Biography Narrative

Dr. Amanah Nurish is an Indonesian ethnographer and anthropologist. She is a Fulbright visiting scholar at the Dept. of Anthropology – Stanford University. She teaches at the School of Strategic and Global Studies, University of Indonesia. Before working in academic field, she worked as a regional consultant in the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) for the program of Violent Extremism and Corruption in the Pacific Asia region. She also has working experiences with USAID Washington D.C as regional coordinator for the project of Climate Change and Conflict in the East Indonesian Archipelago. Her field is religious anthropology, with research interest on minority religions, gender, environment, and populism in Southeast Asia. For the past ten years, she has been working on the Baha’i communities in Southeast Asia that had a significant impact on public discourse regarding religious minorities’ rights. She wrote books, monographs, journals and popular articles: Religion of Java: a Half Century of Clifford Geertz (2019), Shi’te and The Birth of Baha’i Faith in Iran (2016), Halal Labeling: The Next Gold Mine (2014), Welcoming Baha’i: New Official Religion In Indonesia (2014), Fetishism And Imagined Gods (2019), Corona and the New Terrorist Trap (2020), Religious Populism in Indonesian Democracy in the Internet Era (2021), Resilience of The Baha’is Community In Facing Covid-19 (2021), Santri-Abangan After A Half Century of Clifford Geertz (2021), When Abangan Embraces Sufism: Religious Phenomenology to Counter Radicalism in Indonesia (2021), Muslim-Christian Conflict and the Rise of Laskar Jihad: Tracing Islamophobia in Central Sulawesi – Indonesia (2022), etc.

Interreligious Activities and Initiatives

Cultural Heritage and Peace-coexistence In Bali

This project explores IRD through cultural heritage as well as local traditions in Bali, a tourist destination in Indonesia. Speaking about religious pluralism, Bali is one of the examples in expressing inter-religious dialogue that already existed many centuries ago before the Dutch colonization. Thus, the narratives of Balinese are uniquely associated with Hinduism as religious majority of the society. Historians said that Balinese were the root of the Majapahit kingdom (the most powerful empire of archipelago in 14th century). The general idea of the project will focus on the religious sites and communities in Bali such as Hindus temples, mosques, churches, etc. that represent IRD in the context of local traditions and culture. In order to spread “voice” of peace-building, working with different religious groups is part of this study that will give significant contribution toward IRD and peace-coexistence.

Opportunity and Challenge of IRD to Face Environmental Impact on Climate Change In Indonesian Indigenous Communities.

This initiative focuses on the activities of IRD addressed on the issue of climate change and environmental catastrophe among indigenous communities in Indonesia. Speaking about climate change, we no longer treat the earth as “holy” but regard it simply as a “resource” (Armstrong, 2019). Unless there is some kind of spiritual revolution that can keep abreast of our technological development, it is unlikely that we will save our planet. The most vulnerable groups among others are indigenous communities. Religion, which is supposed to help us to cultivate this attitude, often seems to reflect the violence and desperation of our planet. In 2007, Indonesia hosted the annual UN Climate Summit in Bali, ten Indonesian religious leaders from six religious groups presented an interfaith statement on the responsibility of religious groups to address climate change. This is the reason why it is important to support this program with wider impact.