Dissonant politics in Iran and Indonesia

Political Science Quarterly

Volumn 116, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 381-411

  Brumberg, Daniel ^a  

^a GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035465643     PISSN: 00323195     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/798022     Document Type: Review

References (96)

1. This conviction is central to Weber's own concept of domination. As Reinhard Bendix has noted, while "in Weber's view every historical relation between rulers and ruled contains heterogeneous elements" (or bases of authority), "the predominance of one or another of these elements in the organization and rule . . . is related to certain more or less enduring historical configurations." See Reinhard Bendix, Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), 297.
2. John Esposito and John Voll, Islam and Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 23. While the authors acknowledge that the "Western experience continues to have great influence on the Islamic debates," they believe that the "older modernist approach to Islamic democracy" is now giving way to "coherent theories and structures of Islamic democracy that are not simply reformulations of Western perceptions in some Muslim idiom."
3. See Nadav Safran, Egypt in Search of Political Community: An Analysis of the Intellectual and Political Evolution of Egypt 1804-1952 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961).
4. Albert Hourani held that by equating Islam with those ideas and institutions that secured the public interest (maslaha), the reformists inadvertently invited a "de facto separation of the sphere of civilization from that of religion" that opened "another door to secular nationalism." Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1798-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962), 344.
5. Ahmad Sadri, "Reintroducing the Wheel," The Iranian, September 1996, (www.iranian.com/Sep96/ Opinion/Democracy).
6. See Kathleen Thelen and Seven Steinmo, "Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics" in Kathleen Thelen, Steven Steinmo, and Frank Longstreth, eds., Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 1-33.
7. Theda Skocpol, "Bringing the State Back In: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research" in Peter B. Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol, eds., Bringing the State Back In (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 22.
8. Joel S. Migdal, "The State in Society" in Joel S. Migdal, Atul Kholi, and Vivienne Shue, eds., State Power and Social Forces, Domination and Transformation in the Third World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 7-36.
9. Joel S. Migdal, Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988).
10. A notion of dissonant politics informs Robert Bianchi's Unruly Corporatism, Associational Life in Twentieth-Century Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
11. See Lewis Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict (New York: The Free Press, 1956). It should be noted that Coser's analysis focused on Western, pluralistic democracies.
12. On the Gulf states, see Michael Herb, All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999). On Morocco, see Guilan Denoeux and Abdelslam Maghraoui, "King Hassan's Strategy of Political Dualism," Middle East Policy 5 (January 1998): 104-30.
13. On the Gulf states, see Michael Herb, All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999). On Morocco, see Guilan Denoeux and Abdelslam Maghraoui, "King Hassan's Strategy of Political Dualism," Middle East Policy 5 (January 1998): 104-30.
14. See Michel Le Gall, "The Historical Context" in I. William Zartman and William Mark Habeeb, eds., Polity and Society in Contemporary North Africa (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), 3-18.
15. J. Aveille, "Le Moroc se donne un monarchie constitutionelle," Confluent 27 (1963). Cited in Abdeslam Maghraoui, "Morocco: From Symbolic to Democratic Legitimacy?" (unpublished manuscript), 13.
16. J. Aveille, "Le Moroc se donne un monarchie constitutionelle," Confluent 27 (1963). Cited in Abdeslam Maghraoui, "Morocco: From Symbolic to Democratic Legitimacy?" (unpublished manuscript), 13.
17. See Clifford Geertz, "The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New States" in Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 254-310.
18. Said Amir Arjomand, "Constitutions and the Struggle for Political Order," Archives of European Sociology 33 (Winter/Spring 1992): 39.
19. See Akbar S. Ahmed and Hastings Donnan, "Islam in the Age of Postmodernity" in S. Ahmed Akbar and Hastings Donnan, eds., Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity (London and New York: Routledge, 1994), 1-20. This dynamic is not entirely new. In An Islamic Response to Imperialism, Political and Religious Writing of Sayyid Jamal ad-Din "al-Afghani" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), Nikki Keddi examined the efforts of this nineteenth-century Islamic reformer to address competing visions to different audiences.
