Dr. Amanda tho Seeth
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- Name
- Dr. Amanda tho Seeth
Seminar für Südostasienstudien
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften
Invalidenstr. 118
10115 Berlin
Raum 119
amanda.tho.seeth (at) hu-berlin.de
I have studied Islamic Studies, Political Science and Indonesian Studies at the University of Hamburg and Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta (UIN Jakarta). I hold a PhD in Political Science (Comparative Politics and International Development Studies) from Philipps-University Marburg and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg. I have also served as a consultant for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on several issues on religion, politics, and development in a range of countries in Asia and Africa.
I am editorial board member at International Quarterly for Asian Studies (IQAS, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, Freiburg/Germany) and Islamic Studies Review (ISR, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, Depok/Indonesia).
My research is situated at the intersection of Political Science and Area Studies. It focuses on the religion-politics nexus in the Islamic world and zooms in on Indonesia from comparative and transregional perspectives. Most of my work is based in Comparative-Historical Analysis, Historical Institutionalism, the Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, and Global International Relations (Global IR).
Thematically, I am very interested in Indonesian debates, narratives, and policies on Islam, democracy, human rights, and peace and conflict as well as Indonesia’s position within the Islamic world. Especially, my work covers the political dimension of Islamic university campuses and the political role of Islamic academics and intellectuals in Indonesia. Currently, I am highly interested in how religion and science intersect with diplomacy, particularly I engage with the diplomatic agency of Indonesian Islamic academia. I currently also have a deep interest in the dynamics and tensions between nationalism, patriotism, and cosmopolitanism and how these play out in Indonesia.
Publications (selection)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2023. “Renegotiating the Islam-Development Nexus in Indonesia: Fikih Peradaban as a Middle Ground between Local and Global Development Paradigms”, Islam Nusantara: Journal for the Study of Islamic History and Culture 4(2): 1-26.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2023. “The Indonesian ʻCosmopolitan Islamic Intellectualʼ Revisited:
A Focus on the Continued Prevalence of ʻCosmopatriotismʼ and the ʻWestʼ”, International Journal of Islam in Asia 2(2): 114-143.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2022. “Islamic Universities and Identity Politics during Democratization: Contrasting Indonesia and Tunisia”, in: Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, volume 32: 212-237.
tho Seeth, Amanda, and Delphine Allès. 2021. “From Consumption to Production: The Extroversion of Indonesian Islamic Education”, in: TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 9(2): 145-161.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2021. ““Electing a President is Islamic Worship” – The Print Media Discourse of Azyumardi Azra during Reformasi (1998-2004)”, in: Archipel, no. 101: 209-244.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2021. “Democracy Taught: The State Islamic University of Jakarta and its Civic Education Course during Reformasi (1998-2004)”, in: International Quarterly for Asian Studies 52(1-2):113-142.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
tho Seeth, Amanda. forthcoming 2025. “Fiqh al-Hadarah and Its Implications for the United Nations and the Future of a Rules-Based International Order”, in: Hefner, Robert (ed.): Nahdlatul Ulama, Humanitarian Islam, and Civilizational Renewal.
tho Seeth, Amanda. forthcoming 2025. “Labeling Islam: The Diversity of Discourses on a Moderate Islam à la Indonesia”, in: Magazzini, Tina and Georges Fahmi (eds.): The Routledge Handbook on the Governance of Islam and Violent Radicalization, London: Routledge.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2023. “Indonesian Islamic Academia as a Transregional Political Actor: Understanding Global Agency through Local History”, in: Derichs, Claudia et al. (eds.): Local Responses to Global Challenges: The Transregional Southeast Asian Studies Reader, 97-116, Singapore: World Scientific.
