Islamic students in the Indonesian student movement, 1998–1999: Forces for moderation

In this article the author describes the involvement of Islamic students in the protest movement that led to the overthrow of President Suharto in 1998. The author argues that—contrary to media images of Islamic social activists—the students who were affiliated with Islamic organizations were a force for moderation in the student pro-democracy movement in Indonesia. The major forces pushing these students toward moderation were their perception of the past, their organizational autonomy, and the influence of the moral regeneration campaign in which they have participated in recent years. The author contrasts their political positions with that of students affiliated with secular organizations and argues that their tactics have been less confrontational and their demands less extreme. The implications of this argument are that Western reporters and policy makers need to engage these students in dialog, rather than assume that they are extremists and anti-democratic simply because they are Islamic political activists.