“Irrational” Beliefs in a “Rational” World

As many have pointed out, Syed Hussain Alatas’ scholarship focused on one primary goal: to deconstruct and demystify the dominant ideas and myths which have allowed the exploitations of the people and societies of Southeast Asia, and which are still used to perpetuate their exploitations by the new national elites in many countries of the developing world. Alatas was a prolific writer. One of his articles published in the prestigious European Journal of Sociology was entitled, Religion and Modernization in Southeast Asia. In this article, Alatas challenges the dominant ideas associated with religion, modernity, secularity, and rationality using the rich case study of Southeast Asia, home to multiple faiths, ethnicities, and traditions. Although written in 1970, Alatas’ ideas are still very highly pertinent to today’s discussions on contemporary understandings and mechanisms of religion in the modern world.

This chapter outlines and discusses his key arguments in this article bringing it in conversation with current research. It begins with a brief overview of the development of the sociology of religion to allow us to place his ideas in context. It then proceeds to discuss two of Alatas’ key arguments: first, the multiplicity paths and effects of modernization and the delinking of modernization with Westernization; second, the complex relationship between religion, rationality, and economic development