Politics of Islamic Identity in Southeast Asia, The

Islam, Syed Serajul. The Politics of Islamic Identity in Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur, Malayysia: Thomson Learning, 2005. 204 pp.

It is almost indisputable that the post-Cold War era is marked by the return of religion to politics. While the nature of 'religious revivalism' and/or extremism varies from one place to another, hardly any doubts exists that, almost everywhere - from the 'land of democracy' to Central Asia and the Middle East - religion is increasingly becoming a framework for organizing people into powerful political coalitions. Despite the reliance of these alliances on different strategies, organizational structures, and resources to mobilize popular support, the general trend has been toward the revitalization of a political identity based on some type of religion. The creation of religionbased political identity is relatively less challenging in a democratic polity in which rival politico-religious groups use the space in civil society to put the spotlight on the failure of secular forces to represent the interests of all citizens. However, the case is very different in non-democracies where the process of creating a political identity beyond the dominant framework of nationhood is rather complex. In the absence of plural institutions of dispute resolution, the state-society relations quickly rum highly confrontational, giving rise to what is often called the politics of violence.

As a result of the growth of violent ethno-religious nationalism at the end of the Cold War, religious politics in general, and the resurgence of Islamic extremism in particular, have drawn widespread attention not only from academics and students of International Relations, but also from policy-makers. Growing ethno-religious movements in different parts of the world, especially in Asia and the Middle East, have created a new realization among mainstream authors and policy-makers that ethno-religious nationalism, popularly labeled as terrorist activities, can easily undermine regional status quo and can pose a threat to global peace, security, and human development.

Although the current popular analysis of the emergence of ethnoreligious nationalism centers on either Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' or Tariq Ali's 'clash of fundamentalisms' thesis, the author of this book takes a lead in understanding the failure of managing pluralism in the region from a revisionist, yet objective, perspective. By taking a closer look at the historical process through which Islamic revivalism began to appear on the political agenda of Southeast Asia, the author offers penetrating insights into the resurgence of what he calls 'the politics of Islamic identity' in the rapidly changing context of the region. What is fascinating about this book is that it does not ground the analysis of ethno-religious nationalism in contending political ideologies. Nor does it promote a dogmatic view of what the growth of religious and/or separatist politics means for democracy and the market in Southeast Asia. Instead, the author sets the chapters of the book in comparative national contexts of the region to explore the highly complex and often misunderstood relationship between the state and ethno-religious nationalism.

The author starts with a theoretical overview of ethno-religious conflicts to assess both their strengths and weaknesses in interpreting Muslim insurgencies in the region. After a review of the nationalist and terrorist perspectives that dominate the current discussion of political Islam, the book presents a novel framework, albeit briefly, for separating the contemporary popular rhetoric on terrorism from the reality of Islamic politics in Southeast Asia that hardly promotes clashes between religion-based 'civilizations'. The author, then, turns his focus on the possibility of finding a political resolution of what he calls 'the separatist movements' in the region.

The book explores five different case studies -- namely the Moros in the Philippines, Malays in Thailand, Rohingyas in Myanmar, Acehnese in Indonesia, and the recent resurgence of Islamic politics in Malaysia -- not only to analyze the problematic of managing pluralism in Southeast Asia, but also to explain why the efforts to create an Islamic political identity failed to attain their political goals. In addition to providing the history of these ethnoreligious movements, the author takes a critical look at the dynamics of these movements, including the ways in which they are organized and managed. The volume also investigates how the states in the region have responded to Islamic insurgencies and/or movements.

The case studies reveal that social exclusion, economic alienation, and political deprivation pushed Muslims in the region, especially in places where they are a minority, to look for a solution beyond the national political identity created by dominant ethno-religious groups. The author documents how the reluctance on the part of the states in finding a political solution has resulted in heightened repression of Muslim revivalists or separatists in all but the Thai case where the government appears to have adopted a policy of assimilation to address the autonomy movement in Patani.