EVENT: Asian Studies Seminar Series

This research will explore how neoliberalism and Islamic resurgence intersect and interact within a secular Javanese higher education institution that I will call The Javanese University (TJU). In keeping with anthropological commitments to understanding the world from the ground up, I will focus my attention mainly on the daily practices of individuals (administrators, lecturers, staff, and students) in the institution and how these are affected by the broad trend of neoliberalism and the cultural imperatives of a revitalised commitment to Islamic principles. I will explore the ways in which neoliberalism is institutionalised within the university, becoming dominant in shaping the university system, governance and direction, and spreading its influence to most individuals in the university. I also want to explore how the rapidly growing Islamic resurgence in Javanese society has been internalised, strengthening Islamic practices among university individuals,and see if it is emerging as a counterforce to the hegemony of neoliberalism. In this project I will explore if and how the intersection of neoliberalism and the Islamic resurgence not only produces negotiations, mediations and accommodations, wherein they understand and complement each other, but also sparks contradictions and contestations, which lead to the university becoming an ideological battlefield.