Labouring under Democracy in Indonesia and Turkey: Workers, Nationalism, and Islam

This article argues that a convergence of nationalist and Islamist ideas in Indonesia and Turkey has impacted how workers understand their social positions and the conduct of labour movement struggles. These countries had been extolled until recently as examples of Muslim-majority societies that were successfully democratic, although they have a history of repressing their labour movements. Based on recent fieldwork in both countries, this article shows that the overall effect has been to encourage the development, among workers, of more accommodationist than conflictual views about their relationships with employers and the state, in accordance with prevalent ideas about the importance of unity and harmony in society, drawn from nationalist and religious sources. This helps to explain the relative lack of progress in the development of labour movements, in both countries, that are able to effectively protect and promote the class interests of workers, despite the advance of democratisation.