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?
Disisi yang lain Konflik keagamaan sering dikaitkan dengan kondisi politik lokal setempat. Secara langsung atau pun tidak, politik identitas menjadi isu sensitif, khususnya pada proses pemilihan kepala daerah. Meskipun kedua hal itu tidak selalu berhubungan, namun kebijakan pemerintah terutama pada masa sebelum atau sesudah transisi akan mempangaruhi kondisi konflik keagamaan. Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya (CRCS) UGM menerbitkan serial laporan kehidupan beragama terkait dengan Politik Lokal dan Konflik Keagamaan yang akan dilaunching pada diskusi ini.
Kegiatan ini diselenggarakan oleh Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya bekerjasama dengan Pusat Studi Agama dan Demokrasi (PUSAD) Paramadina, Jakarta.
Kedua buku bisa diunduh dengan mengklik judul berikut ini:

Batas waktu 11 April 2015

Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya (Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies/CRCS) Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada, membuka pendaftaran untuk:

Sekolah Pengelolaan Keragaman (SPK) Ke-VI
Yogyakarta, 19 Mei – 31 Mei 2015

Sekolah Pengelolaan Keragaman mengundang aktifis dan pengajar/peneliti yang mempunyai komitmen untuk mengembangkan dan mengintegrasikan teori dan praktik terkait isu keragaman (dalam arti luasnya yang mencakup advokasi dan pembuatan kebijakan dalam masyarakat majemuk) dalam kerja/studi mereka. Setiap peserta diharapkan terlibat dalam kelompok penelitian mengenai isu-isu keragaman di daerah masing-masing setelah selesai mengikuti sekolah ini.
Kami menerima peserta dari:

Kesempatan mendapatkan beasiswa untuk melanjutkan studi S2 di Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya (Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies/CRCS) dengan beasiswa dari CRCS kembali dibuka. Prodi ini merupakan salah satu Program Studi multi disiplin di Sekolah Pascasarjana UGM yang berdiri sejak tahun 2000 dan telah terakreditasi A dari BAN PT. Seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya beasiswa ini akan diberikan untuk mahasiswa baru tahun ajaran 2013/2014. Persyaratan beasiswa meliputi:

1. Telah terdaftar sebagai mahasiswa Prodi Agama dan Lintas Budaya, artinya pelamar telah lulus seleksi Administrasi, lulus tes wawancara dan telah dinyatakan di terima di UGM.
2. Mengirimkan surat lamaran beasiswa yang menjelaskan alasan melamar beasiswa dan mengapa layak mendapatkan beasiswa tersebut. Surat lamaran ditujukan kepada Ketua Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya.
3. Tidak sedang menerima beasiswa dari suatu institusi.
4. TEOFL minimal 475.

Untuk mengetahui informasi lebih lanjut tentang beasiswa Program Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya, dapat menghubungi Linah Khairiyah Pary di crcs@ugm.ac.id atau lina_pary@yahoo.com
Untuk mengetahui persyaratan administrasi kuliah S2 di UGM, silahkan buka www.um.ugm.ac.id

