ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how and under what conditions pious, middle-class Muslim aspirations are materialized in urban settings through processes of place-making. Based on interviews, informal discussions and ethnographic fieldwork in various Islamicized places, it explores how the intersection between Islamic politics and religious consumption takes place in urban and peri-urban settings. In the process, this investigation explores the boundaries of political space and under what circumstances such 'private' and individualized activity as consumer behaviour is not only 'political', but complements or substitutes for more formal political affiliations or participation. By examining processes of urban place-making, the chapter proposes the concept of 'liquid Islamism' to explore the ambivalent connections between Islamic consumption and politics in contemporary Malaysia and Indonesia. Places such as Muslim gated communities and fashion boutiques are places where various ideas and practices of Islamism are not only enforced and promoted, but also negotiated and contested.
