A Post-Tsunami Sea Change? Towards Post-Secular Disaster Response in Indonesia

Keywords: Religion, Post-secular, disaster response, tsunami, Indonesia
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 11

Abstract

The role of religious actors in disaster response, an issue that is generally understood as being dominated by secular perspectives, is increasingly receiving attention. Surprisingly considering its likelihood to offer relevant insights, however, the concept of post-secularism has seldom been adopted as an analytical framework. In response, this paper adopts a Habermasian lens to examine the relationship between religious and secular actors in Indonesia with respect to the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami. In particular, the paper highlights domestic faith organizations’ contributions to the disaster response, alongside their struggles to legitimize their leadership potential. By demonstrating the existence of constraints on religious groups playing a consequential role in a public concern that would benefit from multiple perspectives and competencies, it exemplifies how Habermas’ vision of a post-secular society is playing out in a disaster context and identifies areas in which collaboration between ostensibly secular and religious actors might be improved.