RELIGION AND IDENTITY POLITICS: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERPECTIVE

This article is aimed to proposize some theories related to religion and identity politics from sociological perspective. The research is conducted by analyzing each concept using theoretical and conceptual approaches. The proposition in this study is based on the literature study and factual evidence found in the research field. The proposition is limited to the function of religion and the function of identity politic itself. Generally, the outcomes of the proposition is to conclude that a religion has a potential chance to be a media on the identity political movement of minority religious group in a dominant religious society. Some adjusments are made by the minority as a negotiation form in order to be accepted by the people in the society. However, the religion based on identity political movement can also have a potential chance to decrease the nationalism spirit. This article provides some practical suggestions on how to manage the identified political movement as a minority religious group in a multicultural society (like Indonesia) and recommends further studies on similar topics. Keywords: religion, identity politics, and nationalis