Presentation Title: New Media and Social Engagement: The Promotion of Civic Pluralism in Contemporary Indonesia
Theme: Indonesia: Societal and Comparative Perspectives
Presenter: Mr Bhirawa Anoraga

This study examines the promotion of civic pluralism through social engagement and new media in Muslim countries through an Indonesian case. Civic pluralism is defined as religious tolerance and equal rights regardless of citizens’ religions. Since Indonesia’s democratisation in 1998, religious sectarianism and intolerance towards non-Muslims have surged. This study draws from my PhD project to demonstrate the emergence of online movements that have effectively countered growing sectarianism in contemporary Indonesia. As scholars have argued, new media have enabled wide-ranging actors to engage and shape public discourses. While most studies have paid attention to the role of Muslim intellectuals and their declining influence, this study will highlight social engagement of broader community in promoting civic pluralism through social media and crowdfunding. This strategy is more effective to attract mass support than the common efforts by Muslim intellectuals that stress dialogue, academic discussion or political engagement. The effectiveness of social engagement is explained by the following factors. First, social engagement has been accepted by Indonesians, who conceptualise civic pluralism as the practices of gotong-royong (mutual aid) that is rooted in Indonesian cultural norms. Second, Indonesians have been more interested in social engagement facilitated by the development of new media such as crowdfunding.  Their interest is shaped by socio-economic and political factors following the government’s neoliberal policies in the post-New Order era. This study provides insight on the importance of broadening attention to cultural norms upheld by society and their informal, everyday engagement in the studies of civic pluralism in Muslim countries.

Bhirawa Anoraga is a PhD candidate at School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra, under the supervision of Associate Professor Minako Sakai. He is in the last stage of PhD program with a thesis titled ‘New Media and Social Engagement: The Promotion of Civic Pluralism in Contemporary Indonesia.’ Previously he obtained a Master degree from Durham University in MSc of Islamic Finance and Management. Anoraga recently co-authored a book chapter with Professor Sakai titled ‘Education, Digital Enterprise and Islam in the Indonesian Modern Embedded Economy’ in an edited book titled ‘Muslim Women in the Economy: Development, Faith and Globalisation.’