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

本项目涉及美国大学一名文化人类学学生的学位论文研究。该项目旨在调查世界上最大的伊斯兰国家印度尼西亚（人口相当于埃及和伊朗的总和）的伊斯兰化与民主化之间的关系。该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严格的教条主义不等。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、少数民族和妇女的权利以及独立司法的作用，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、社会平等和等级原则。通过参与观察和深入访谈，学生将了解当地人如何看待这些问题。在项目结束时，将对住在两所学生寄宿公寓中的150名学生进行问卷调查，以获得有关代表性人物和经历的信息。这项研究很重要，因为激进的穆斯林原教旨主义者活跃在世界的广大地区，与当地往往羽毛未丰的民主国家关系紧张。我们对伊斯兰关于民主问题和原则的话语的本质的理解的进步，对于制定导致成功关系的现实政策至关重要。此外，这个项目将增加国家在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.