Youth Struggles
Students’ Perspectives on Radical Ideology in the Islamic Education Department of the Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin, Makassar
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Erwin Hafid
This study investigates students’ perspectives on radical ideology in the Islamic Education Department at the Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin, Makassar (called UINAM). The research design applied by the researcher was qualitative descriptive. Sources of data in this study were the students of the Islamic Education Department who were active in Islamic organizations such as Wahdah Islamiyah, Hidzbut Tahrir Indonesia, Jama’ Tablig, Ikatan Mahasiswa Muhammadiyah, Pergerakan Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia, and Himpunan Mahasiswa Indonesia. Then, the data collected in this study were qualitative data obtained from the findings of student interviews. The research instrument utilized were unstructured interview guidelines. The findings of this study indicated that radicalism was deemed a very dangerous idea for the unity of Indonesian. This understanding should be avoided, especially in the campus environment, as some events indicated that some students and alumni had been involved in radical actions. It is believed that radicalism is a dangerous thing if left to freely influence the students’ mindsets on doing radical action(s). Further, the data also shown that there were several factors that affected why radical ideology grew up easily in the campus environment, including being a closed-minded student, having uncontrolled extracurricular activities, having lack of nationalism, and having lack of religious understanding.
Gymnasium Users and Gardeners: Supplementing the Body Image and Its Contradictions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gary Gabriels
Recently it has been shown that gymnasium users are aware of the increased use of nutritional supplements in commercial gymnasiums. Supplement ingestion is to increase the nutritional content of a normal diet, to fill a dietary need, and/or a presumed deficiency. These supplements are often used by people in predominantly affluent communities who engage in competitive ‘activities’ and/or to enhance body image. Supplements may contain adulterated substances that may potentially have harmful short - and long-term health consequences to the consumer. Many of the users of supplements are unaware of the potential mislabelling on the products, the health/wellness benefit and risk concerns, and the ‘contradictions’ regarding consumption. Food movements (globally), are a growing and a diverse phenomenon. In South Africa, youth are the majority of the large unemployed sector, hence job creation for youth in poor communities is a key development goal. Preliminary research findings indicate a socio-cultural shift where young people have become involved in urban food gardens, with a consummate high level of bodily awareness, including maintenance of their health and wellness, through gardening. Township youth (gardeners) may thus redirect their ideas of a good body-image into new urban food movements. Thus, for the non-affluent youth consumer, who may not be able to afford nutritional supplement products, may resort to high caffeine containing energy drinks, to supplement, and redirect their ideas of a good body-image, due to social-cultural and lifestyle shifts. The research paper illuminates the respective paradigms and the consequence and contradictions of supplement consumption.
