Packaging, Persuasion and Propaganda: Popular Preaching and Islamic Counter-publics in Indonesia.

Islamic preaching; Popular culture; Hizb al-Tahrir; Sociability; Ideology; Persuasion (Rhetoric); Propaganda

Indonesia's Islamic counter-publics have entered a new phase. Dominant definitions of the counter-public emphasise its reliance upon modes of publicity and public deliberation that conflict with dominant ones. In contemporary Indonesia, however, the practice of contemporary counter-public preachers requires a new definition. Preachers linked to Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), such as Felix Siauw and Fuadh Naim, do not counter-position in relation to popular culture, but appropriate it to reach broader audiences. Where popular culture might suggest an ethic of freedom or liberal sociability, such cultural forms are appropriated alongside messages that explicitly proscribe those liberal meanings. Contemporary counter-public preachers appropriate the symbolic repertoires of multiculturalism such as Javanese puppetry and poetry, as well as the images and music of the Korean Wave, yet do so to critique emergent liberal interpretations. These strategies are connected to contemporary politics, for both preachers have been long-time devotees of the pro-Khilafah cause that has recently been banned from public activity by the Indonesian government. The appropriation strategy suits the current moment, when dissimulation is a necessary element of practice for preachers who support the cause. In other words, they rebrand HTI by packaging almost everything with persuasive purpose to propagate Islamist ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]