Institutional Repository UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta: No conditions. Results ordered -Date Deposited. 2024-03-29T05:58:27ZEPrintshttp://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/images/sitelogo.pnghttps://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/2015-06-01T02:57:19Z2015-06-01T02:57:19Zhttp://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/id/eprint/16133This item is in the repository with the URL: http://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/id/eprint/161332015-06-01T02:57:19ZBERAGAMA DI ERA BUDAYA KONSUMER
STUDI TENTANG GAYA HIDUP KELAS MENENGAH MUSLIM PERKOTAAN
SEMARANGThis study aims to reveal the religious expression of contemporary urban
middle class Muslim society of Semarang that is currently being influenced by
trends in the cultural life of consumerism. One of the implications of religious
expression influenced by consumerism culture is aestheticization of religious life.
This tendency is a typical construction of the aesthetic lifestyle due to
consumption object succession being viewed as a form of image expression or
symbol of the luxury of the religious society in the era of global capitalism. The
problems of this research focus on (1) how the material goods consumed in the
implementation of various religious activities have given rise to a typical lifestyle
that is expressed in religious life; (2) why the material goods consumed in the
implementation of various important religious activities are expressed in an
attempt to reinforce their lifestyle; and (3) whether the lifestyle expressed is
indicative of an increase in religious passion or a form of degradation
understanding and practice of religion. The steps undertaken in this research
consist of a series of data collection and processing techniques. Data collection
includes in-depth interviews and participant observation. In-depth interviews are
intended as a form of interviews conducted coherently by using guidelines while
participant observation is meant as observations made by way of participating in
the daily activities of research subjects. Both of these data collection techniques
are done according to the nature of the data to be obtained. The study of the
phenomenon of the contemporary lifestyle of the Muslim community is assessed
according to the symbolic theory perspective that emphasizes Geertz's
hermeneutic framework. This theoretical perspective emphasizes the disclosure of
thoughts or ideas of the middle-class Muslim urban residents embodied in
everyday religious behavior, both in the private and public spaces.
The results of this study indicate that the aesthetic lifestyle of middle-class
Muslim residents of Kampoeng Semawis housing of Semarang expressed in the
context of diversity is born of the appreciation which is relatively high to the
religious commodity goods that are born by the global capitalist market. Various
religious commodities consumed in the implementation of Muslim religious
activities such as clothing, Salat equipment (prayer mat, rukuh, cap, scarf, beads,
etc.), kosher-labeled food, recitation or slametan with fancy dishes and so on are
no longer merely to meet spiritual needs but more than that they also contain an
attempt to meet the needs of image as a symbol relating to identity and social
status. Here, what is then seen is a shift in perspective and behavior towards
religion in relation to the needs of the image or symbol. Thus, what happens next
is the use of religious symbols in religious practice which is no longer purely a
religious decision. Religious tendency which emphasizes the image leads to an
aesthetic-symbolic religious lifestyle, which in this case is termed as
aestheticization of religious life. As one indicator of consumerism culture, this
aesthetic-symbolic lifestyle is born from the sophistication of global capitalist
market engineering process of constructing the benefits dimension and religious
sensibility into potential commodities for sale. This engineering process takes
place through the stages of commoditization, aestheticization, and privatization.
The choice of aesthetic-symbolic lifestyle is a contextualization to
overcome the contradiction between two different values, namely the local culture
and modem culture. Muslim residents of Kampoeng Semawis housing see that
these values should be integrated in the life of a Muslim ideally to be fixed at once
religious and modem look. Accompanying the contradiction between local values
and modem values, aesthetic-symbolic lifestyle is also stimulated by the
contradiction between the two models of diversity (mode of religion) of Islam
itself, scriptualistic (textual) and substantivistic (contextual) orientation. Muslim
residents in Kampoeng Semawis housing view that both religious models should
be integrated into an ideal religious order to become scriptualistic Muslims in
matters of worship and substantivistic Muslims in matters of muamalah. Thus,
aesthetic-symbolic religious lifestyle is a contextualization medium to address a
variety of contradictions that arise as a result of the value of socio-cultural
transformation in the global level. Similarly, this lifestyle can be seen as one part
of the phenomenon of the emergence of variants of religious expression that
marks the occurrence of new religious revival process (Islamisation) in the global
era. Not always, as feared by many, this will cause siltation on religion.
In principle, the aesthetic-symbolic religion is a portrait of a modem
lifestyle of urban society constructed to obtain greater opportunities to present
themselves --with material and social capital owned-- as a figure of religious
Muslims as well as trendy, fashionable as well as pious, or pious as well as smart,
as often being provoked by advertising media. For global capitalism market, it
does not matter whether the religious commodity constructed can really shape
piety and fashionableness of Muslim residents of Kampoeng Semawis housing,
but the important thing is to be pious and fashionable to continuously become
consumerists.NIM. 1130017034 AHMAD PATIROY