Islamizing formal education : integrated Islamic school and a new trend in formal education institution in Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the Islamization of formal education at the pre-university levels with a focus on integrated Islamic schools that have proliferated in the context of increasingly Islamized Indonesian public sphere and the rising tide of Islamic militancy after Suharto. While a vast literature exists on Islamic militancy and the general process of the Islamization of the Indonesian society, education has been largely neglected or misunderstood in the debates. By highlighting the interplay between the state, non-state actors, and the discursive strategies of the Islamist, this study analyses the role of formal education in wider social transofrmations relating to Islamization, the spread of Islamic militancy and the cultural politics of contemporary Indonesian Muslim society. Furthermore, through ethnographic inquireis into the integrated Islamic school, this study seeks to illustrate the new and diverse ways Islamist messages are adapted to changing circumstances and shifting contexts.