20. See Akbar S. Ahmed and Hastings Donnan, "Islam in the Age of Postmodernity" in S. Ahmed Akbar and Hastings Donnan, eds., Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity (London and New York: Routledge, 1994), 1-20. This dynamic is not entirely new. In An Islamic Response to Imperialism, Political and Religious Writing of Sayyid Jamal ad-Din "al-Afghani" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), Nikki Keddi examined the efforts of this nineteenth-century Islamic reformer to address competing visions to different audiences.
21. See Ronald Glassman, "Legitimacy and Manufactured Charisma," Social Research 42 (Winter 1975): 621.
22. See Stephan Haggard and Robert R. Kaufman, The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995).
23. Robert Friedland and Robert Alford, "Bringing Society Back In: Symbolic Practices and Institutional Contradictions" in Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio, eds., The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 232.
24. See Daniel Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). See also Michael Fischer, "Imam Khomeini: Four Levels of Understanding" in John Esposito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983), 150-74.
25. See Daniel Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). See also Michael Fischer, "Imam Khomeini: Four Levels of Understanding" in John Esposito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983), 150-74.
26. Stephen D. Krasner, "Approaches to the State: Alternative Conceptions and Historical Dynamics," Comparative Politics 16 (January 1984): 223-46, 240.
27. Daniel Brumberg, "Reform Strategies in the Arab World" in Rex Brynen, Baghat Korany, and Paul Noble, Political Liberalization and Demoratization in the Arab World, Vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1995), 229-60; and Daniel Brumberg, "Survival Strategies vs. Democratic Bargains: The Politics of Economic Stabilization in Contemporary Egypt" in Henri Barkey, ed., Economic Crisis and Political Response: The Politics of Economic Reform in the Middle East (New York: St. Martins Press, 1992). Well before I wrote these two articles, Joel Midgal had used a similar term - "strategies of survival" - but in a much broader sense. As I became familiar with his work only much later, I was not able to incorporate a comparison of the similar and different ways we each conceive of "survival." See Migdal's Strong Societies and Weak States, 26-7.
28. Daniel Brumberg, "Reform Strategies in the Arab World" in Rex Brynen, Baghat Korany, and Paul Noble, Political Liberalization and Demoratization in the Arab World, Vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1995), 229-60; and Daniel Brumberg, "Survival Strategies vs. Democratic Bargains: The Politics of Economic Stabilization in Contemporary Egypt" in Henri Barkey, ed., Economic Crisis and Political Response: The Politics of Economic Reform in the Middle East (New York: St. Martins Press, 1992). Well before I wrote these two articles, Joel Midgal had used a similar term - "strategies of survival" - but in a much broader sense. As I became familiar with his work only much later, I was not able to incorporate a comparison of the similar and different ways we each conceive of "survival." See Migdal's Strong Societies and Weak States, 26-7.
29. Daniel Brumberg, "Reform Strategies in the Arab World" in Rex Brynen, Baghat Korany, and Paul Noble, Political Liberalization and Demoratization in the Arab World, Vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1995), 229-60; and Daniel Brumberg, "Survival Strategies vs. Democratic Bargains: The Politics of Economic Stabilization in Contemporary Egypt" in Henri Barkey, ed., Economic Crisis and Political Response: The Politics of Economic Reform in the Middle East (New York: St. Martins Press, 1992). Well before I wrote these two articles, Joel Midgal had used a similar term - "strategies of survival" - but in a much broader sense. As I became familiar with his work only much later, I was not able to incorporate a comparison of the similar and different ways we each conceive of "survival." See Migdal's Strong Societies and Weak States, 26-7.
30. One of the few comparative studies of this phenomenon can be found in Martha Brill Olcott and Marina Ottaway, "The Challenge of Semi-Authoritarianism," Working Papers, (Washington, DC: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999) (http://www.ceip.files/publications/wp7.asp). It is no coincidence that Iran and Indonesia are both primary cases in the working paper, given the extent to which regime-opposition accommodation and competition denned politics in both states.
