Hongxuan Lin

Dr. Hongxuan Lin serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. His academic work centers on the complex relationship between Islam and Marxism in Indonesia, with broader interests in progressive Islamic discourses across the Muslim world. As a faculty member at one of Asia's premier research universities, Dr. Lin contributes significantly to Southeast Asian studies through his research, teaching, and publications.

Dr. Lin earned his Doctor of Philosophy in History from the University of Washington, Seattle, between 2015 and 2020. His doctoral research focused on Indonesian intellectual history, examining how Muslim identity and Marxist analytical frameworks coexisted in the minds of Indonesian nationalists during the anti-colonial struggle and early republic period. His supervisors were Laurie J. Sears, Christoph Giebel, and Vicente L. Rafael, all prominent scholars in Southeast Asian studies.

Dr. Lin's research primarily investigates the intersection of Islam and Marxism in Indonesia from 1915 to 1965, exploring conciliatory discourses where Marxist ideas were theorized as compatible with Islam within frameworks of anti-colonial resistance. He examines how Indonesian intellectuals adapted global political currents to local contexts, challenging state-driven narratives that position Islam and Marxism as mutually exclusive. His work also considers women's contributions to these discourses and is expanding to study the circulation of progressive Islamic ideas across the Indian Ocean region connecting Egypt, Arabia, Iran, South Asia, and the Malay Archipelago. His research reveals how progressive Islamic thinkers addressed socio-economic inequity, women's rights, intercommunal tolerance, and religious governance.

Dr. Lin's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on Southeast Asian political history, particularly Indonesia's intellectual landscape during the colonial and post-colonial periods. His scholarship reveals patterns of creative adaptation where Indonesian thinkers engaged with global political currents while transforming them for local contexts. A notable trend across his work is the examination of transnational intellectual networks that connected Southeast Asia with broader global movements, showing how ideas traveled and were transformed across borders. His research challenges simplistic narratives about religious and political identity, revealing instead complex intellectual traditions that defy easy categorization.

Dr. Lin is multilingual with proficiency in Indonesian (reading, writing, speaking, and understanding), Chinese (Mandarin) (reading, writing, speaking, and understanding), Dutch (reading), and French (reading). This linguistic capability supports his research across multiple archives and sources in different languages, enhancing the depth and authenticity of his historical analysis. His work bridges multiple disciplinary approaches including history, political science, religious studies, and post-colonial theory.