The Struggle of Indonesian Muslim Modernists (1970–2020) with Western Modernity

Between Mimicry, Ambivalence, and CreativeSynthesis: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

This article examines five responses by Indonesian modernist Muslims to Western modernity from 1970
to 2020. Using several approaches, including cultural studies, history, and Islamic thought, it appears
that their responses generally took the form of critical negotiation or a kind of creative synthesis. While
there is some resistance, this rejection is not absolute. Islamic modernism in its critical-philosophical
sense is not a mainstream view in Indonesia, but Islamic modernism in the sense of moderate Islam has
been embraced by many Indonesian Muslims. Another interesting finding is that the struggle between
West and East (Indonesia and Southeast Asia) over the last 50 years has produced a “global
recomposition” and new configurations. Western countries still command the power and wealth to
maintain and extend their hegemony. Yet the resistance of certain conservative Indonesian Muslim
modernist groups and the model of critical negotiation advanced by other groups have opened
pathways for new forces in Southeast Asia that the West cannot ignore. This study identifies a new
synthesis in which “Western universality” and “modernity” find expression in new forms, in creative
vernacular religious languages, and in modes of bricolage that pose a significant challenge.