31. Adam Przeworski, "The Games of Transitions" in Scott Mainwaring, Guillermo McDonald, and J. Samuel Valenzuela, eds., Issues in Democratic Consolidation: The New South American Democracies in Comparative Perspective (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 136.
32. I use the term "left" because of the influence that Marxist ideology had on these Islamists, particularly Marxist notions of collective versus individual rights.
33. Hamid Dabashi, Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundation of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (New York: New York University Press, 1993). See also Ali Shariati, An Approach to the Understanding of Islam, transl. Venus Kaivantash (Houston: Free Islamic Literatures, 1980).
34. Hamid Dabashi, Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundation of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (New York: New York University Press, 1993). See also Ali Shariati, An Approach to the Understanding of Islam, transl. Venus Kaivantash (Houston: Free Islamic Literatures, 1980).
35. See Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996), 52-76.
36. For an analysis of Khomeini's use of leftist terms, see Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeinism, Essays on the Islamic Republic (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993).
37. Shahrough Akhavi, Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran: Clergy-State Relations in the Pahlavi Period (Albany: State University Press, 1980).
38. Albert P. Blaustein and Gisber H. Flanz, "The Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979," Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1980). On the Majles, see Bahman Baktiari, Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996).
39. Albert P. Blaustein and Gisber H. Flanz, "The Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979," Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1980). On the Majles, see Bahman Baktiari, Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996).
40. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, South Asia [hereafter FBIS-SAS], 27 May 1980, 80-103.
41. FBIS, Near East South Asia (NES), 92-098-S, 17 June 1992, from Resalat, 23 April 1992.
42. 4 See Soroush's controversial article on the clergy in Kiyan, April-May 1995, as translated in FBIS-NES, 95-241-S.
43. Mohammad Khatami, Hope and Challenge: The Iranian President Speaks (Binghamton, NY: Institute of Global and Cultural Studies, 1997). "The West," Khatami wrote, "has . . . cast aside the deification of repressive thinking that had been imposed on the masses in the name of religion."
44. Mohammad Khatami, Hope and Challenge: The Iranian President Speaks (Binghamton, NY: Institute of Global and Cultural Studies, 1997). "The West," Khatami wrote, "has . . . cast aside the deification of repressive thinking that had been imposed on the masses in the name of religion."
45. Abdolkarmin Soroush, "Knowledge Seen as Basis of Modernism" Kiyan, 22 June-August 1994, in FBIS-NES, 95-109-S, 7 June 1995.
46. 8 See "Soroush on Meaning, Foundation," Kiyan, August-September, 1995, 4-13, in FBIS-NES, 96-022-S, 1 February 1996.
47. Azadeh Kian-Thiébaut, "Political and Social Transformations in Post-Islamist Iran," Middle East Report 29 (Fall 1999): 12-16.
48. I write "in the main" because the faqih's authority, as defined in the 1989 constitution, also has legal-rational foundations. Among his qualifications, not only must he be a man of "scholarship, as required for performing the function of mufti in . . . fields of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence); but he must also possess the "better jurisprudential and political perspicacity." By contrast, Article Five of the 1979 constitution stated that Khomeini had been "recognized and accepted by the majority of the people as . . . leader," thus giving ultimate legal sanction to the charismatic foundations of Khomeini's authority.
49. See Mohsen M. Milani, "The Transformation of the Velayat-e Faqih Institution: From Khomeini to Khamanei," The Muslim World 82 (July-October 1991): 175-90.
50. See Charles Kurzman, "Student Protests and the Stability of Gridlock in Khatami's Iran," (http:// www.sba.widener.edu/zang/default.html.), 5 November 1998. The author was present during this speech by Khamanei.
51. Quoted in Douglas E. Ramage, Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), 15.
52. See Karl D. Jackson, "Bureaucratic Polity: A Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Power and Communications in Indonesia" in Karl D. Jackson and Lucian W. Pye, eds., Political Power and Communications in Indonesia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), 3-22.
53. See Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960).
54. See Karel Steenbrink, Dutch Colonialism and Indonesian Islam, Contacts and Conflicts 1596-1950, transl. Jan Steenbrink and Henry Jansen (Amsterdam-Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 1993).
