In Search of Hegemony: Islamism and the State in Indonesia LUQMAN NUL HAKIM This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Melbourne February 2019 Declaration I certify that this thesis is the product of my own research, fewer than the maximum word limit in length, and contains no material which has been accepted as part of the requirements of any other degree at any tertiary education institution, or any material previously published by another person except where due reference is made. Luqman Nul Hakim i Abstract In post-authoritarian Indonesia, but particularly following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Islamism has become a contentious matter of scholarly debate. The prominent accounts emerging from security and democratisation studies place much analytical weight on ideology and culture by often portraying the relationship between Islam and politics in essentialist fashion, associating the dynamics of Islamism with interpretations of Islamic doctrine or the contest between moderate and radical Muslims. The institutionalist literature, on the contrary, explains the rise of Islamism as the result of the weak capacity of the state following the fall of the centralised New Order authoritarian regime. Another variant draws attention to the moderation of Islamic politics as the result of participation in democratic processes, especially electoral politics. Yet, such linear and teleological explanations obscure the complex circumstances that establish the different trajectories of Islamism. They also fail to comprehend how the prevalence of Islamist discourse on power struggles in the current democracy can produce a more conservative and illiberal form of Islamism. In contrast, this thesis utilises the politics of hegemony approach as developed in the traditions of political discourse theory. By looking at Islamism and state transformation, this study is concerned with analysing the way various political struggles organised under the banner of Islam shape, and are being transformed by, the distinct configurations of power in specific historical conjunctures. It asks about the social conditions and contradictions that enable the articulation of dissent and demands through the narrative of Islam and how these relate to different forms of Islamist political projects. In particular the thesis addresses the way contestations and social coalitions forged throughout a process of struggle are constitutive for Indonesian politics and the practices of Islamism. This thesis argues that the dynamics and trajectories of Islamism have been shaped by broader socio-political changes and political contestation both within and beyond Islamists in specific historical conjunctures. This study identifies three central discursive settings in which the relations between Islamism and the state in Indonesia have been constituted and contested, namely anti-colonialism and nation- state formation (1900s-1965), developmentalism (1966-1998) and democracy (1998-present). It is shown that the building of different Islamist political projects, as a mode of articulating diverse demands and dissent of social groups for the purpose of reshaping a given social order has influenced the reconfiguration of their interests, identities, subjectivities and relationships. By highlighting the logic of political contingency, this study explains the ways Islamists’ hegemonic struggles constitute distinct forms of contestation and coalitions which have significantly affected Indonesian politics and Islamism itself. The main insight of this thesis is to offer a non-essentialist reading of Islamic politics by linking distinct socio- political conditions and the discursive formation of Islamism within the evolution of Indonesian political history. ii Contents Declaration i Contents iii Glossary vi Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 15 Notes on Research Methodology 28 Outline of the Thesis 31 2 The Primacy of the Political: Islamism and the Politics of Hegemony 36 Introduction 36 Explaining Social Change: Hegemony as the Ontology of the Social 38 Politics of Hegemony and the Studies of Islamism 43 Dislocation, Islamism and Hegemony: Towards a New Framework 49 Conclusion 61 3 Islamism and the Making of Indonesia: Anti-Colonialism and Nation-State Formation 63 Introduction 63 Anti-Colonial Political Discourses: Islamism, Communism, Nationalism 65 Islamism and The Making of Anti-Colonial Politics 66 The Rise and Fall of Islamist Hegemony, 1912-1930: Sarekat Islam and Its Rivals 75 Imagining a Free Indonesia and the Birth of Pancasila: Islamist Nationalism and Secular Nationalism, 1930-1945 81 Islamism and the Post-Colonial State Formation 85 Pancasila versus Islam: Islamism and Parliamentary Politics, 1949-1957 88 From the Politicisation