UIII Hosts Insightful Book Talk on ‘Ethics of Belonging’

On November 28, 2024, the Faculty of Islamic Studies at UIII organized a compelling Book Talk featuring Erica M. Larson, Ph.D, from the National University of Singapore. Dr. Larson, an expert in religion, education, and politics, presented her groundbreaking work, “Ethics of Belonging: Education, Religion, and Politics in Manado, Indonesia”, published by the University of Hawai'i Press in 2024. The event was enriched by R. Alpha Amirrachman, Ph.D., a lecturer at UIII's Faculty of Education, who served as the discussant. UIII’s research fellow Wietske Merison, MA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) acted as a moderator.

The event shed light on the pluralistic dynamics of Manado, a city in North Sulawesi recognized for its religious harmony and tolerance. With a diverse demographic comprising 61% Protestant, 33% Muslim, and 4% Catholic populations, Manado has been lauded as Indonesia’s “most tolerant city” by the Setara Institute in 2017.

In her talk, Dr. Larson explored how education acts as a medium for fostering discussions about religious and ethnic diversity. She illustrated this through case studies of three schools in Manado: a public high school (SMA Negeri), a private Catholic school (Lokon), and a public Islamic madrasah (MAN). These institutions, she argued, serve as “sites of deliberation” where ethical frameworks of coexistence are both channeled and contested.

“Why schools?” she asked. “It’s because schools as sites of deliberation about difference and belonging in the nation.” Education, she explained, is both disciplinary and deliberative, offering a unique space to navigate complex questions about belonging and identity.

Furthermore, Dr. Larson highlighted the local ethos of Torang Samua Basudara (We are all brothers), which underscores harmony as a cornerstone of the region's identity. She also pointed out the nuances in Manado's pluralism. While aspirational coexistence celebrates mutual recognition and religious freedom, majoritarian coexistence relies on the goodwill of the dominant Christian population. “Hence, coexistence is understood as threatened only by the outsiders,” she said.

She cited an example of the building of religious theme park in the city that was forced to stop because of ‘religious’ dispute involving local adat organizations, which tended to identify local Minahasan cultural identity more with Christian identity.

Education and equity expert Dr. Alpha Amirrachman applauded the book as a significant contribution to understanding the dynamic and tension in an ongoing political and cultural project of Indonesia. “Dr. Larson was successful in revealing ‘what is behind the curtain’ with her astonishing anthropological work in Manado,” he said, further saying that the book should be understood against the backdrop of adat or local tradition revival during reformasi era where democratization and ‘big-bang’ decentralization swept the country. 

“This big-bang decentralization saw an increase of what seemed to be an exclusive identity politics at the local level. After the fall of Suharto, the country saw the revival of the authority of adat, often seen as an alternative to the corrupt practices of the New Order regime,” said Dr. Amirrachman.

He cited the work of Davidson and Henley who wrote specifically about the revival of local tradition in Indonesia. Also, he compared Dr. Larson’s work with his own previous work in Indonesia’s province of Maluku, which had been devastated by religious conflict.“

I also saw the revival of local tradition problematic since there are always groups of people whose tradition is not always the same as that of indigenous people. This will push for the emergence of local identity politics, and one may ask: who does belong to such a group and who is perceived as an outsider?” he said, adding that it is important to extract “shared values” of any tradition or wisdom as to ensure that every group of society voluntarily embrace them. 

Dr. Amirrachman said it is also critical to see the economic, not only religious factor as various factors might have been intertwined. Dr. Larson responded that fact that the poverty rate was relatively low might have contributed to the immunity of Manado from religious conflict from neighboring regions. 

The Book Talk event reflects UIII’s dedication to fostering academic discussions on critical issues at the intersection of religion, education, and society. Dr. Erica Larson’s insightful ethnographic work of Manado’s challenges in dealing with pluralism provided valuable perspectives on the possibilities of coexistence in Indonesia’s richly diverse context. 

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