Spiritual Economies: Islam, Globalization, and the Afterlife of Development

The Emotional and Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) spiritual-motivational training program at Indonesia's Krakatau Steel combines Islamic principles with Western ideas of business leadership and life coaching. The program, developed in response to the country's elimination of import tariffs on steel, presents globalization to workers as a divine challenge that can be met by using the five pillars of Islam as directives for achieving win-win solutions. Rudnyckyj (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria) examines ESQ and similar programs created by self-styled spiritual reformers and directed toward moderate Muslims in Southeast Asia. The author interprets these programs as evidence against the assumption that religion serves as a form of resistance to modernization and neoliberalism in developing countries. He surveys the legacy of nationalist development from the Suharto period in Indonesia through the post-Suharto period, then describes specific interventions that spiritual reformers have devised to address Indonesia's economic crisis and the failure of developmentalism. He concludes by analyzing how spiritual reform has interacted with religious, national, and class identities in the region. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)