Jurnal Iman dan Spiritualitas
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): Jurnal Iman dan Spiritualitas

The politics of religious commodification: Representation of power in the Cikande halal industrial zone

Ahmad, Ikhsan (Unknown)
Sahid, Asep Abdul (Unknown)
Safei, Agus Ahmad (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Jan 2026

Abstract

This study analyzes the Banten Provincial Government's halal discourse in press releases, social media, and Cikande Halal Industrial Zone (KIHC) promotions (2019–2024) using Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Findings reveal halal discourse as a power apparatus that commodifies religion, blending religious lexicon (“halal,” “shariah,” “blessing”) with economic metaphors (“global hub,” “qiblat”) to legitimize industrial modernity. At textual and discursive levels, the state circulates narratives via institutional channels, fostering inevitability around halal industrialization and replacing coercion with persuasion. Socially, it forges a state-religion-capital triad, yielding “dual legitimacy”—moral via religious symbols, economic via investment promises—while crafting market-oriented pious consumers, sidelining justice, labor, and ecology. The study advances scholarship on religious commodification, state hegemony, and halal political economy, portraying halal discourse as governmentality merging morality and markets in Indonesia.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

jis

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Social Sciences

Description

Jurnal Iman dan Spiritualitas (JIS) is an open-access journal and peer-reviewed scientific works both theoretically and practically in the studies of religions and spirituality in various parts of the ...