Abstracts & Bio Notes - Asian Studies Association of Australia

RICCI, Ronit (The Australian National University)
Title: Islam as a Unifying Force in an Indonesian Diasporic Community
Abstract: Since the establishment of Dutch rule in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the seventeenth
century, and throughout the eighteenth, people from across the Indonesian archipelago were
sent to that island in various capacities. Some were political exiles from places like Kartasura
and Gowa, others served in the colonial army, while still others were convicts or servants.
After 1796, with their takeover of Ceylon, the British continued to send people from the Malay
peninsula and the archipelago there, again in a range of capacities. Even though not all of the
early arrivals were Muslim, and although they came from a range of linguistic and ethnic
backgrounds, over time they came to be defined by their use of the Malay language and their
Islamic faith. This paper explores some of the manifestations of this latter dimension of their
collective identity and considers the process of its development.
Bionote: Ronit Ricci holds BA and MA degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a
PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan. She is currently a senior
lecturer at the Australian National University. Her book, Islam Translated: literature,
conversion and the Arabic Cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia, was published in 2011 by
the University of Chicago Press and won the 2013 Harry Benda Prize in Southeast Asian Studies.
(ronit.ricci@anu.edu.au)
RICHTER, Max M. (Monash University)
Title: Indonesia’s 2009 Presidential Election: Some Ethnographic Dimensions
Abstract: This paper casts light on some under-represented facets of elections in Indonesia, in
this case the 2009 Presidential Election. While for context it draws on media analysis and other
sources, the primary focus is ethnographic description and analysis based on first-hand
encounters. The paper begins by setting the election into historical context, and then
considers themes such as nationalism and social inclusion from within the ethnographic
minutiae of four Jakarta-based episodes: firstly, an oration by the then newly-inaugurated
vice-presidential nominee Boediono; second, an appearance and Q-&-A on the haj with
presidential nominee Yusuf Kalla; third, the Final Presidential Debate televised to tens of
millions across the nation; and finally, polling day procedures as viewed from the local,
neighbourhood level. Considering the Presidential election process in this way is part of a
larger project on everyday life, intellectual forums and leisure activities in new-Millennium
Jakarta.
Bionote: Dr Max M. Richter is a Research Fellow (Indonesian engagement) at Monash
Sustainability Institute (MSI) and an affiliate in Anthropology at Monash University, where he
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