Aesthetics of authority: ‘Islam Nusantara’ and Islamic ‘radicalism’ in Indonesian film and social media

Abstract

In Indonesia, Islamic ‘counter-terror culture’ contests Islamic ‘radicalization’. Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), takes a leading role in initiating counter-terror culture. Central to their initiatives are ideas about ‘Islam Nusantara’ (Islam of the Archipelago). This article analyzes two NU initiatives: (1) the documentary Rahmat Islam Nusantara (2015), which challenges how ‘radical’ groups interpret the Quran, and (2) the ‘cyber warrior initiative’ in which volunteers contest ‘radicalism’ on social media. The article explores how these initiatives construct ‘counternarratives’ that frame Islam Nusantara as antidote against ‘radicalism’ and analyzes how, in doing so, these initiatives negotiate the binary frame between ‘moderate’ and ‘radical’ Islam. The article proposes that Rahmat Islam Nusantara and the cyber warriors uphold this binary frame and that meanwhile, these initiatives are marked by an aesthetics of authority, which constructs traditional figures of Islamic authority as role models who can help protect the country against radicalism.