55. "Alfian," Muhammadiyah: The Political Behavior of a Muslim Modernist Organization Under Dutch Colonialism (Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1989), 134-79.
56. On Pancasila, see Ramage, Politics in Indonesia, 10-22.
57. Mochtar Pabotinngi, "Indonesia: Historicizing the New Order's Legitimacy Dilemma" in Muthiah Alagappa, ed., Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995), 234.
58. Mochtar Pabotinngi, "Indonesia: Historicizing the New Order's Legitimacy Dilemma" in Muthiah Alagappa, ed., Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995), 234.
59. DPR stands for Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat and MPR stands for Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat. On the workings of Indonesia's "bureaucratic polity" see Jackson, "Bureaucratic Polity," 2-22.
60. R. William Liddle, "Participation and Political Parties" in Jackson and Pye, Political Power, 187.
61. Robert W. Hefner, "Islam in an Era of Nation-States: Politics and Religious Renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia" in Robert W. Hefner and Patricia Horvatich eds., Islam in an Era of Nation-States (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997), 12.
62. In the 1955 elections, Masyumi obtained 57 seats (23 percent), NU, 45 seats (18.4. percent), the Indonesian Nationalist party (PNI), 27 seats (21 percent), and the Indonesian Communist party. 39 seats (16.4 percent). Since the NU spurned both the communists and Masyumi, it could offer the PNI a credible ally. See Liddle, "Participation and Political Parties," 174-75.
63. Greg Fealy, "'Rowing in a Typhoon' Nahdlatul Ulama and the Decline of Parliamentary Democracy" in David Bourchier and John Legge. Democracy in Indonesia, 1950s and 1990s (Monash, Australia: Monash Papers on Southeast Asia No. 31, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994), 88-97.
64. Ramage, Democracy, Politics in Indonesia, 17.
65. See Allan Samson, "Conceptions of Politics, Power, and Ideology in Contemporary Indonesian Islam" in Jackson and Pye, Political Power, 221-22.
66. See Allan Samson, "Conceptions of Politics, Power, and Ideology in Contemporary Indonesian Islam" in Jackson and Pye, Political Power, 221-22.
67. Hefner, "Islamization and Democratization in Indonesia" in Hefner et al., eds., Islam in an Era of Nation-States, 75-127.
68. Howard M. Federspeil, Indonesia in Transition: Muslim Intellectuals and National Development (Commack, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 1998), 75-6.
69. From a talk given by Madjid in January 1970. See "Necessity of Renewing Islamic Thought and Reinvigorating Religious Understanding" in Charles Kurzman, ed., Liberal Islam, A Sourcebook (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 286, 209. (Emphasis added.)
70. Hefner, "Islamization and Democratization in Indonesia," 85. See also Madjid, "In Search of Islamic Roots for Modern Pluralism: The Indonesian Experiences" in Mark. R. Woodward, ed., Toward a New Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic Thought (Tempe, AZ: Program for Southeast Asian Studies, 1997), 92.
71. Hefner, "Islamization and Democratization in Indonesia," 85. See also Madjid, "In Search of Islamic Roots for Modern Pluralism: The Indonesian Experiences" in Mark. R. Woodward, ed., Toward a New Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic Thought (Tempe, AZ: Program for Southeast Asian Studies, 1997), 92.
72. Greg Barton, "The Impact of Neo-Modernism on Indonesian Islamic Thought: The Emergence of a New Pluralism" in Bourchier and Legge, Democracy in Indonesia, 143-50.
73. Greg Barton, "The Liberal, Progressive Roots of Abdurahman Wahid's Thought" in Greg Fealy and Greg Barton, eds., Nahdlatul Ulama, Traditional Islam and Modernity (Monash, Australia: Monash Asia Institute, 1998). This book is also available on the Internet at www.muslims.net/KMNU/ pustaka/baku1/utama.html.
74. Ramage, Politics in Indonesia, 54-5.
75. Ramage, Politics in Indonesia, 54-5.
76. On this dynamic, see Fred R. von de Mehden, Two Worlds of Islam Interaction Between Southeast Asia and the Middle East (Gainesville: University Of Florida Press, 1993).
77. Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994). Wahid also discussed these points with me during a 7 June 1999 interview.
78. Interview of Ahmad Soemargono, August 1998, in Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia's Search for Stability, rev. ed. (Boulder. CO: Westview Press, 2000), 26.
79. Ramage, Politics in Indonesia, 93.
80. In March 1991 Wahid, together with forty-four prominent intellectuals, established the Forum Democracy, an association that was largely made up of secular intellectuals. The Forum was created in part to provide a counterweight to the ICMI.
81. "PKB Promises 'National Reconciliation' if Elected," The Jakarta Post, 9 May 1999, in FBIS-East Asia, 8 May 1999.
82. "No problem for Amien-Megawati Partnership," interview with Amien Rais, Kompas Cberymedia (www.compas.com/kompas-certak/9905/03English), 3 May 1999.
83. The disproportionate role of Chinese in PDI-P's leadership ranks fed this fear. Although Wahid publicly supported Megawati, he privately feared that her candidacy would polarize the MPR and even the entire country. Interview with the author, 11 June 1999.
84. See Sangweon Suh and Jose Tesoro, "Maneuvering to the Top Amid Chaos," (http://www. conn.com/AsiaNow/asiaweek/magazine/99/1029/cover.1/html.), 29 October 1999.
85. During the 1998 East Asian financial crisis real GDP fell by 20 percent in 18 months as the economy contracted by some 13 percent. In 1999 the economy remained stagnant, with average annual incomes holding at about $600.00. See "Survey Indonesia, Gus Dur's Second Chance," (http://www. economist.com/editorial/freeforall/20000708/su4532.html), 8 July 2000.
86. Aceh has natural gas, Riau oil, East Kalimantan oil and timber, and Irian Jaya copper, gold, and timber. As Adam Schwarz has noted, in both Irian Jaya and Aceh, "the wealth produced per inhabitant . . . is among the highest in the Indonesia. But in both provinces income and consumption per person . . . fall much lower in the national ranking." See Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting [1994 ed.], 63.
87. "Why Only That One," Gatra, Number 4/VI, 11 December 1999 (http://www.gatranews.net/_english/VI/4/NAS3-4.html), 3 March 2000.
88. "The Honeymoon Will Soon Be Over," Gatra, Number 4/VI, 11 December 1999 (http://www. gatranews.net/-english/VI/4/NAS1-4.html), 8 March 2000.
89. Suara Merdeka, 17 January 2000 and 13 January 2000. (http://www.suaramerdeka.org/harian/ 0001/11/eng/2/html and 0001/13/eng2.html), 9 March 2000. Wahid bitterly denounced the call for jihad, as did other leaders of PKB. Moreover, Muslim leaders repeatedly insisted that the call for jihad meant merely that Muslims should wage a political struggle to defend their rights. Nevertheless, such a call was obviously irresponsible and dangerous.
90. See Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 59.
91. As Rais put it in May 1998, "I am going to play my own game . . . can play a good [game] with Gus Dur and Mega. . . ." See "Amien Rais on Abdurrahman-Wahid Megawati Coalition," Kupan Pos Pupang, 14 July 1998 in FBIS East Asia, 24 July 1998.
92. See "In Search of Magic Power From Kiai," Gatra, Number 39, VI, 12 August 2000. (http:// www.gatra.com/-VI/39/LPT2-39.html).
93. See Lahouari Addi, "L'Utopie Islamiste," L'Impasse du Populisme, L'Algerie et la Democratie (Paris: Editions La Découverte, 1994), 143-65.
94. See Hilmi Mahmud Qa'Ud, Al-Nizam al-Askari fi al-Jaza'Ir [The Military Apparatus in Algeria] (Cairo: Dar al-Itisam, 1993), 59.
95. See Abed Charef, Algerie Le Grand Dérapage (Editions de l'Aube, 1994). The Hamas party in Algeria had no relationship to Hamas in Palestine.
96. Iliya Harik, "The Ethnic Revolution and Political Integration in the Middle East," International Journal of Middle East Studies 3 (July 1972): 310.