Islamic Spectrum in Java

Timothy Daniels is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Hofstra University, USA

Prize: Winner of the Lawrence A. Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication 'Daniels’ Islamic Spectrum in Java explodes and enriches common conceptions of Islam by fine-grained description of the Yogyakarta region of the largest Islamic nation, Indonesia. Healing, politics, arts, sexuality and transsexuality are revealingly discerned in company with Islamic doctrine and organizations such as the 35 million member Muhammadiya. Daniels’ book carries forward a century of study of Islam in Indonesia, ranging from Snouck Hurgronje to Koenjaraningrat,Geertz, Hefner,and Woodward, to contribute importantly to understanding Islam in relation to cultural context during the twenty-first century.' James Peacock, University of North Carolina, USA 'Daniels draws on his ethnographic fieldwork in the Central Javanese capital of Yogyakarta to examine the contemporary flourishing of Islamic cultural forms, from Sufi-inspired healing practices, to dangdut song styles promoting female sexuality, to Islamic prophetic theatre. He provocatively asks how new Islamic cultural forms might reshape debates on the future of democracy and reform in Indonesia.' John R. Bowen, Washington University in St. Louis, USA 'Holding the middle between 'hard' descriptive and interpretative ethnography and cultural studies, this book will appeal to students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities with an interest in Southeast Asia.' Social Anthropology '... this engaging work is very likely to appeal to scholars in many fields... Much is to be admired about this fascinating study. Daniels clearly supports his main points using intelligent, accessible language. His thick descriptions, sensitive attention to local perspectives, and vivid writing bring the reader to Java and allow space for the voices of his interlocutors to be heard. ... With his distinctive approach to a spectrum of desirable futures, Daniels productively pushes forward discussions concerning the place

• Introduction. City of culture, tourist objects and difference as fetish. Locating 'Islam' between thin veneer and normative piety. Dukun, kyai and ustadz: healing along the spectrum. Social drama, dangdut and popular culture. Muslim puritans, cultural dakwah and reformation. Student theatre, social critique and equalization. Maiyah, communitas and common people.