It also allows a more understanding of the accommodatory stance which PKS has towards the state and other political forces. This offers new possibilities for explaining the PKS phenomenon and assists in differentiating between various types of Islamic revivalism in contemporary Indonesia. He reworks the santri typology, dividing it into convergent, radical and global substreams. He critiques the existing categorisations for Indonesian Islam and points to their inadequacy when describing the PKS and the campus-based Tarbiyah movement from which it sprang. In this book, he provides a thoughtful and authoritative context for viewing PKS. Yon Machmudi has rendered us a valuable service.
This is partly due to the fact that the party represents a new trend within Indonesian Islam which has few parallels with preceding movements. Understanding PKS and analysing its political behaviour presents challenges to scholars and observers. Not only is it growing rapidly in membership and electoral support, it is also bringing a new and markedly different approach to Islamic politics, one which has no precedent in Indonesian history.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is the most interesting phenomenon in contemporary Indonesian politics.
