ABSTRACT
The resurgence of Islam in its variety of practices has been one of the most important factors in defining contemporary Indonesian society. However, some have argued that it is only in recent decades that Islam has entered the public sphere of the nation with the largest Muslim population on Earth and affected the lives of people from many different walks of life. Economic development and globalization have provided Indonesia with a path towards industrialization in which rural subjects are transformed into urban industrial labourers. This shift has equally impacted on the way urban workers with a cultural background in the countryside perceive their devotion to Islam and represent their Islamic expression. This article focuses on the engagement of young female workers in company-sponsored Islamic gatherings (pengajian), which the participants have used to foster their own narratives both as daughters of rural Indonesia and as urban workers. I argue that the rural-urban transition and the subjects' incorporation of capitalist discipline contribute to the understanding of industrial workers' participation in, or, mobilization to, such gatherings in industrial towns. This article is based on fieldwork undertaken in Tangerang, a district to the west of Jakarta, in 2000 and 2001.
