The field of religions of Indonesia is dominated by the sheer size of the population of Muslims, which represent 87 percent of the Indonesian population. Christians form the second largest religious group and represent the largest concentration of members of minority ethnic groups with 7 percent represented by Protestants, 3 percent by Catholics. Christianity in Indonesia is an understudied topic; comprehensive works on the topic were published over a decade ago and despite the growing importance of Christianity as a minority religion in the country, there has been little published work in English on the subject in the last decade. If Christianity in Indonesia has not been sufficiently considered, works published in English on Christianity among the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are even scarcer, notwithstanding the fact that almost half of the Chinese minority are either Protestant or Catholic. This volume fills a scholarly gap by addressing three aspects of Christianity in urban Indonesia: ethnicity (focusing on the ethnic Chinese), education (on private Christian schools) and enterprise (on the capital and class featured in charismatic/ Pentecostal churches). The author addresses issues of state-religion relations and state policy on religion; contested religious space; elite Chinese philanthropy; evangelism and multiculturalism; citizenship education; and Christian faith aspirations. The thirteen essays, which include material previously published in journals, narrate the social reality of urban Christians in contemporary Indonesia, and is essential reading for Asian Studies scholars.

About the Author
Chang-Yau Hoon is Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalama, Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. He chairs the Academic Board of the Brunei Research Institute at the College of ASEAN Studies, Guangxi University for Nationalities, China. He specializes in the Chinese diaspora, identity politics, multiculturalism, and religious and cultural diversity in contemporary Southeast Asia. His latest books are: Contesting Chineseness: Ethnicity, Identity, and Nation in China and Southeast Asia (with YK Chan, 2021, Springer); Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia: Ethnicity, Education and Enterprise (2023, Liverpool University Press); Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (with YK Chan, 2023, Lexington Press); and Stability, Growth and Sustainability: Catalysts for Socio-economic Development in Brunei Darussalam (with A. Ananta and M. Hamdan, 2023, ISEAS Publishing).

Reviews

'Chinese Indonesian Christians, although not a numerically large community, are a significant and influential group within Indonesia's rich ethnic and religious mix. Chang-Yau Hoon's book knowledgeably navigates the complex history and socio-economic positioning of the Chinese Christians within the religious politics of Muslim-dominated Indonesia. At varying times personal, thoughtful and erudite, the essays collectively offer a valuable insight into the lived experiences and social structures of this important group of people.' Robbie B. H. Goh, Provost, Singapore University of Social Sciences; author of Protestant Christianity in the Indian Diaspora (2018) and Christianity in Southeast Asia (2005)

'Comprehensive and easy to read, this book gathers first-hand material to map Chineseness and Christianity on the Indonesian multicultural landscape. Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia serves as an indispensable compass into the complex intra-faith differences among the Chinese Christians in Indonesia, revealing their negotiative but sometimes oblique and porous identities and strategies. Chang-Yau Hoon examines the "Great Harvests" at the heart of the largest Muslim country in the world, and he signs a masterpiece on the subject.' Jeremy Jammes, Professor of Anthropology and South East Asian Studies, Sciences Po Lyon, France; editor of Chretiens evangeliques d'Asie du Sud-Est [Christian Evangelicals in Southeast Asia] (2016)

'Hoon's latest work skilfully unpacks the complexity of Christianity in Indonesia by interrogating the diverse experiences of Chinese Christians with respect to ethnicity, education and enterprise. Drawing on ethnographic data, Hoon brings us to these spaces to reveal the stories of Chinese Christians who have to contend with their minority status against the backdrop of state-enforced national homogeneity. Illuminated by Hoon's reflexivity, Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia recounts many stories that will resonate with anyone invested in interreligious understanding amidst contentious religious diversity.' Jayeel Cornelio, Associate Dean for Research and Creative Work, Ateneo de Manila University; author of Being Catholic in the Contemporary Philippines: Young People Reinterpreting Religion (2016) and lead editor of the Routledge International Handbook of Religion in Global Society (2021)

'Intra-religious relations have always been as dynamic as inter-religious ones, and the opinions of particular individuals must not be taken as representative of a whole religious community. This book examines the subject of Chinese Christians who constitute the labels of two minorities at once: ethnic and religious. Informative and thorough, the book analyzes how this community negotiate the ever-growing diversity-in-unity in Indonesia.' Muhammad Machasin, Professor of History of Islamic Cultures, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University; and Chairman, Indonesian Council of Ulama, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

'This book reflects a deep knowledge of both historical and contemporary dynamics within the ethnic Chinese Christian communities in Indonesia, particularly among the three main Protestant groups: Ecumenical, Evangelical and Pentecostal-Charismatic. Many exceptional insights emerge as the reader discovers how the author carefully contextualizes this complex intersection of ethnic and religious identities within the changing politics of pluralism in the most numerous Muslim country in the world. This book is an essential reading to understand the unique set of glocal forces within which Indonesian Chinese Protestant Christians negotiate and construct their own meanings.' Patrice Brodeur, Associate Professor, Institute of Religious Studies, University of Montreal, Canada; and Senior Advisor, The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID)

'Based on rigorous ethnographic field research, Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia: Ethnicity, Education, and Enterprise examines the nuanced contestations of identity among Chinese Indonesian Christians in dealing with issues related to ethnicity and class, tradition and modernity, the local and the global... Hoon presents a multi-dimensional view of the everyday lives of Chinese Christians in Indonesia, offering insights that are rarely accessible to outsiders.' Yan Liu, Asian Studies Review

'Overall, this book provides readers with rare and valuable insights into an ethnic-Chinese Protestant Christian community that is still understudied. It complements the literature on ethnic Chinese and Protestant Christianity in Indonesia, and will be of greatest use to scholars and general readers with an interest in this area of study.' Wu-Ling Chong, University Malaya

Book Information
ISBN 9781789761559
Author Chang-Yau Hoon
Format Paperback
Page Count 312
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press