Eco-Islam in Indonesia: Media, Institutions, Publics

Introduction

In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, a so-called mediated “eco-jihad” (Zbidi 2013) has emerged. Today, Islamic ‘green’ pop musicians, eco-YouTube-imams, films, and social media (campaigns) find inspiration in religious scriptures to encourage Muslims to engage in environmental protection.

The Role of the Qur'an

For eco-conscious Muslims, the Qur’an is “the ultimate green-guide” (Zaufishan 2013). The Qur’an is read by Muslims for spirituality, but it also provides countless examples that could be read as “an Islamic call to combat climate change” (Zaufishan 2013). Indonesian cultural producers are now “acting on these historic edicts with an eye toward the consequences of global warming for the world’s most populous Muslim country” (Bodetti 2018).

Project Focus

Taking Indonesia as a case study and focusing on the main outlets of Islamic eco-cultural discourse (film, TV, popular music, social media), this project aims to investigate an Islamic eco-cultural approach to climate change. EcoIslam asks:

1. What does an Indonesian Islamic eco-cultural approach to climate change entail?
2. How is it developed, negotiated, and contested?

Research Design

Through a multi-method research design and a conceptual approach that draws on an ‘affective eco-governmentality of care’, the project analyzes three levels (institutions, texts, publics) through four work packages:

1. Level 1, Work Package 1: Institutions
   How Islamic institutions play a key role in the development of Islamic eco-media.

2. Level 2, Work Package 2: Texts
   How subjects are affectively addressed as ‘caring’ eco-conscious Muslim citizens – as khala’ifa of the earth – by these media ‘texts’ (i.e., media products).

3. Level 3, Work Package 3: Publics
   How people negotiate specific ‘green’ ‘Islamic’ subject positions through their engagement with media texts.

4. Synthesis, Work Package 4: Relations
   How institutions, texts, and publics relate.