Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia

• Other Authors: Ahmad Ibrahim (Compiler), Sharon Siddique (Compiler), Yasmin Hussain (Compiler)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Institute ofSoutheast Asian Studies 1985
• Subjects: Islam in literature
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Ethnic and religious factors have, in the last few decades, confounded many social analysts by refusing to disappear. The "liberal expec- tancy among social analysts used to be that modernization would blur ethnic distinctions, achievement would replace ascription and particularistic criteria, and wide-ranging communication and education systems would homogenize populations. The "radical expec- tancy", on the other hand, was that differences in religion, language, and culture would be swallowed up, perhaps even across national boundaries, by emergent class consciousness. Instead, religion and ethnicity continue to cut across and envelope almost every facet of Southeast Asian life. Indeed, if anything, such divisions in many societies have become sharper, ethnic and religious interest groups more insistent, and opposition more politicized and strident. Much of this activity seems to be increasingly being played on the urban stage. And this at a time when the pace of urbaniza- tion in Southeast Asia is increasing rapidly, to the extent that by the turn of the century cities like Manila, Bangkok, and Jakarta could have populations of more than ten million each. In these settings Southeast Asian ethnic, religious, and linguistic complexities are likely to be even more challenging than in the past.