Indonesia, Islam And Democracy:
Comparative Perspectives

Thursday And Friday, April 2-3, 2009

Columbia University
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
West 420 118th Street

Co-sponsored with the Princeton Institute for International Studies (PIIRS) at Princeton University.

THURSDAY, APRIL 2

9.15 – 9.30: Welcome: Alfred Stepan

9.30 – 11.15: The Indonesian Transition. The First Ten Years: Evidence Of Consolidation?

• Bill Liddle: Democracy, Liberalism And Public Opinion (co-authored
  with Saiful Mujani).
• Nadirsyah Hosen: Law Reform and Shari’a in the Post-Suharto Era: a Legal Pluralist Perspective.

11.30 – 1.15: The Multiple Meanings Of And Support For Shariazation

• Musdah Mulia: Sharia and Women’s Rights In The Post-Suharto Era.
• Michael Buehler: Why Influential Non-Islamic Actors Support Shariazation.

2.30 – 5.30: How Useful Or Un-Useful Are Major Islamic Organizations In The Process Of Democratic Consolidation?

• Greg Fealy: NU And Muhammadiyah Responses to Democratisation and Electoral Politics.
• Robert Hefner: Islamic Schooling, Social Movements, And The Indonesian Transition: Rival Varieties Of Political Subject Formation.
• Franz Magnis Suseno: State Policies Towards Religious Minorities and Their Support among Islamic Organizations.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

9.30 – 12.30: Potential Veto Actors In Indonesia’s Process Of
Consolidation And Their Encounters With The State

• Marcus Mietzner: The Transformation of The Military into a
  Democratically-Controlled Actor and its Impact On Democratic
  Consolidation.
• Ed Aspinall: Indonesia between National Unity and Separatist Currents Post-1998.
• Sidney Jones: Have The Post-1998 Governments Effectively Dealt With Transnational Islamist Movements?

2.30 – 5.30: The Indonesian Transition In Comparative Perspective

• Mirjam Künkler: The Politics Of State-Religion Accommodations In
  Indonesia and Turkey: Help or Hindrance In Democratic Consolidation Processes?
• John Bowen: The Construction of Sharia in Democratic Societies:
  Comparative Observations from England and Indonesia.
• Alfred Stepan: Is Indonesia Close To The “Respect All, Support All”
  Model Of Indian Secularism?

Comparative Commentators: L. Carl Brown, Jose Casanova, Michael Laffan.

Indonesia Elections in the News

Beyond Jemaah Islamiyah by ABC Radio National:

On 9 April Indonesians go to the polls for only the third time since the fall of President Suharto. What role will Islam play in these elections? Encounter canvasses the tensions within Indonesian Islam on issues of democracy, pluralism and human rights in this two-part series:

Listen to Part I

Listen to Part II