Higher education in India is always a socio-political way and a powerful engine of social mobility. It adds to the benefits to society as more people earning Higher Education credentials. It is proven that college graduates earn more. They are less likely to be unemployed. They are more likely to vote, more likely to volunteer, and more likely to maintain good health. India as a Globalised and developing nation has been little systematically progressing on the educational front since its independence. The government is making progress in reaching out to all the classes of its society. The improvement in the country’s economic front has resulted in the upscaling of communication technology. The advent of the internet, have vastly leveraged the promotion of education across all verticals. But at the same time, the idea of Equity and Equality needs to be redefined in the present context of the newly established notion of ‘Inclusivity’. This paper deliberates on the various ideas and approaches of Higher Education in India on ‘Inclusivity’ in general and Equity and Equality in particular.

This paper observes youth expressions of religiosity through inter-religious dialogue in Indonesia. It focuses on how Indonesian youth examine their interpretations of their own religions and their efforts at building interfaith and peace networks through various programs. It then explores these initiatives using the theory of the seven moments of dialogue proposed by the Indonesian theologian J.B. Banawiratma. By examining these initiatives, the paper offers some grounded observations on the positive contributions that Indonesian youth has made amidst the changing religious proclivities of their peers toward a more conservative turn.

Studies on Islam and Muslims in Vietnam are indeed very interesting to be understood and shared with other Muslims in the region. Historically, the Cham communities in Vietnam have converted over many years from Hinduism to Buddhism and to Islam. Today, the Cham communities are often associated with Islam, but this does not mean that they are all practicing the same rituals. However, even though they have different beliefs and orientations, the interactions among the Cham in their own community are still in harmony. I will argue that the differences between ethnic identities and religious orientations among the Cham in Vietnam have been influenced by their interactions with outsiders and their transnational networks. This study tries to capture the religious orientations among the Cham in Vietnam and how they maintain their harmonious livelihood and social interaction in the community. Furthermore, it takes a qualitative approach through observations, in-depth interviews and review literature. The observations and in-depth interviews occurred in May-June 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City and Phan Rang Province in Central Vietnam.

Papua has experienced the threat of communal harmony between Christians and Muslims regarding the transnational Islam advent in Papua. The Tolikara Incident in 2015 and the latest one the banning of building the minaret of the Al-Aqsha Mosque in Sentani in 2018, to a certain degree, were part of transnational Islam influence in the region with a majority non-Muslim population. The presence of transnational Islam cannot be separated from the emergence of the public sphere in the country after the demise of the Suharto regime in 1998. This paper will explore transnational Islam in Papua by reviewing previous studies and discourse on transnational Islam in Indonesia. At the outset, the author will delve literature review on transnationalism and transnational Islam globally. Afterward, it will discuss the presence of transnational Islam, especially Salafi of Jafar Umar Thalib (JUT) in Jayapura and Keerom that has created tension and hostilities within Muslim communities, as well as toward non-Muslim. No doubt, Salafi faction of JUT has tried to promulgate or disseminate radical Islamic teaching through dakwah (propagation) and other activities that threaten Papua Land of Peace (Papua Tanah Damai). As a result, their presence has gotten resistance from some Islamic mass organizations and non-Muslims.

This study sets out to establish conceptual demarcations, more concordant to the theoretical acquisition with regard to the knowledge society. The knowledge society is a form of society in which members are examining ideas constantly. In Knowledge society there ought to be communicative rationality, wherein, arguments and receptive audiences are very important. The communicative phenomena in the knowledge society, knowledge should be participatory. This will occur only when society is knowledgeable and should have the potency to think, participate and respond critically. This type of knowledge domain will go beyond information because mere information is not knowledge, it requires Understanding and perception, imaginative framework, communicative and creative framework than only knowledge society would function and humanities (Human approach- when men are at the center of inquiry and inquiry must be human-centric) must be its hardcore. A society having equalitarian justice, the question of empowerment will not arise; this will create equal potency of freedom and capacity to respond. and can have healthy communication. It would be a dialoguing society, wherein negotiation will never seize. A society without a Motivational crisis, the Rationality crisis and the Legitimacy crisis can become knowledge society provided they have a sharable life world, which would respect alternative ways of thinking and it would be communicative. Virtues like empathy, compassion, etc must be at the center of the knowledge society. There should be the absence of dark emotions (sadness, suffering, anxiety, envy, boredom, loneliness, guilt, anger) in the knowledge society. Moreover, this entire phenomenon is not possible without nudging by the authority keeping libertarian paternalism and choice architecture.

