Business, Belief and Ethnicity: Chinese entrepreneurs and the charismatic movement in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Juliette Koning (Free University Amsterdam)
In this paper the relationship between religious and business networks among ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Indonesia will be examined. Research carried out in 2004 in Yogyakarta shows that the ethnic Chinese are prominent both as leaders and as members of Pentecostal churches and charismatic movements while at the same time the ethnic Chinese can be said to be prominent in trade and business. Whereas Indonesia boasts of a Muslim majority, an impressive growth can be witnessed among the Christian charismatic movements. This growth is generated in particular by conversions among the ethnic Chinese. It seems that the adherence to charismatic belief has come to be part of Chinese identity, ethnicity and lifestyle. It is a conversion to “more energetic and contemporary” groups.
In Indonesia the position of the ethnic Chinese vis-à-vis the nation state is an ambivalent one. Ethnic Chinese citizenship as Indonesians remains contested in the Islamic contexts of the nation state. In particular the ethnic Chinese middle class refuses to settle for a minority status and objects any encroachments on their rights and class privileges. The issue of ethnicity in relation with class seems to imply that the ‘charismatic turn’ among the ethnic Chinese might be a matter of empowerment.
The proposed paper has the goal to unravel the possible linkages between the church/religious networks and the business networks of the ethnic Chinese. I shall concentrate on the foci of power and performance, and more in particular on issues of ethnic and religious identity formation both in society and business organizations and the role and meaning of charismatic Christianity as a global culture in the Indonesian setting.
