Menchik Speaks at Stanford on Indonesian Islamic Civil Society
Jeremy Menchik, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Fredrick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, spoke at two events at Stanford University on October 12, 2017. The first was co-sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program and the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University, and the second was hosted by the Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Freeman Spogli Institute.
The first event, entitled “Implications of L’affaire Ahok, or, How Indonesian Democracy Dies,” featured a discussion led by Menchik outlining the role that Indonesian Islamic civil society could play in the decline of Indonesian democracy. Drawing on original survey data and interviews, as well as case studies in which the preferences of Nahlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah leaders have become visible, Menchik argued that their values are compatible with both democracy and authoritarianism.
Menchik was also a discussant at “The Moderates’ Dilemma: Obstacles to Mobilization Against Islamist Extremism,” examining a paper by Kerry Ann Carter Persen, Carnegie Predoctoral Fellow at CISAC for the 2017-2018 academic year and a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University.
Person’s paper includes an original survey experiment and observational data of participant behavior during two surveys that demonstrate moderates hide anti-violent views for fear of reputation costs and that these effects vary by individuals’ sensitivity to reputation costs and degree of uncertainty of others’ attitudes.
Jeremy Menchik’s research interests include comparative politics, religion and politics, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. At Boston University he is a member of the graduate faculty of political science and coordinates the MAIA program with specialization in Religion and International Affairs.