Editorships
tho Seeth, Amanda and Jafar Suryomenggolo. 2024. (eds. of special issue). “Introduction: The Politics of Marginalisation in Indonesia: The Jokowi Era”, in: International Quarterly for Asian Studies, 55(2): 137-153.
tho Seeth, Amanda and Claudia Derichs. 2021. (eds. of special section). “Introduction: Religion in Transregional Connections: Indonesia and Malaysia”, in: TRaNS: Trans-Regional and
-National Studies of Southeast Asia, 9(2): 113-115.
Policy Papers
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2023. “Indonesia’s Islamic Peace Diplomacy: Crafting a Role Model for Moderate Islam”, GIGA Focus Asien 2, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
tho Seeth, Amanda and Matthias Basedau. 2023. “Beeinflusst Religionsfreiheit die Handlungsfähigkeit religiöser Nichtregierungsorganisationen für die Erreichung der SDGs?”, GIGA Brief Januar, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
tho Seeth, Amanda. 2015. “Zwischen Demokratisierung und Gewalt: Universitäten in Nordafrika seit 2011”, GIGA Focus Nahost 7, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
Kovacs, Amanda. 2014. “Saudi Arabia Exporting Salafi Education and Radicalizing Indonesia’s Muslims”, GIGA Focus International Edition English 7, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies. (also available in German and Chinese)
Kovacs, Amanda. 2012. “Religiöse Diskriminierung in Indonesien: Ambivalente Rechtslage und politische Passivität”, GIGA Focus Asien 11, Hamburg: German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
Presentations (since 2023)
- 2024
November 29, 2024
“Politics of Marginalisation in Indonesia: The Jokowi Era and Beyond”
Current Dynamics in Southeast Asia: Indonesian Politics – The Jokowi Era and Beyond
Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO)
Paris, France
November 6, 2024
“Fiqh al-Hadarah and Its Implications for the United Nations and the Future of a Rules-Based International Order”
Nahdlatul Ulama, Humanitarian Islam, and Civilizational Renewal
Jakarta, Indonesia
September 20, 2024
“Humanitarian Islam dan Tantangan Kesenjangan Global”
Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Jakarta
Jakarta, Indonesia
May 4, 2024 (invited speaker)
roundtable discussion
Festival Islam Kepulauan – Voices of the Archipelago
Bronbeek Museum
Arnhem, The Netherlands
March 15, 2024 (invited speaker)
“Indonesiaʼs Islam Diplomacy ”
roundtable “Religious Diplomacy in Asia”
Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference (AAS)
Seattle, USA
- 2023
October 18, 2023 (invited speaker)
“Indonesia's Place in the World: Diplomacy as Tool for Raising International Status”
Indonesian Studies Day
Humboldt University Berlin, Germany
September 15, 2023 (invited speaker)
“From the Campus to the World: Mapping Indonesiaʼs Islamic Science Diplomacy”
panel "Indonesian Diplomacy"
German Association for Asian Studies (DGA)
University of Rostock, Germany
September 7, 2023
discussant of panel “A Deep Dive into an Indonesian University: Exploring Extremism, Identity, and Morality”
REMOBOKO Conference: University Campuses in Africa and Beyond: Training Grounds, Moral Spaces and Political Arena
Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)
Berlin, Germany
June 22, 2023 (invited moderator)
moderator of conference “Religion, Diversity, and Security: International Organizations and Religion in School Education”
Leibniz Institute for Educational Media – Georg Eckert Institute
Braunschweig, Germany
June 6, 2023
"International Development Cooperation, SDG 16 I (Peace), and Religious Actors in the Global South"
Workshop "Religion for Peace? Identifying Conditions and Mechanisms of Interfaith Peace"
GIGA Office Berlin, Germany
May 17, 2023 (invited speaker)
“Not Just Daʼwah: Islamic Academia in the Indonesian Political Scene”
State Islamic University Surabaya
Surabaya, Indonesia
February 5, 2023 (invited speaker)
“Melokalisir Agenda PBB 2030 di Indonesia: Beberapa Pikiran tentang Islam Nusantara sebagai Paradigma Pembangunan Berkelanjutan”
Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Surabaya
Surabaya, Indonesia