Revisiting Modjokuto – Society, Religion and the State in East Java, Indonesia: Ethno-historical and Ethnographic Perspectives

This project proposes to return to Pare, a small city in Indonesia and the site of the Clifford and Hildred Geertz-led Modjokuto Project (1953-54). Access to the original field notes and as well as the sheer volume of published and unpublished material creates a unique opportunity for analyzing how culture, religion and socio-economic formations change over time, especially in response to national, transnational, and global political and economic developments (which, in Indonesia, have included a newly post-colonial state, military dictatorship, the Cold War, economic globalization, democracy, and the rise of transnational Islamist movements).

IHR seed funds will enable investigators to conduct preliminary ethnographic field studies in Pare, develop a database of published and unpublished material resulting, and identify local language personnel in preparation for the production and submission of full research proposals targeting the NSF and Ford Foundation.