of Identities to Political Disaster: Islamism and the Guided Democracy, 1957-1965 93 Conclusion 97 4 The New Order and the Politicisation of Islam 99 Introduction 99 The Formation Period, 1966-1973: Islamism and the Making of New Order 101 iii Anti-Communism and the Regime Change 102 Islamism in New Order Discourse: The Strategies of Exclusion and Accommodation 104 In Search of a Political Format: Pancasila Democracy and Developmentalism 109 The Consolidation Period, 1974-1983: Islamism and Biopolitics of Developmentalism 111 Universalising Pancasila Democracy: A Master Signifier 112 Islamic Developmentalist Subjects 117 The Negotiation Period, 1984-1998: Democracy and the New Order’s Organic Crisis 123 Pancasila as the Sole Ideology: Three Forms of Islamism 124 Islamism and the ‘Political Openness’, 1989-1994: Desedimentation of the New Order 129 Political Unravelling and Soeharto’s Fall, 1995-1998 135 Conclusion 139 5 Rearticulating Islam in the Post-New Order: Democratisation and Islamism 141 Introduction 141 Political Liberalisation and Fragmented Islamism 143 The Islamists and Political Representation 144 Conflicts and Consensus: Caught between Reform and Status Quo 151 Decentralised Development: Islamism and Localisation of Power 160 Islamism and Decentralisation 162 Islamising Local Politics: A Symptom of the Islamists’ Hegemonic Failure 167 Building Plural and Tolerant Societies: Securitisation and Culturalisation of Islamism 171 Islamic Radicalism and Securitisation of Islamism 173 Multiculturalism and Politicisation of Difference 177 Conclusion 182 6 Democracy, Hegemonic Politics and the ‘Populist Moments’: Whither Islamism? 185 Introduction 185 The Impasse of Democracy: Democratisation without Hegemonic Forces 187 iv Democratisation, Neoliberalism and Fragmented Islamism 189 The Making of The Electoral Ummah 197 Islamism and The Populist Moments: The Politics of Inequalities and Representation 203 ‘Aksi Bela Islam’ and the Ahok Saga: Competing Forms of the Electoral Ummah 209 Politicising Identity, Depoliticising Citizenship: Islamism and Democratic Challenges 217 Conclusion 224 7 Conclusion 226 References 241 v Glossary AKKBB : National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith; Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan AKP : Justice and Development Party, in Turkey Aksi Sepihak : Unilateral Action, PKI’s strategies to foster agrarian reform in the early 1960s AMD : Military Enters Villages; ABRI Masuk Desa, New Order’s policies of surveillance and control over population in the early 1980s BAMUSI : House of Indonesian Muslims; Baitul Muslimin Indonesia, Islamic wing of the PDIP, founded in 2007 Bansos : Social Aid Programs; Bantuan Sosial Pancasila : The Five Principles; state ideology professing belief in One God, Humanism, Indonesian unity, democracy, social justice BKS : Cooperation Bodies; Badan Kerja Sama, a functional group under the army’s control to challenge Soekarno-PKI alliance in the late 1950s BKUI : Coordinating Body of the Muslim Community; Badan Koordinasi Umat Islam BMK : Campus Mosque Religious Supervision; Bina Masjid Kampus, linked to the DDII BPUPKI : Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence; Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia BTI : Indonesian Peasant Front; Barisan Tani Indonesia, linked to the PKI CIDES : Center for Information and Development Studies, a think-tank linked to the ICMI CSI : Sarekat Islam Central/Headquarters; Centraal Sarekat Islam CSIS : Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank linked to Ali Moertopo and established in 1971 DDII : Indonesian Council for the Islamic Predication; Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia, established in 1967 and led by Mohammad Natsir DI/NII : Abode of Islam/Islamic State of Indonesia; Darul Islam/Negara Islam Indonesia, led by Kartosuwiryo in West Java on 7 August 1949 then expanded to such areas as Aceh of Northern Sumatra and South Sulawesi EU : European Union Fatwa : Religious opinion FPI : Islamic Defender Front; Front Pembela Islam, founded in 1998 under the leadership of Rizieq Shihab FS-LDK : Forum of Coordination of Campus Predication; Forum Silaturahmi Lembaga Dakwah Kampus FSPPI : Goodwill Forum of Islamic Parties; Forum Silaturahmi Partai-Partai Islam vi FUI : Forum of Islamic Society; Forum Umat Islam, founded in 2005 as an umbrella for various Islamist groups like HTI, FPI, and MMI GAM : Aceh Independent Movement; Gerakan Aceh Merdeka GAPI : Indonesian Political Federation; Gabungan Politik Indonesia Gemsos : Socialist Student Movement; Gerakan Mahasiswa Sosialis, linked to the PSI Ghazwul fikr : The invasion of ideas; the praxis-ideology of the Islamists to maintain the ‘purity’ of their identity by rejecting the antagonistic others,