Berbagai Pertanyaan Seputar Beasiswa dan Pendaftaran CRCS

A. BEASISWA

CRCS | News | Hary Widyantoro
In recent years there have been a number of scholars as well as students travelling to Southeast Asia to learn more about the region. On February 7 2015 students from Victoria University in New Zealand visited Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta to learn about Indonesia. Their visit was part of a broader trip they were taking around Southeast Asia. Because of the important role religion plays in Indonesia and in the life of Indonesian’s, learning about Indonesia also requires learning about the dynamics of religion and politics. This leads the students to visit the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS), an institution for Religious Studies in Indonesia. CRCS arranged a short lecture in the Graduate Building (where the CRCS office is located) as well as a tour to three religious places: Pondok Pesantren Pandanaram in Yogyakarta and Borobudur Temple and Vihara Mendut in Magelang.
At CRCS, the students attended two short presentations from Haqimul Ikhwan, M.A from the ASEAN Center, UGM and Dr Iqbal Ahnaf, a lecturer at CRCS. Haqim addressed the issue of multiculturalism in Southeast Asia generally and in Indonesia specifically. Regarding one of the problems of multiculturalism in Southeast Asia, Haqim stressed that “in this globalized society, if you do not come to democracy, it will come to you.” Each country tries to implement democracy, but prejudice towards others still exists in diverse societies because nationalism is understood as homogenous. In other words, it is considered as a single identity.
Regarding this point, Haqim contended that identity is in fact not single, never fixed, relational and constructed. People consider a number of things when speaking of their identity and this consideration changes based on the context, meaning identity is always negotiated. Hence, particular people tend to feel superior to others because they have a different identity from them, which leads the “other” to feel insecure and threatened, especially if they are part of a minority group.
Continuing on this theme, Iqbal Ahnaf presented a more specific issue relating to the dynamics of Islam in Indonesia. Beginning his presentation, Iqbal contended that Indonesia is not an Islamic country because although some areas have a Muslim majority population other areas have a non-Muslim majority. For example, in western Indonesia such as Sumatra and Java, Muslims comprise the majority of the population whereas in Eastern Indonesia, such as NTT and Papua, the majority of the population are non-Muslims. Therefore, he emphasized that Indonesia is not an Islamic country, even though the majority are Muslims.
Discussions about Islam in Indonesia requires discussion of Islam and its two biggest organizations: NahdlatulUlama and Muhammadiyah. Iqbal explained that these organizations also need to be included in discussions about democracy in Indonesia because both organizations play important roles in implementing democracy. Moreover, both organizationsdo not supportthe implementation of either a Islamic state or Syari’ah in Indonesia, based on the consideration that not all Indonesians are Muslims.
With this in mind, Iqbal said that Islam in Indonesia is generally a tolerant form of Islam and many Muslims accept and respect the difference of others rather than the idea of an Islamic state. “However,” he remarked,“where is the tolerance rooted?” He then explained that Islam in Indonesia was not spread through conquest like in other parts of the world but through cultural processes such as marriage, trade, etc. It is this that led the founding fathers of Indonesia to make the decision against creating an Islamic state, but rather a secular state which recognizes religion as an important part of Indonesian life.
However, this ideology has been challenged from time to time due to the existence ofradicalism. Iqbal explained that there are two kinds of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia. First is a non-violent form, comprised mostly of people from the salafis movement, and the second a more violent form comprised of thosewho are radical political Islamists. In his presentation, Iqbal discussed the origin of radicalism in Indonesia. It arose through a conflict between those who wanted to implement Syari’ahand those who disagreed on the basis that not all Indonesians are Muslims. This disagreement occurred during the post-independent when the Indonesian state was beingconceptualized. Supporters of the implementation of Syari’ah continued to lose in elections and debates with nationalists, which lead to the formation ofnationalist parties cross-cutting religious lines, which are supported by NU and Muhammadiyah, two strong civil society organizations.
After the lecture, the students visited a Pesantren to experience a religious educational institution creating future Muslims. Representatives from both Victoria University and the Pesantrengave a presentation about their respective institution and country, in order to share experiences and information.At the end, students from both institutionsgave performances. Students of the Pesentran performed hadrah, Islamic music and songs mixed with Javanese traditions, while Victoria Students performed the Haka, which is the traditional dance of Maori people in New Zealand.
Continuing the tour the students visited Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java the following day. There students saw the architecture of Mahayana Buddhism in Indonesia and learnthat it was createdin the 9th Century basedon oral tradition rather than written scripture. The last place that the students visited was Mendut Buddhist monastery where they learned from a senior Buddhist monk about the purpose of meditation,that are to control emotion, illusion and thought. At the end they practiced meditation guided by the monk.

Deadline: Friday, February 6, 2015

The Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Indonesia, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), University of Hawai‘i, are pleased to announce a call for applications to join our summer 2015 workshop focusing on issues of religion and diversity in the Southeast Asian public.

What does this project entail?

The project will introduce select university and community college educators teaching at U.S. minority serving institutions (MSI) to issues of importance in the management of cultural and religious diversity in Southeast Asia. Through the lens of Indonesia, we’ll explore the political and social challenges facing one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world; the role of religion in everyday life and local politics; Indonesian Islam and its relation to the wider Muslim world; the legacy of colonialism on intergroup relations; the position of the state in framing questions of identity; the struggles of indigenous practitioners to gain rights and recognition; and the vital role that civil society plays in addressing these questions in Indonesia’s young democracy. Participants will have the opportunity to work with local scholars and to meet with community groups in the field in Yogyakarta, one of country’s most diverse urban spaces and an internationally recognized center for the arts and education. As representatives from MSIs, program participants will also be given the opportunity to share their expertise on the challenges of teaching about issues of diversity (religious and otherwise) in their own communities.