Deconstructing the Dichotomy of Agama and Kepercayaan: A Transformative Strategy in the Politic of Recognition towards Marapu Indigenous Religion

The category of agama is mainly referred to the six recognized world religions in Indonesia while kepercayaan is a general terminology that is used to accommodate the Indonesian indigenous religions. The indigenous religions are excluded from the category because agama has been perceived in a very essentialist way making it being differentiated. Recently, the Constitutional Court Decision in 2017 allowing indigenous religions to put their religious identity in their ID Card has been considered as the most progressive changes in the politics of religion in Indonesia. In that regard, this work will deconstruct the problematic dichotomy as a form of transformative strategy for gaining recognition. This research uses Nancy Fraser and Kristian Stokke’s frameworks of the problem of misrecognition and its affirmative and transformative remedies as the main theoretical frameworks. This research found that what has been done mostly so far in the effort of gaining recognition is arguably a part of affirmative strategy. By examining the specific case of the Marapu community, this work would also have significance to the Indonesian indigenous religions in general whose problem of recognition is also rooted in the dichotomy.