Law and Religion in Indonesia: Conflict and the courts in West Java

Law and Religion in Indonesia: Conflict and the courts in West Java

by Melissa Crouch
     
 

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Understanding and managing inter-religious relations, particularly between Muslims and Christians, presents a challenge for states around the world. This book investigates legal disputes between religious communities in the world’s largest majority-Muslim, democratic country, Indonesia. It considers how the interaction between state and religion has

Overview

Understanding and managing inter-religious relations, particularly between Muslims and Christians, presents a challenge for states around the world. This book investigates legal disputes between religious communities in the world’s largest majority-Muslim, democratic country, Indonesia. It considers how the interaction between state and religion has influenced relations between religious communities in the transition to democracy.

The book presents original case studies based on empirical field research of court disputes in West Java, a majority-Muslim province with a history of radical Islam. These include criminal court cases, as well as cases of judicial review, relating to disputes concerning religious education, permits for religious buildings and the crime of blasphemy. The book argues that the democratic law reform process has been influenced by radical Islamists because of the politicization of religion under democracy and the persistence of fears of Christianization. It finds that disputes have been localized through the decentralization of power and exacerbated by the central government’s ambivalent attitude towards radical Islamists who disregard the rule of law.

Examining the challenge facing governments to accommodate minorities and manage religious pluralism, the book furthers understanding of state-religion relations in the Muslim world. This accessible and engaging book is of interest to students and scholars of law and society in Southeast Asia, was well as Islam and the state, and the legal regulation of religious diversity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:
9781134508365
Publisher:
Taylor & Francis
Publication date:
11/12/2013
Series:
Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
Sold by:
Barnes & Noble
Format:
NOOK Book
Pages:
240
File size:
3 MB

Meet the Author

Melissa Crouch is Postdoctoral Fellow in the Law Faculty at the National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on law and religion, Islamic law, legal anthropology, and public law.

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