Being Tolerant and Nationalist Sufi: A Social Movement Study of JATMAN (Jam’iyyah Ahl al-Thariqot al-Mu’tabarah an-Nahdliyyah) and Habib Luthfi

<p class="06IsiAbstrak">Sufism has long been associated with tolerance because of its theological nature that focuses on inner peace. However, this view tends to overlook that Sufi movements are often involved in politics and nationalist discourse. This study explains the social movement logic of a tarekat movement in Indonesia in promoting tolerance and nationalism. JATMAN <em>(Jam’iyyah Ahl al-Thariqot al-Mu’tabarah an-Nahdliyyah)</em> is well-known as a Sufi group currently led by Habib Luthfi. This movement calls to <em>Bela Negara</em> (defending Indonesia) by the jargon <em>‘NKRI Harga Mati’</em> (the doctrine of love for the homeland) and <em>Handarbeni</em> (being proud to locality). This research employs multiple analysis methods to examine the factors that underpin the emergence of this movement. I analyzed Habib Luthfi bin Yahya’s lectures (Rais 'Amm JATMAN) from 2020-2021, scattered on several online media such as YouTube and Instagram. Besides, I conducted interviews with several kiai in <em>Idarah 'Aliyah</em> (the central administrator of JATMAN) and I analyzed dozens of events organized by JATMAN in online media. Drawing on social movement theory, I argue that various motivations are overshadowed by the emergence of JATMAN within nationalism. This movement may not only be driven by piety and theological doctrine (Sufism) but also by social movement logics such as political opportunity structure, resource mobilization, and cultural framing.</p>

Can the criminalization of reproductive rights be a nationalist project?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a federal bill pending analysis in the Brazilian Federal Congress – the 5069/2013 bill – which seeks to criminalize further women’s capacity to control issues relating to their sexual health in the country. By analyzing this bill, as well as the political discourses surrounding its proposal and the current arguments for its approval, I seek to highlight the social and political roles attributed by it to Brazilian women, focusing on the implications of the adoption of the nationalist discourse of the bill in official state discourse, should it become law, especially with regards to what the nationalism literature refers to as the “biological and cultural reproduction of the nation,” as well as the impact that these new definitions have on Brazilian women’s citizenship.

Cultural Deference, Community Survival

After the military defeat of the Tamil insurgency in Sri Lanka, nationalist sectors backed by Sinhala Buddhist ideology turned to religious minorities in search of new enemies of the State. These have included Muslims and Evangelical Christians who are described as foreign intruders that contaminate the traditions of the nation. Catholics have been spared of accusations of proselytism and the introduction of foreign cultures partly due to the Church leadership’s explicit stance against Evangelical missionary activities and its support of Sinhala nationalist discourse. Catholic communities of Sri Lanka thus find themselves in an ambiguous position: incorporated into the national citizenry, yet a visible minority anxious not to become marginalized like other religious minorities.

The Chosen People: The Hudson River School and the Construction of American Identity

This article considers nineteenth-century riverscapes of the Hudson in relation to the formation of American identity. It argues that riverscapes in the United States contributed to welding a national identity to a Christian one, although officially the identities were distinct. I examine the role of the Hudson River School in the creation of the ‘wilderness’ as an image of American homeland, and how this construct incorporated the iconic figure of the Euro-American Christian ‘pilgrim-pioneer.’ America looked more to the future than to the past for its national narrative, and an orientation to the future was symbolized in art by the flow of the Hudson toward distant horizons, while the pioneer identity was extended to embrace the entrepreneur-developer. The pioneer has remained an iconic figure for American nationalism, but is now more firmly located in the nation’s past; Janus’s gaze has been adjusted, demonstrating the potentially fluid character of nationalist discourse.

Degrading Bodies in Pandemic Times: Politicizing Cruelty During the COVID-19 and Obesity Crises

Mass communications frame fatness and COVID-19 as a dual threat. This discourse furthers well-established tendencies to degrade bodies labelled overweight or obese, positioning them as deficient and requiring correction. Empirically, this article draws from an online US right-wing news media platform, Campus Reform, including readers’ comments (n = 135) on an article denouncing professors working in fat studies during the COVID-19 lockdown. This status degradation ceremony—backed by ‘big money’ that funds campus culture wars—not only targeted fat people but also academic disciplines, expertise, universities and social justice agenda. Analytically, this study draws from ethnomethodology and literature on media and bodyweight, meddling or health fascism, weaponized stigma and the politics of cruelty. Going beyond the flesh and a particular case study, it also challenges the ways in which cruelty enacted towards those deemed fat (especially women) can spiral into corrosive nationalist discourse in pandemic times.

An Old Right in New Bottles: State without Nation in South Korean New Right Historiography

The New Right movement that arose in the early 2000s in South Korea was a response to a change in ownership of Korean nationalist discourse during the preceding decades. Although nationalism was the preserve of the South Korean right wing from the trusteeship crisis in 1945 through the end of the Park Chung Hee regime, a historiographical revolt in the 1980s that emphasized the historical illegitimacy of the South Korean state allowed the Left to appropriate nationalism. With the loss of nationalism from its arsenal, the Right turned to postnationalist neoliberal discourse to blunt the effectiveness of leftist nationalist rhetoric. An examination of New Right historiography on the colonial and postliberation periods, however, shows that despite the recent change in conservatives’ stance on nationalism, a preoccupation with the legitimacy of the South Korean state remains at the center of right-wing historical narratives. The New Right represents old wine in new bottles.

When Fringe Hate Goes Mainstream: How White Nationalist Discourse Manifests in Online News Commenting

After protestors clashed in Charlottesville, Virginia over the planned removal of a statue of a Confederate general, President Trump refused to condemn white nationalists. Over the following days, numerous news stories were written about the protests, allowing the public to discuss white nationalism through online comments. Using theories on ideology, discourse, and framing, this study considers how white nationalist discourse emerged in those comments. The findings show broad support for white nationalism, including complaints about threats to white culture, reinterpretation of American history to support white nationalist ideas, and rejection of the idea that marginalized people face oppression. However, the study also shows a burgeoning force of critical commenters struggling to challenge white nationalism’s emergence in public spaces.