Paper long abstract:

For the Youth Wing of the Islamic Party of Malaysia (Dewan Pemuda PAS) social problems among the young generation are a central field of concern. Among these perceived "social ills" are alcohol and drug abuse, an increasing crime rate, "unislamic" subcultures (such as Met Rempit, Punk, Black Metal, Gothic, clubbing), adultery ("zina"), as well as premarital "free sex" and gender mingling of non-married youths ("pergaulan bebas" / "khalwat").

My paper, which is based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2010 will examine how Dewan Pemuda PAS tries to achieve its goal of social and political change, how they currently try to find new and more effective ways to reach out to society and especially the young generation, which challenges and difficulties they face (both from an emic as well as an etic point of view), and how that process of trying to overcome these difficulties is changing the party itself.