ISLAMIC POPULISM AND THE QUESTION OF SECULARISM: THE CASE OF INDONESIA AND TURKEY

Abstract

Turkey and Indonesia are among a few Muslim-majority countries that have embraced democratisation
since their independence. While the development of their democracies is not linear and marred with periods of
autocratic regimes, the debate over the position of Islam within the secular state has remained relevant throughout
the history of the modern Indonesian and Turkish Republic. This article uses Comparative Historical Analysis
to examine how the contention over Islam in politics has been utilised by populist groups espousing Islamic
aspirations as their ideological basis. This article argues that the formation and success of Islamic populist
currents in Turkey and Indonesia is not dictated by their specific political and economic conditions, but also by
their different adoption of secularism. Comparative analysis of these two countries is conducted in two steps. First,
I explain the specific historical trajectories of secularisation, democratisation, and state-building of both Turkey
and Indonesia. Second, I contrast both countries to demonstrate how their diverging process of secularisation has
impacted the political success of Islamic populism. This article concludes that a stricter adoption of Secularism
in Turkey has, inadvertently, brought more decisive success to Turkish Islamic populist groups; on the other hand,
the ambiguous secularisation in Indonesia has hindered its Islamic populist forces from enjoying a similar degree
of success. A stricter adoption of Secularism in Turkey brings more decisive success to Islamic populist groups,
while an ambiguous approach in Indonesia hinders the Islamic populist groups from enjoying the same success.