellena Souisa, Primatia Romana, Randy Nandyatama, Bahrudin,
Zhenjie Yuan, Taotao Zhao, Asako Saito, Karin Yu Qiao, Selina Ho,
Sonja Petrovich, Scott Paton, Qiuping Pan, Yao Song, Diatyka Yasih,
Qianjin Zhang, Jovana Marjanovic´, Yilu Yang, Laurence Castillo, Behzad
Zerehdaran, Tarek Makhlouf and Abdil Mughis.
It is necessary to acknowledge that the research for this book would
not have been possible without the Australia Awards (AAS) scholar-
ship. Additional financial support was also generously provided by the
University of Melbourne’s Fieldwork Grant and the Faculty of Social
and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Continuous encourage-
ment, especially from Mohtar Mas’oed, Poppy Winanti and Nur Rahmat
Yuliantoro, had been essential throughout my doctoral study. I also
benefited from my colleagues and friends at Universitas Gadjah Mada,
especially at the Department of International Relations, Centre for Secu-
rity and Peace Studies (CSPS) and the Institute of International Studies
(IIS). In particular, I would like to thank Frans Djalong and his family
for their support and inspiration and my beloved friend, the late Dana
Hasibuan (1988–2018).
Many individuals have contributed enormously to this research project
during the fieldwork and publication process. Their generosity in
providing me with valuable information, time and hospitality has been
crucial—they have become a new network of friendship. In particular,
Eko Haryadi Ismail and his family deserve my tremendous appreciation
for his support when I was conducting my field research in Jakarta and its
surrounding areas. The tireless work and patience of the staff at Palgrave,
particularly Vishal Daryanomel and Naveen Dass, have been instrumental
in the publication process.
Above all, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents and
family for their unwavering support and blessing. Last but not least,
I thank my partner, Winda, who has always filled my days with love,
patience and joy. My beloved kids, Arkan and Ishtar, have been the source
of motivation for completing this book in a time of the COVID-19 global
pandemic. I dedicated this book to them.
Yogyakarta
20 February 2022
Contents
1 Islamism in Indonesia: Setting the Stage 1
Islamism and the Epistemological Critique 7
Islamism as Ideology 8
Islamism as Culture 10
Islam and Institutionalism 12
New Departures: From Political-Economic Conditions
to Hegemonic Struggles 14
Political Economy of Islamism 15
Islamism as Discourse 17
Outline of the Book 20
Bibliography 24
2 Islamism and the Politics of Hegemony 29
The Ontology of the Social: Hegemony and Social
Transformation 31
Contentious Issues 33
Politics of Hegemony and the Studies of Islamism 36
Gramsci’s Breakthrough 39
Dislocation, Islamism, Hegemony: Towards a New Framework 42
Discourse as Conceptual Category 47
Linking Discursive Formation to Structural Conditions 49
Conclusion 54
Bibliography 55
ix
x CONTENTS
3 Islamism and the Making of Indonesia 61
Dislocations and Anti-Colonial Discourses: Islamism,
Communism, Nationalism 63
Islamism and Anti-Colonial Outlooks 65
The Rise and Fall of Islamist Hegemony: Sarekat Islam
and Its Adversaries 72
Pancasila as a Foundation: Islamic Nationalism Versus
Secular Nationalism 78
Islamism and the Postcolonial Nation-State Formation 82
Pancasila Versus Islam: Islamism and Parliamentary
Politics, 1949–1957 85
Politicising Identities, Coopting Representation: Islamism
and the Guided Democracy, 1957–1965 89
Conclusion 93
Bibliography 94
4 New Order and the Politicisation of Islam 101
Islamism and the New Order Formation 103
Anti-communism and the Regime Change 104
Islam in the New Order Discourse: Strategies of Exclusion
and Accommodation 106
In Search of a Political Format: Pancasila Democracy
and Developmentalism 110
Disciplining Islamism and New Order Developmentalism:
The Consolidation Period 112
Universalising Pancasila Democracy: A Master Signifier 113
Islamic Developmentalist Subjects 117
Islamism and the New Order’s Hegemonic Crisis: The
Negotiation Period 123
Pancasila as the Sole Ideology: Three Forms of Islamism 124
Islamism in the ‘Political Openness’: Towards the New
Order’s Hegemonic Crisis 128
Political Unravelling and Soeharto’s Fall 133
Conclusion 137
Bibliography 138
5 Islamism and Its Hegemonic Failure in Democratising
Indonesia 145
Political Liberalisation and Fragmented Islamism 148
The Islamists and Political Representation 148
