[The Image of the Other as Enemy: Radical Discourse in Indonesia (Islam in Southeast Asia: Views from Within)] [Author: Ahnaf, Muhammad Iqbal] [November, 2006]

by Muhammad Iqbal Ahnaf

This book analyzes the systematic construction of the image of the Other (that is, non-Muslims) by two radical Islamic Groups, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia. The author documents discourse pattersn in the groups' publications and speeches sterotyping non-Muslims as hostile towards Islam and imagining Islam's imminent victory after an inevitable clash with all other civilizations. Although these groups do not engage in physical violence, the author categorizes their efforts to stereotype non-Muslims as "symbolic violence" and counterproductive because of the religious anad ethnic pluralism of Indonesian society.

Paperback

First published December 30, 2006