ARI Working Paper Series

The great majority of books on religious diversity forgo an analysis of religious materials in favour of a focus on doctrine, scripture and governmental policy. This paper argues that the material aspects of religion — from statues and monuments of deities, to revered religious artworks, to talismans, amulets, and even sacred cars — are absolutely crucial to the formation of Southeast Asian religious subjectivities, and in turn impact significantly upon social cohesion in an age of religious pluralism. It is in the way in which the faithful engage with religion’s tangible forms that faiths reiterate their quintessential characters and boundaries, thus enabling them to negotiate their co-existence with other competing belief systems in their midst. When seen in the context of religious diversity, an understanding of religious materials speaks volumes about wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, religious competition and the management of inter-faith interaction.