The state, local communities and women : a study of womens organisations in Malang, East Java

This thesis is an ethnographic study of five womens organisations in Malang,Indonesia. The contemporary significance of local womens organisations in the lives ofkampung women in Indonesia is revealed through an investigation of the relationshipbetween the Indonesian state, local communities and women.This study sets contemporary womens organisations in the context of their changinghistorical role and relationship with the state. Womens organisations have been a partof the Indonesian political and social landscape since the early twentieth century. Theyplayed an important role in mobilising women during the struggle for independence.Under Sukarnos policy of Guided Democracy, restrictions were placed on the politicalmobilising role of all organisations, including those for women. These restrictions weretaken much further under Suhartos New Order government when many wereproscribed. Only state-approved and controlled organisations were accepted.The New Order era essentially undermined the credibility of womens organisations asvehicles for promoting womens interests, instead they were generally regarded as toolsof the state. Indonesianists and feminists have been especially critical of state-runwomens organisations arguing they have offered Indonesian women no path to femalepower. This perception of state-sponsored womens organisations has continued in thepost-Suharto era even though their links to the state have changed radically. They nowexist alongside a range of NGOs, religious and social womens organisations. Thecrucial question that this thesis addresses is why these state-sponsored organisationscontinue to exist and what motivates womens participation in these organisations?Through membership in local womens organisations women enter into a complexrelationship with the state, local society and the socio-religious and political institutionswithin the wider society. The membership status women enjoy provides them withopportunities to engage in a social bargain. Through this bargaining process, localwomen make social, religious, personal and romantic gains for themselves. The resultsof the social bargaining process depend largely on the particular organisation to whichwomen belong but they remain strongly oriented towards their local kampung worlds.The thesis provides an alternative way of thinking about the complex role that womensorganisations play in Indonesian society and what function they may continue to havewithin Indonesias post-Suharto future