Hefner Keynote Address at Nahdlatul Ulama Congress in Indonesia
On January 29, 2024, Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Director of the School’s Center for the Study of Asia, gave a keynote address in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, at the annual national congress of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). With some 90 million followers, NU is the largest Muslim organization in the world. Over the past ten years NU has committed itself to the reformulation of Islamic ethics and law in a manner to be consistent with democracy, international human rights, and gender equality. Hefner’s keynote (given in Indonesian) was entitled, “Moral Leadership at a Critical Juncture: Nahdlatul Ulama’s Civilizational Jurisprudence – For Equal Rights and Against Identity Politics Weaponization of Religion.” The accompanying photo shows Hefner seated next to KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, the Executive Director of Nahdlatul Ulama.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is the former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he directed the program on Islam and civil society since 1991; coordinated interdisciplinary research and public policy programs on religion, pluralism, and world affairs; and is currently involved in two research projects: “The New Western Plurality and Civic Coexistence: Muslims, Catholics, and Secularists in North America and Western Europe”; and “Sharia Transitions: Islamic Law and Ethical Plurality in the Contemporary World.” Read more about Professor Hefner on his faculty profile.