Woodrow Wilson and the spirit of liberal internationalism

Woodrow Wilson is among most influential presidents in U.S. foreign policy history, and the most pious. The challenge for scholars is joining Wilson's faith and his foreign policies. What was the role of religion in Wilson's worldview? What is the place of religion in Wilsonianism? This article uses original archival sources and a synthesis of historical research to intervene in IR theory, demonstrating that Wilsonianism is a product of Wilson's specifically Southern Presbyterian upbringing, his admiration for other Christian idealists, and the influence of the budding movement of the Social Gospel. This finding raises a historiographic puzzle: why did late twentieth century IR scholars erase religion from theories of liberal internationalism? The article suggests Wilson's religion has been erased as part of the broader project of desacralizing and universalizing liberal internationalism. Wilson's worldview was a mirror for the kind of social and political order he witnessed and propagated in America, a Janus-faced spirit of universalism and exceptionalism, internationalism and parochialism, that continues to motivate the liberal internationalist project. Unearthing the Protestant origins of Wilsonianism helps us to explicate the missionary spirit driving the liberal internationalist project.Accepted manuscrip

Sisi Gelap Demokrasi: Kekerasan Masyarakat Madani di Indonesia

Salah satu capaian penting reformasi di Indonesia adalah tumbuhnya masyarakat madani (civil society) yang kuat. Namun, beberapa di antara organisasi masyarakat madani yang paling efektif dewasa ini justru adalah kelompok-kelompok Islamis garis-keras yang mendakwahkan intoleransi dan menyebarluaskan kebencian. Di beberapa wilayah, seperti Jawa Barat dan seputar Jakarta, organisasi-organisasi ini terbukti amat memengaruhi agenda kebijakan publik, dengan mendesak pemerintah—baik di tingkat lokal maupun nasional—untuk menerapkan pandangan mereka mengenai moralitas dan pemahaman mereka mengenai ortodoksi. Meskipun mengusung agenda-agenda yang antidemokrasi, semua organisasi di atas justru memanfaatkan ruang-ruang bebas yang disediakan demokrasi. Pertanyaannya, apakah organisasi-organisasi itu tumbuh berjalan seiring dengan meningkatnya konservatisme sosial masyakarat Indonesia, atau karena koneksi-koneksi politik tingkat tinggi yang kuat? Mengapa mereka tampak lebih efektif dalam advokasi mereka dibanding organisasi-organisasi lainnya? Bagaimana demokrasi mengatasi kekuatan-kekuatan anti-demokrasi yang menggerogotinya itu? Bermula dari Nurcholish Madjid Memorial Lecture (NMML) VII (2013), di buku ini Sidney Jones menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan di atas dari perspektif teori gerakan sosial. Dia juga mengevaluasi berbagai tawaran yang sudah diajukan untuk “mengatasi” organisasi-organisasi di atas dan memperkuat pluralisme seperti yang pernah disuarakan almarhum Nurcholish Madjid. Aspek-aspek tersebut dibahas lebih lanjut dari berbagai sudut pandang oleh para penanggapnya: Elga Sarapung, M. Najib Azca, Jeremy Menchik, Sana Jaffrey, Titik Firawati, dan Zainal Abidin Bagir. Semuanya menyajikan persoalan dan tantangan yang tidak mudah, namun tetap menjaga harapan akan Perubahan dan perbaikan demokrasi dan masyarakat madani. Buku ini perlu dibaca oleh para pengambil kebijakan, akademisi, aktivis sosial dan siapa pun yang merasa peduli dengan masa depan demokrasi Indonesia

Review of Islam and Politics in Indonesia: The Masyumi Party between Democracy and Integralism

Page range: 139-14

Muslim moderates and democratic breakdown in Indonesia

For much of the 2000s, scholars and activists lauded Indonesia’s surprisingly successful transition to democracy. Recent years, however, have made imperfections in Indonesian democracy visible to the point where the death of Indonesian democracy is imaginable if not yet underway. This article outlines the role that Indonesian Islamic civil society may play in the death of Indonesian democracy. Drawing on original survey data and interviews, as well as case studies in which the preferences of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah leaders have become visible, this paper argues that their values are compatible with both democracy and authoritarianism. While NU and Muhammadiyah exemplify the civic associational ties and democratic culture that are necessary for making democracy work, civic pluralism is not their only value. NU and Muhammadiyah have a hierarchy of values that they promote and defend, including many anti-democratic values. They are willing to forgo civic pluralism in order to combat blasphemy against Islam, ensure Muslim control over overwhelmingly Muslim regions, and limit political expression concerning heterodox approaches to Islam or non-Muslim involvement in matters of aqidah (faith). If Indonesian democracy dies, it will likely be a result of a coalition of Islamists and autocrats appealing to these anti-democratic values in order to capture the lower classes and moderate Muslims, including many members of NU and Muhammadiyah.Accepted manuscrip

Strengthening Tolerance in Indonesia

In a democratic society where people are free to spread ideas, acts of intolerance are inevitable. There are, however, established strategies to strengthen tolerance

Islam and Democracy in Indonesia: Tolerance without Liberalism

Buku ini memberikan informasi mengenai Organisasi Islam di Indonesia yang menopang masyarakat sipil, demokrasi, dan reputasi toleransi di tengah keberagaman yang berkembang di negara ini. Namun para sarjana kurang memahami bagaimana organisasi-organisasi ini membayangkan akomodasi perbedaan agama. Apa arti toleransi bagi organisasi Islam terbesar di dunia? Apa implikasinya bagi demokrasi di Indonesia dan dunia Muslim yang lebih luas? Jeremy Menchik berpendapat bahwa menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini membutuhkan pemisahan toleransi dari liberalisme dan menyelidiki kondisi sejarah dan politik yang melahirkan nilai-nilai demokrasi. Berdasarkan dokumen arsip, observasi etnografi, teori politik komparatif, dan survei asli, Islam dan Demokrasi di Indonesia menunjukkan bahwa para pemimpin Muslim Indonesia menyukai demokrasi di mana hak-hak individu dan hak-hak yang dibedakan kelompok bertemu dalam sistem pluralisme hukum, sebuah visi di bertentangan dengan pemerintahan sekuler gaya Amerika tetapi umum di Afrika, Asia dan Eropa Timur

Islam and Democracy in Indonesia: Tolerance without Liberalism

Indonesia's Islamic organizations sustain the country's thriving civil society, democracy, and reputation for tolerance amid diversity. Yet scholars poorly understand how these organizations envision the accommodation of religious difference. What does tolerance mean to the world's largest Islamic organizations? What are the implications for democracy in Indonesia and the broader Muslim world? Jeremy Menchik argues that answering these questions requires decoupling tolerance from liberalism and investigating the historical and political conditions that engender democratic values. Drawing on archival documents, ethnographic observation, comparative political theory, and an original survey, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia demonstrates that Indonesia's Muslim leaders favor a democracy in which individual rights and group-differentiated rights converge within a system of legal pluralism, a vision at odds with American-style secular government but common in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe