Dr Leonie Schmidt (Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis): Eco-Islam in Indonesia: Media, Institutions, Publics
Innovative solutions to the climate issue are often sought within the natural sciences - technical fixes such as geo-engineering, for example. But climate change is also a problem that the humanities must address, says Schmidt. In her project she will therefore conduct research into cultural approaches to climate change. She will focus specifically on the Global South, much of which is on the front lines of climate change. While the Global South has seen a wide array of creative experiments and cultural approaches to climate issues, this has not so far been reflected in research. In Indonesia, for example, an eco-movement has emerged within Islam in which artists from the world of pop music, films, TV and on social media read the Koran as a ‘green’ book which calls on Muslims to be stewards of the earth. This and other cultural approaches from the Global South will be at the centre of Schmidt’s research.