Rethinking the abangan : their politics and agency in contemporary Java

Abstract

This study examines the persistence, transformation, and negotiation among abangan traditions amid a changing socio-religious landscape in contemporary Java. While previous scholars, such as Robert Hefner, have shown that Islamization and the post-1965 conservative turn led to the inevitable decline of abangan, this study rethinks that narrative. By shifting the analytical focus from abangan as a rigid social category to abangan as a living, dynamic tradition, this study examines how the tradition is practiced and maintained in everyday life. To do so, this study employs a qualitative-anthropological approach and a practice-oriented framework, and it was conducted in Blora, Central Java. The data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The findings of this study reveal a paradox in the spatial configuration of the abangan tradition's continuity: a privatization of abanganism in the domestic sphere of rural communities and a publicization of abanganism in urban spaces. Moreover, there is a bureaucratization of abanganism, namely a process in which abangan traditions (such as the slametan sedekah bumi or gas deso) receive institutional support from the local government. Despite undergoing these kinds of shifts, the abangan traditions retain their core cultural logic: ritual hybridity, an orientation toward safety (slamet), and social harmony (rukun). In addition, this study also reveals that the continuity of abangan traditions is actively driven by discursive, social, and political agency. The key actors in this process are cultural reproducers - those who uphold these values in the domestic sphere, and cultural brokers - those who are more prominent in the public and political spheres and strategically integrate abangan traditions into regional agendas to secure public legitimacy. Finally, this study demonstrates that negotiation is the primary mechanism for survival. Abangan people adapt and compromise their traditions so that they can be aligned with Islamic orthodoxy norms (for example, by moving the ceremony from punden to a mosque), so that the public can accept it. Therefore, this study argues that Islamization does not necessarily marginalize abangan but rather fosters dynamic adaptation, positioning abangan as a resilient, adaptive, and politically engaged tradition.