Pesantren and participatory development in Indonesia

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the implementation of participatory development between 1978 and 1993 in the Pesantren Annuqayah of Madura and the Pesantren Maslakul Huda of Central Java during which they collaborated with LP3ES (Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan, dan Penerangan Ekonomi dan Sosial, the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information) and P3M (Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren and Masyarakat, the Indonesian Society for Pesantren and Community Development). This study examines the effectiveness of the pesantren in accommodating bottom-up development as an alternative to the top-down development model of the New Order government. This study demonstrates that while both pesantren strengthened local people to participate more fully in their own development, in both cases the pesantren utilised participatory development to maintain their dominance over local society.