organisational radicalism and induces its politically radical stance in response to certain situations. The relationships among the three aspects of the NU, i.e., organisational radicalism, political situationalism, and religious traditionalism, can be understood, in broad outlines, as follows: (a) the NU's adherence to the Sunni tradition buttresses the autonomy of the ulama and sanctions the institutionalisation of this tradition in the structural features of the NU organisation, as we have seen; (b) the religious traditionalism enhances its organisational radicalism and makes it behave in a situationally selective way, i.e., adaptive or radical, vis-a-vis its external political environment; and(c) in a politically adverse situation its organisational radicalism induces the emergence of its role as articulator of political grievances of the underprivileged masses for, in the NU's self-perception, it has a religious obligation to speak up for the well-being of the people, i.e., the umat. Thus, it seems quite understandable that the NU with its religious traditionalism is now taking a radical stance vis-a-vis the current political environment. Hence my notion of the radical traditionalism of the Nahdlatul Ulama is derived. Concluding Remarks: The Study of Religion and Politics Admittedly, the ethnography for this paper is sketchy and the theoretical argument CryptiC.24 yet I feel that the first-hand observation I made of the Nahdlatul Ulama in action has enlightened me about at least one important point pertaining to the relationship between religion and politics in Indonesia today. When viewed from a secular viewpoint, the performance of the NU in Indonesian politics and the internal politics of the NU itself looks very puzzling: the aspects of radicalism and traditionalism in the NU appear mutually contradictory. However, when we take seriously the view that religion is supreme in values as well as in institutional devices of the NU organisation, that is, the view of the NU member himself, the radicalism and traditionalism of the NU present themselves as the two sides of the same coin. As an anthropologist, especially as an anthropologist working in Indonesia, I have long been accustomed to placing religion and politics on the same plane. This practice, however, is not only an act of disrespect to the faith of the individual whom we study but also a faulty research strategy, for, by so doing, we arbitrarily delimit the scope of our conceptualisation, keeping it unrealistically underdeveloped and undifferentiated. Instead, we need a new, more sophisticated paradigm for the study of religion and politics in which the variable of religion is given a more distinctively autonomous place than has hitherto been the case. Religion cannot and should not be reduced to politics; nor, perhaps, to culture. More generally, it seems increasingly obvious that neither political nor cultural reductionism is capable of accounting satisfactorily for the recent resurgence of religious consciousness and devotion in the Islamic world. It seems that the students engaged in the study of religion and politics, including anthropologists, are now faced with the intellectual and existential challenge of this new phenomenon. A serious rethinking our conceptual framework is called for if we are to respond to this challenge. This paper, I hope, may be regarded as a small contribution, in my own terms, to this task of reappraisal.25 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Abdurrahman Wahid and the Organising Committee of the 26th National Congress of the Nahdlatul Ulama who invited me to participate in the congress as a special guest, undangan khusus. I also would like to thank the Toyota Foundation of Japan whose grant supported my trip to Indonesia. An earlier version of this paper was read at the fifth annual conference of the Australian Anthropological Society, 26-29 August, 1980, Brisbane. Many people have helped me in various ways at different stages in the preparation of this paper. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them: Ben Anderson, Reiko Atsumi, Brigid Ballard, Geoffrey Benjamin, Zam Dhofier, James Fox, Anthony Johns, Sidney Jones, Hiroyoshi Kano, Masayuki Kitamura, Burhan Magenda, Toru Matsui, Chalid Mawardi (and P.B. Ansor members), Hisako Nakamura, M. Ansori Nawawi, Allan Samson, Takashi Shiraishi, S. Soebardi, Karel Steenbrink, and Judith Wilson. It goes without saying, however, that none of those people should be held responsible for any errors still to be found in this paper: I alone must assume the responsibility for them. References Abdurrahman Wahid 1979, Bunga Rampai Pesantren: Kumpulan Karya Tulis Abdurrahman Wahid, Dharma Bhakti, Jakarta. Aboebakar, H. (ed.), 1957, Sedjarah Hidup KI-IA. Wahid Hasjim dan Karangan Tersiar, Panitia Buku Peringatan aim. KHA. Wahid