The collapse of New Order regime was caused by the Asian financial crisis with the crisis of confidence by Suharto and his political cronies. The origin of the Indonesian crisis situated in the effort to maintain foreign financial capital could not restore the deficit of the national market, while they also tried to keep the stability of fixed exchange rate. Under Suharto, Indonesia was ruled by the military dual-function system and authoritarianism. Popular uprising, pillages, and demonstrations arose in the breakdown of New Order. The aim of this paper is to analyze the rational choice theory of New Order regime and the social solidarity of the popular uprising in the Indonesian people. By the attempt to scrutinize the New Order regime, there are some questions need to be asked. Firstly, how was the emergence and his political scheme in the history of Indonesia? Secondly, why the Asian Financial Crisis brought Suharto and New Order regime into its downfall? and thirdly, what was the effect of mob violence that appeared in 1998? Through these questions, rational choice institutionalism and social solidarity will be the approaches to delve the analysis of New Order regime by differentiate the governmental, national and international scale of the study.

The refugee crisis in Germany is a part of the European migrant crisis in connection with the immigration of high numbers of people arriving in the European Union (EU) from across the Mediterranean Sea or overland through Southeast Europe. This period reached its’ summit in 2015/2016 with over a million protection seekers arriving in Germany. The high influx of protection seekers in such a short time has caused a social debate in Germany on how to handle the high numbers of immigrants and arrange the political asylum. There are different views on the reception of migrants that range from the culture of welcome to xenophobia. This can be observed in the society, where a part of the population gets involved with the refugees’ integration, whereas another (increasing) part foments anti-immigrant sentiments. Between those beliefs, many different attitudes and behaviors towards refugees can be found. This article discusses the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Germany, concerning the divided opinions reaching from a culture of welcome to xenophobia. It addresses the transformation that Germany is currently undergoing and gives several examples of incidents of and against refugees that affect the mindset of the German population.

The problems of democratic transition as a context of this study will be analyzed. Also, violence and political exclusion of the religious minority groups will be explained. At the end of the chapter, the possibility of political will and legal solutions for violence against religious minority groups in Indonesia in the post-1998 era are discussed. It is explained that a comprehensive legal protection scheme would be needed to realize the rights of religious minorities in Indonesia. One of the fundamental purposes of democratization in the post-authoritarian era is thus shown to be the protection of religious minority groups. The chapter will first discuss the problem of democratic changes with a focus on the politics of decentralization and the critical practice of civil democracy, which will all be explored, the two significant changes affecting the position of religious minorities in Indonesia. The chapter will then consider the exclusion of religious minorities and the failure of the ‘democratic’ state to protect their basic citizenship rights. Next, the role of the state and of civil society in the implementation of non-respect of legal protection for religious minority communities will be considered based on the critical overview.

The Philippines held its national elections last May 2019. During the election campaign, several religious groups organized electoral slates or supported particular political candidates. Among these groups were the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) with its Alagad Party, the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Movement with its CIBAC Party, the El Shaddai with its Buhay Party, and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which supported all of the candidates backed by the Duterte government. On the other hand, the dominant Roman Catholic Church did not support any political party or candidate as a bloc but emphasized the need for the electorate to use their conscience and vote wisely. Some Roman Catholic priests, however, openly supported the opposition Otso Diretso slate for the Senate. This paper looks at the interesting link between religion and politics in the Philippines, especially in its recent political history, i.e. from 1986 up to the present. In particular, this paper will attempt to answer the following questions: What role do the various religious groups in the Philippines play in the field of the political arena? Do Filipinos vote based on their religious affiliation?