Dissertation Research: Indonesia, Democracy and the Practical Politics is Islam

本项目涉及美国大学文化人类学专业的一名学生的学位论文研究。该项目旨在调查印尼伊斯兰化和民主化之间的关系，印尼是世界上最大的伊斯兰国家(人口相当于埃及和伊朗的总和)。这名学生将在爪哇中部的一个大学城采访穆斯林大学生，他们的宗教取向从非常原教旨主义到不那么僵化的教条主义。学生们将被问及他们与自由民主的基本要素的关系，如言论自由、少数群体和妇女的权利以及独立司法机构的作用，并将被问及他们如何处理个人问题，如个人与群体权利、权利与义务以及社会平等和等级制度的原则。通过参与观察和深入访谈，学生将了解当地人对这些问题的看法。在项目结束时，将向居住在两个学生寄宿公寓的150名学生样本发放调查问卷，以获得关于具有代表性的一系列人和经历的信息。这项研究之所以重要，是因为激进的穆斯林原教旨主义者活跃在世界上一个巨大的地区，与当地往往是羽翼未丰的民主国家关系紧张。我们对有关民主问题和原则的伊斯兰话语的性质的理解的进展，对于制定导致成功关系的现实政策至关重要。此外，该项目将增加国家对世界这一重要领域的专业知识。

This project involves the dissertation research of a cultural anthropology student from American University. The project is to investigate the relationship between Islamization and democratization in Indonesia, the largest Islamic nation in the world (with a population as large as that of Egypt and Iran combined). Based in a university town in central Java, the student will interview Muslim university students in groups whose religious orientation ranges from very fundamentalist to less rigidly doctrinaire. The students will be asked about their relation to fundamental elements of liberal democracy such as freedom of speech, minority and women's' rights and the role of an independent judiciary, and will be asked how they deal with personal issues such as individual versus group rights, rights versus duties, and the principles of social equality and hierarchy. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews the student will learn how local people think about these issues. At the end of the project a survey questionnaire will be administered to samples of 150 students living in each of two student boarding houses to get information on a representative range of persons and experiences. This research is important because militant Muslim fundamentalists are active in an enormous area of the world, in tense relation to local often fledgling democracies. Advances in our understanding of the nature of Islamic discourse about democratic issues and principles is vital to developing realistic policies leading to successful relations. In addition this project will add to the nation's expertise about this important area of the world.