<![CDATA[This study examines how Sunda Wiwitan indigenous believers in West Java negotiate state-sanctioned bureaucratic marginalization amid religious modernization. Dominant discourses frame indigenous communities as passive victims on the margins of contemporary religious life. This study challenges that narrative through a critical cultural studies perspective, drawing on Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony and Michel de Certeau’s theory of everyday resistance. A qualitative ethnographic approach was employed in the customary enclaves of Cigugur (Kuningan) and Kampung Pasir (Garut) over eight months, from January to August 2025, involving 25 key informants selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and archival and policy analysis, and were analyzed using the interactive model of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that bureaucratic classifications and majority-biased legal politics continue to obstruct civil rights, such as marriage registration and identity card issuance, despite Constitutional Court Decision No. 97/PUU-XIV/2016. Internal generational adaptations and pragmatic economic survival strategies reveal that the community is not a static relic but a dynamic social body. This study contributes to debates on indigenous rights, state hegemony, and religious pluralism in contemporary Indonesia, demonstrating that living on the margins is both a site of marginalization and a strategic position of cultural assertion.]]>
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