Ummah Yet Proletariat: Islam, Marxism, and the Making of the Indonesian Republic

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 20 December 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

From 1965 to 1966, a tragic period of military-directed violence unfolded in Indonesia, resulting in the loss of at least 500,000 lives. This violence was directed against suspected Communists, and it was justified by Muslim politicians who argued that Marxism posed an existential threat to all religions. This demonization of Marxism, along with the perception of irreconcilability between Islam and Marxism, has deeply permeated Indonesian society since then.

Today, the Indonesian military and Islamic political parties continue to invoke the specter of Marxism as an enduring threat that would destroy the republic if left unchecked. This fear is rooted in the historical context of the massacres that occurred in 1965-66, when the military and political elites used Marxism as a scapegoat to justify their actions against perceived Communists and their supporters.

In his book, Ummah Yet Proletariat, Lin Hongxuan delves into the complex relationship between Islam and Marxism in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) and Indonesia. He challenges the state-driven narratives that suggest these two ideologies are inherently incompatible and instead presents a nuanced and multifaceted perspective.

Lin demonstrates how Muslim identity and Marxist analytical frameworks coexisted in the minds of Indonesians, and how individuals' Islamic faith shaped their openness to Marxist ideas. He explores Indonesian-language print culture, including newspapers, books, pamphlets, memoirs, letters, novels, plays, and poetry, to illustrate how deeply embedded confluences of Islam and Marxism were in the Indonesian nationalist project.

Lin argues that these confluences were the result of Indonesian participation in networks of intellectual exchange across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Indonesians translated the world to Indonesia in an ambitious project of creative adaptation, drawing on both Islamic and Marxist frameworks to shape their understanding of society and politics.

Through his analysis, Lin challenges the notion that Islam and Marxism are inherently opposed and instead presents a vision of how these two ideologies can be reconciled in a pluralistic and inclusive society. He emphasizes the importance of dialogue, understanding, and respect between different religious and ideological perspectives, as well as the need to address the historical legacies of violence and oppression that have shaped Indonesian society.

Ummah Yet Proletariat is a valuable contribution to the study of Islam and Marxism, and it offers a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between these two ideologies in Indonesia. It sheds light on the ways in which individuals and communities have navigated the challenges of religious and ideological diversity, and it provides a roadmap for building a more inclusive and peaceful society in the future.

Weight: 662g
Dimension: 242 x 162 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197657386