Islam (Re)Observed – Geertz Caught in the Act of Comparison

• In Event: That ‘70s Area Studies: Indonesia and the Sociological Imagination - Sponosred by the Indonesia and Timor Leste Studies Committee (ITLSC)

Abstract

Clifford Geertz continues to loom large as a scholarly figure within Indonesian studies. The body of scholarship that he bestowed upon us is both rich and challenging. His work not only examined Muslim communities in Indonesia but also extended to a comparison of these communities with those in North Africa. This paper derives it impetus from the sociological moment that emerges from his book "Islam Observed – Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia" (1968). By comparing religious practice and ritual Geertz emphasized an area studies that moved from regional particularity to a more globalized context. Using Michael Herzfeld’s (2001) notion of a “safe form of comparison” this paper examines a series of complex questions that emerge from Geertz’s seminal comparative work. In doing so this paper seeks to sharpen our inquiry into the appropriate scales and categories for comparison. For example, is it appropriate or helpful to use the categories of region or state when we compare Muslim communities? What does it mean when we say there is an Indonesian Islam or Islam(s)? And how can we understand and compare Muslim communities in Asia and North Africa in general terms as Geertz did? In exploring these questions this paper will consider in more depth the role of comparison in Asian and Islamic studies from a contemporary transnational perspective.

Author

• Jeremy Jacob Kingsley, National University of Singapore