Passive Islamophobia and cultural national construction: a critical note on art curriculum

Abstract

Underpinned by representation theory, this article is an attempt to explain passive islamopobia by critically analysing the discursive construction of Indonesian cultural nationalism, which is based on the content of art and culture subject for secondary school students. The conception of Indonesian nationality comes from both various internal solidarity and contestation between Islamism, Hinduism and secularism, in the resistance against imperialists. Mainstream narrative of Indonesian nationalism has strong root in the Majapahit/Hinduism legacy, which is unwittingly so-called Indonesia as new Majapahit. In the meantime, the construction of the cultural nationalism excludes Islamic culture and identity. The aim of this work is to explore the relationship between marginality and islamophobia which is internalised in the content of art curricula; both KTSP and K-13. Learning from the art text book content, we argue that the teaching Indonesian cultural nationality fails to consider Islamic art and cultural heritages. The marginality and the exclusion of Islamic art and culture in the construction of Indonesian nationality through art curricula and art education policy indicate internalised passive Islamophobia, rather than showing them the affection for Islamic culture.

Nationalism education in elementary school: A systematic literature review

“…22 Qualitative (empirical analysis) [80] USA RQ 1 23 Comparative research [81] Scotland RQ 1 24 Qualitative and comparative study [82] Syria and Iraq RQ 1 25 Qualitative descriptive approach [83] Indonesia RQ 3 26 Qualitative (Analysis) [84] America and Philippines RQ 3 27 Quantitative (self-reported questionnaire) [85] Italian RQ 3 28 Quantitative research [86] Indonesia RQ 2 29 Positivistic/quantitative approach [87] Indonesia RQ 3 30 Case study (empirically) [88] China RQ 3 31 A quantitative study using survey design [89] Malaysia RQ 3 32 In-depth analysis [90] Israel RQ 2 33 Qualitative approach [91] Indonesia RQ 2 34 Qualitative descriptive [92] Bangkok, Thailand RQ 3 35 Qualitative Method (Historical Review) [93] Indonesia RQ 2 36 Qualitative descriptive [94] Indonesia RQ 1 37 Qualitative research method [95] Indonesia RQ 3 38 Investigative Research [96] Syrian and Turkey RQ 1 39 Empirical study (survey and administration) [97] Taiwan RQ 3 40 Analytical Research [98] Japan RQ 2 41 Qualitative approach [99] Indonesia RQ 2 42 Qualitative descriptive [100] Canada RQ 2 43 Quasi-experimental research [101] Indonesia RQ 1 44 Hermeneutic approach [102] Indonesia RQ 1 45 Mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) [103] Indonesia RQ 3 46 A Systematic Literature Review [104] China RQ 2 47 Analysis method, systematic investigation (purposive and snowballing) [105] Nigeria RQ 3 48 Qualitative (ethnographic approach) [106] Indonesia RQ 2 49 Quantitative approach [107] Indonesia RQ 1 50 Quantitative method [108] Thailand RQ 1…”

“…Nationalism education in Indonesia unites and sustains the spirit of nationalism, culture, religion, and art. Nationalism is an attitude to see the nation as a whole from the aspects of its identity, religion, culture, and art that are incorporated into the curriculum [94]. The concept of nationalism education in Rojava, Syria, and Kurdistan Region, Iraq, in the form of ideology and vision of the state, national movement, and politics incorporated into school textbooks [82].…”

Understanding the rise of Indonesian Foreign Terrorist Fighter

“…52 Islam is then seen as an extreme religion that teaches hatred towards people outside Islam and spreads the notion of violence because terrorists use Islamic attributes while committing terror acts. Moreover, Islamophobia symptoms are shown intensely in social media 53 , curriculum in elementary education 54 and even political movements 55 . Based on this fact, it could be argued that the flow of Indonesian combatants to Syria combined with the intense terror acts by terrorist groups created Islamophobia which is considered societal harm.…”