Hasjim, Jakarta. Achmad Siddiq 1979, Khitthah Nahdliyah, Balai Buku, Surabaya. Anderson, Benedict R.O'G. 1970, Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance 1944-1946, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y. -- 1977, 'Religion and Politics in Indonesia since Independence', in Benedict R. O'G. Anderson, M. Nakamura, and M. Slamet, Religion and Social Ethos in Indonesia, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, Clayton, pp.21-32. Benda, Harry J. 1958, The Crescent and the Rising Sun. Indonesian Islam under the Japanese Occupation 1942- 1915, W. van Hoeve, The Hague and Bandung. Dawam Rahardjo, M. 1974a, 'Kehidupan Pemuda Santri: Penglihatan dari Jendela Pesantren Pabelan', in T. Abdullah (ed.), Pemuda dan Perubahan Sosial, LP3ES, Jakarta, pp.90-112. --- (ed.), 1974b, Pesantren dan Pembaharuan, LP3ES, Jakarta. ---1975, 'The Kyai, the Pesantren, and the Village: A Preliminary Sketch', Prisma (English Edition), vol.l, no.l, pp.32-43. Feith, Herbert, and Lance Castles, (eds), 1970, Indonesian Political Thinking,1945-1965, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y. Geertz, Clifford 1960a,'The Javanese Kijaji: The Changing Role of a Cultural Broker', in Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 2, no. 2, pp.2289_49. ---1960b, The Religion of Java, The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois. Idham Chalid 1979, Pidato Ketua Umum PB Nahdlatul Ulama KHDr. Idham Chalid pada Muktamar NU Ke-XXVI di Semarang, (Mineographed) Liddle, R. William 1978, 'The 1977 Indonesian Election and New Order Legitimacy', in Southeast Asian Affairs, 1978, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. Mahbub Djunaidi 1978, Politik Tingkat Tinggi Kampus, Kelompok Studi Batas Kota, Yogyakarta. May, Brian 1978, The Indonesian Tragedy,: Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. McDonald, Hamish 1980, Suharto's Indonesia, Fontana Books, Blackburn, Victoria. Nahdlatul Ulama 1979, Rancangan Materi Muktamar N.U. Ke- XXVI, Tanggal 1-16 Rajab 1399 H/5-ll Juni 1979 M di Semarang, Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama (mimeographed), Jakarta. Nakamura, Mitsuo 1972, 'Jogjakarta-shi Kotagede niokeru Shakaijinruigaku Chosa no Yobihokoku', in Tonan Ajia Kenyu [Southeast Asian Studies], vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 466-476. ---1976, The Crescent Arises Over the Banyan Tree: A Study of the Muhammadijah Movement in a Central Javanese Town, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. ---1977, 'Professor Haji [Abdul] Kahar Muzakkir and the Development of the Reformist Movement in Indonesia', in Benedict R. O'G. Anderson, M. Nakamura, and M. Slamet (eds), Religion and Social Ethos in Indonesia, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, pp.l-20. ---1980a, 'The Reformist Ideology of Muhammadiyah', in James J. Fox (ed.), Indonesia: The Making of a Culture, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, pp.273-86. ---1980b, 'Sufi Elements in Muhammadiyah? Notes from Field Observation', Paper read at the fifth annual conference of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions, held concurrently with the international conference in Islam,'The Qur'an through Fourteenth Centuries,' at the Australian National University, Canberra, May 1980 (Published in Indonesian translation, Unsur Sufi dalam Muhammadiyah: Catatan dari Kancah, in Prisma, no. 8, August 1980, pp.92- 99). Saifuddin Zuhri 1977,Guruku: Orang-orang dari Pesantren,: P.T. Al Ma'arif, Bandung. Sudjoko Prasodjo et al., 1974, Profil Pesantren: Laporan Hasil Penelitian Pesantren Al-Falak dan Delapan Pesantren Lain di Bogor, LP3ES, Jakarta. Ward, Ken 1974, The 1971 Election in Indonesia: An East Java Case Study, Monash Papers on Southeast Asia No. 2, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne. Zamakhsyari Dhofier 1980, 'Kinship and Marriage among the Javanese Kyai', Indonesia, no. 29, pp. 47-58. ---1981, The Pesantren Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kyai in the Maintenance of the Traditional Ideology of Islam in Java, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, The Australian National University, Canberra. ********* 24 My effort to understand the NU, and to arrive at a more balanced perspective of Islam in Indonesia, has barely begun. I am aware that the present paper is too narrow in scope to do justice to the NU in its entirety and too simplistic in analysis to reveal the complexity of its dynamics. It is my sincere hope that my colleagues, especially those who are well qualified in Islamic studies, will pay serious attention to the study of the NU of Indonesia, a vital Islamic movement in the contemporary Muslim world. I will be very happy if my present effort stimulates their intellectual appetite. 25 For more on this point from different angles see Nakamura [1980a; 1980b].