Examining Islamic modernities and popular culture in Indonesia, Leonie Schmidt considers such diverse topics as visual culture, soap opera, cinema, fashion, rock music and urban space. In a region that is simultaneously Islamising and modernising, Schmidt shows how the juxtaposition of the seemingly incompatible can unsettle the modern/traditional dichotomy and highlight national and religious identities in their engagement with emerging modern lifestyle possibilities. Schmidt’s exciting and ambitious book is an important contribution to continuing debates about cultural transformation, pluralism and the promise of Islamic modernity.

Chris Hudson, Associate Professor of Asian Media and Culture, RMIT University

Required reading, for those craving to understand Southeast Asia’s newborn halal chic. Using the latest in cultural theory, Schmidt takes us on a journey through late capitalist Indonesia, where political détente, new media technologies and religious pop compellingly combine, thus exploring the various new and exhilarating faces of a public Islam that increasingly serves a generation of Muslims, young and old, in making oneself modern.

Bart Barendregt, Associate Professor, Leiden University, the Netherlands