A Systematic Literature Review of Populism, Religion and Emotions

This paper reports data from a study of young Catholic activists. They were concerned about the expansion of Islamist populism in democratic Muslim-majority Indonesia. They actively built inter-faith coalitions with local liberal Muslim youth groups and with pan-national Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest independent Islamic organisation in the world. Islamist populism prioritises religious identity over the national identity of citizenship. In framing their citizenship activism against the current tide of Islamist populism, the informants in our study selectively engaged aspects of Catholic theology. They articulated their religious identity as coterminous with a nationalist identity centred on multi-faith tolerance and harmony. That discourse in itself refutes a key principle of Islamist populism in Indonesia, which argues for primordial entitlement.

Section: Islamist Populism In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging Islamist Populism in Indonesia through Catholic Youth Activism

Nilan

Wibowanto

2021

“…A systematic review of populism shows that the concept emerged as a way of framing the struggle of the 'common person' against the 'elite' and that this axial dichotomy has evolved under a variety of political circumstances since its emergence (Yilmaz and Morieson 2021). One of the earliest academic investigations into the phenomenon by the sociologist Edward Shils led to its definitional parameters being summed up as the following: "popular resentment against the order imposed on society by a .…”

Section: Populism and Its Use Of Cyberspacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…FPI's firebrand leader, Rizieq Shihab, now serving time behind bars for flouting COVID-19 pandemic bans by organising large public gatherings, was a key element in mobilising opposition to Jokowi. The return of FPI's leader to Indonesia after a self-imposed exile led to a ban on the group, yet behind bars Rizieq continues to earn followers by portraying himself as the victim of the corrupt state as he refused to answer questions and instead dramatically recited Quranic verses during his court appearance, using populist symbolism and rhetoric effectively (Yilmaz and Morieson 2021). FPI was, for all its bluster, a rather peripheral actor, but its grassroots welfarism, anti-state stance, and call for revival of Salafist morality have given it a prominent voice in the surging right-wing momentum in Indonesia.…”

Section: Religious Populismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Mobilisation of Religious, Chauvinist, and Technocratic Populists in Indonesia and Their Activities in Cyberspace

Yilmaz

Barton

2021

Self Cite

Populism has been on the rise in many countries. As a result, studies on populism have proliferated. However, there are very few studies that investigate and compare different types of populisms in a single nation-state. Furthermore, how these different populists in the same political milieu use cyberspace has not been comparatively studied. This study addresses these gaps by looking at a variety of populist forces within Indonesia that have emerged as major actors and identifying the uses of cyberspace in populist political mobilisation. This paper argues that the three main types of populism that predominate in political rhetoric (religious, chauvinistic, and technocratic) do not exist in isolation but rather borrow from each other. This is reflected in their cyberspace activities.

“…In this context religion can be instrumentally employed to promote populist agendas. Religious populists provoke religious rage and mobilize the public, which can target religious minorities (Yilmaz and Morieson 2021a). A recent example was the implication of Facebook as the space where a covert operation, by the Myanmar military, was carried out targeting Rohingya Muslims (Mozur 2018).…”

Section: Collective Fear In Ethnoreligious Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main aim of this article is to unpack the role of fear as a principal emotion in the context of ethnoreligious conflict with reference to the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar. In doing so the article addresses one of the gaps in the literature on the relation between religion, populism and emotions as identified by Yilmaz and Morieson (2021a). In particular, this article is concerned with identinarian populism, which describes processes of religious classification of populations in diverse societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnoreligious Conflict and Populism: Emotive Political Response in the Rohingya Conflict

Laoutides

2021

The rise of populism in the twenty-first century has been marked by the use of religion and national identity as emotive mobilizing forces to increase in-group solidarity and demarcate the notional boundaries of communities. The process often leads to the exclusion of vulnerable ethnoreligious minorities and to increased violence against them. This article analyses the role of fear as a principal emotion in the context of ethnoreligious conflict with reference to the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar. The article is divided in three parts. Part one explores notions of collective fear with reference to religious and ethnic conflict. Part two illustrates how collective existential fear has fuelled populist religious infused responses to the Rohignya conflict leading to the latest mass exodus of 2017. The final part considers whether fear can be an instrument of construction rather than destruction, to help build bridges than destroy, to connect people than isolate them.