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8 AsianJLS 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/ajulsoc8 and id is 1 raw text is: Asian Journal of Law and Society (2021), 8, 1-18 CAMBRIDGE doi:10.1017/als.2020.53 UNIVERSITY PRESS RESEARCH ARTICLE Religious Nationalism and Religious Freedom in Asia: Mapping Regional Trends in a Global Phenomenon Jaclyn Neol'* and Brett G. Scharffs2 'National University of Singapore and 2Brigham Young University *corresponding author. E-mail: jaclyn.neo@nus.edu.sg Abstract In recent times, religious nationalism has emerged as a major basis for identity and mobilization. In Asia, religious nationalism specifically challenges existing pluralist approaches to constitutional gov- ernment, which have generally been seen as necessary to ensure peaceful coexistence. The increas- ing alignment of religious and national boundaries has the worrying capacity to neutralize the cross-cutting cleavages that could otherwise vitiate the centrifugal tendencies of pluralistic soci- eties. In the context of pluralistic Asia, therefore, religious nationalism is fundamentally anchored in a rejection of ethnic, religious, cultural, and even legal plurality. This has serious consequences for the freedoms of religious groups, particularly minority groups and minorities within dominant reli- gious groups. This article introduces the Special Issue studying not only the phenomenon of religious nationalism in Asia, but also its impact on the rights of religious groups and their religious freedoms, broadly conceived. Keywords: religious nationalism; religious freedom; constitutional law; pluralism; rights I. Introduction In recent times, religious nationalism has emerged as a major basis for identity and mobi- lization in many countries in Asia. Be it Islamic nationalists protesting Ahok's alleged blas- phemous statements in Indonesia,1 Buddhist monks rallying against perceived Muslim invasion in Myanmar,2 or Hindu nationalists attacking asserted encroachment by religious minorities in India,3 there appears to be a growing complex and intimate intertwining of religion and nationalism, which has given rise to political divisiveness and even violence in some instances. While modern nationalism was previously often thought to be an inher- ently secular phenomenon,4 this belief is no longer defensible in the face of movements across the world, including in Asia, which depend on the comingling of religion and nationalism.5 This phenomenon requires close study, not least since the religious- nationalist movements we are witnessing today are not rooted in any one religious tradi- tion or limited to any particular sociopolitical system. As has been observed, there is no simple or straightforward pattern in terms of how religion interacts with nationalism.6 At certain moments in history, it has seemed that 1 widianto (2019); Jensen & Purnonmo (2016). 2 Beech (2019a). s Griswold (2019). 4 Kohn (1963); Emerson (1960). s Juergensmeyer (1994), pp. 45-145. 6 Soper & Fetzer (2018), p. 1. © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

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