Accounting for the Soul

This chapter focuses on the religious socialization among conservative Islamists in the post-Suharto era. Islamists want to groom ultra-orthodox believers who are punctilious about ritual performances—persons seemingly different from the secular liberal subject. Yet, Islamists utilize accounting and auditing technologies from the business world because they find them useful for creating the self-governing believer. Although Islamists have at times rejected democracy, there are democratic impulses in their religious improvisation. By forming devout and auditable subjects, Islamists hope to lay the foundation for the creation of a transparent, corruption-free, and pious nation before God.