How democratic is contemporary Indonesia? While analysts differ, Indonesian citizens, when asked in systematic public opinion surveys conducted regularly by the authors since 1999, consistently express strong support for democratic principles and also believe that their country's democratic performance is high. Support for democratic performance is highly correlated with support for government performance, as measured by perceptions of the condition of the national economy and political system. At the same time, higher levels of education and income, in Indonesia as in (...) other countries, have created a considerable number of critical citizens, that is, citizens who value democracy but are critical of its performance. On our evidence for Indonesia, it is members of this group who are the most motivated and best prepared to demand a higher level of democratic performance from their elected officials. (shrink)

The epistemological foundation of unity of knowledge is used to formulate a system-model of participatory socioeconomic development. The micro-properties of such a participatory development approach are deeply ethical in nature. In order to bring out the endogenous role of ethics derived from the moral law in reference to the epistemic foundation, and thereby explain their impact on the socioeconomic development experience, the methods of topological space and topological mappings are found to be appropriate for formalizing the complex nature of participatory (...) dynamics. They emerge in the midst of institutional and organic interaction, integration, and evolution. The application of topological methods to participatory socioeconomic development thus opens up a field that is rarely used by mathematical economists. In this sense this article is an original contribution to the area of ethical development theory and its topological explanation and application. (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, Volume 31, Issue 2, Page 438-452, April 2022.

Islamic theory of knowledge and philosophy; papers of a meeting.

Background: Post-mortem needle biopsies have been used in resource-poor settings to determine cause of death and there is interest in using them in Bangladesh. However, we did not know how families and communities would perceive this procedure or how they would decide whether or not to consent to a post-mortem needle biopsy. The goal of this study was to better understand family and community concerns and decision-making about post-mortem needle biopsies in this low-income, predominantly Muslim country in order to design (...) an informed consent process. Methods: We conducted 16 group discussions with family members of persons who died during an outbreak of Nipah virus illness during 2004-2008 and 11 key informant interviews with their community and religious leaders. Qualitative researchers first described the post-mortem needle biopsy procedure and asked participants whether they would have agreed to this procedure during the outbreak. Researchers probed participants about the circumstances under which the procedure would be acceptable, if any, their concerns about the procedure, and how they would decide whether or not to consent to the procedure. Results: Overall, most participants agreed that post-mortem needle biopsies would be acceptable in some situations, particularly if they benefitted society. This procedure was deemed more acceptable than full autopsy because it would not require major delays in burial or remove organs, and did not require cutting or stitching of the body. It could be performed before the ritual bathing of the body in either the community or hospital setting. However, before consent would be granted for such a procedure, the research team must gain the trust of the family and community which could be difficult. Although consent may only be provided by the guardians of the body, decisions about consent for the procedure would involve extended family and community and religious leaders. Conclusions: The possible acceptability of this procedure during outbreaks represents an important opportunity to better characterize cause of death in Bangladesh which could lead to improved public health interventions to prevent these deaths. Obstacles for research teams will include engaging all major stakeholders in decision-making and quickly building a trusting relationship with the family and community, which will be difficult given the short window of time prior to the ritual bathing of the body. (shrink)

In 2015, Wan Kamal Mujani, a Professor of Islamic History and Siti Nurulizah Musa, a postgraduate student in Arabic and Islamic Studies, both from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia published an edited book entitled ‘Arab Spring’: Factor and Impact. Written in Malay and published by the Faculty of Islamic Studies of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. This volume comprises of fourteen chapters on the ‘Arab Spring’. They approach this phenomenon from different perspectives in order to guide the readers understand selected issues arising arose (...) from those momentous events that shook the Arab world between 2011 and 2012. (shrink)