Description
Book SynopsisIndonesians and Their Arab World explores the ways contemporary Indonesians understand their relationship to the Arab world. Despite being home to the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia exists on the periphery of an Islamic world centered around the Arabian Peninsula. Mirjam Lücking approaches the problem of interpreting the current conservative turn in Indonesian Islam by considering the ways personal relationships, public discourse, and matters of religious self-understanding guide two groups of Indonesians who actually travel to the Arabian Peninsulalabor migrants and Mecca pilgrimsin becoming physically mobile and making their mobility meaningful. This concept, which Lücking calls guided mobility, reveals that changes in Indonesian Islamic traditions are grounded in domestic social constellations and calls claims of outward Arab influence in Indonesia into question. With three levels of comparison (urban and rural areas, Madura and Central Java, and migrant
Trade Review
[T]he book certainly presents an important topic in contemporary Indonesian Islam and society and is greatly useful for those concerned with the issues of transnational migration, pilgrimage, and human mobility.
* International Journal of Asian Studies *
Mirjam Lücking's book is a worthwhile contribution to the relationship between Indonesia and the greater Islamic world, or countries in the Middle East. This book is recommended for anyone interested in the influence of the Arab world in shaping Indonesian Muslims' everyday interactions with Islam.
* Asian Studies Review *
The findings of the ethnographic fieldwork provide[s] a rich collection of the views of Indonesians toward those of Arab descent. [T]his is a must-read book for Indonesianists or Indonesians studying Islam in Java and Madura.
* International Quarterly for Asian Studies *
This is a well written and well researched ethnographic study, and a stimulating contribution to the discussion on the Arabization of Indonesian Muslim culture.
* Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde *
Lücking's well-researched book offers an important contribution to migration and mobility studies, as well as the understanding of Indonesian's contemporary views and connection to the Arab world. Indonesians and Their Arab World is well worth reading.
* Pacific Affairs *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Whose Arab World Is It?
1. Indonesia and the Arab World, Then and Now
2. The Beaten Tracks and Embedded Returns of Migrants and Pilgrims
3. Arab Others Abroad and at Home
4. Alternative Routes in Madura and Translational Moments in Java
Conclusion: Continuity through Guided Mobility
