How environmental social movements use religious creativity in Indonesia (2021 – 2023)
This research project examines how environmental social movements in Indonesia employ creative adaptation of religious beliefs and practices to encourage changes in environmental behaviour. Specifically, this study aims to understand: 1) which specific religious and cultural values movements drawn upon, and how these values are articulated and embedded; 2) to what extent local communities direct the process of adaptation based on their own values and worldviews; 3) how power differences between activists and local communities are addressed; 4) how opposition to change is managed and adapted, and 5) what new forms of religious and cultural environmental practices result from these movements. In so doing, this study will contribute to the development of a robust evidence base about social movements and community-based responses to climate change, a resource which can be accessed by academics and activists alike. This two-year project has four objectives for conducting a robust study and sharing findings. It employs a mixed-methods approach combining primary empirical research and synthetic analysis of existing studies.
Researchers: Jonathan Smith(Leeds University, UK), Ronald Adam (CRCS UGM), Samsul Maarif (CRCS UGM).
Published works and events: