Women’s Journeys in Driving Change: Women’s Collective Action and Village Law Implementation in Indonesia

This peer-reviewed edited volume of women's life stories draws on detailed ethnographic research of village women's lived experiences and how they, individually and collectively, have taken action to influence village development in Indonesia's multi-level governance structure under the new Village Law in Indonesia. The analysis identifies the processes of women's empowerment, their involvement in grassroots women’s collective action, engagement with civil society organisations, and how women influence village institutions, policies, development spending and priorities, and new projects as well as social norms in communities. The analysis draws from detailed qualitative research, including in-depth interviews with women, conducted during long stays in a variety of villages in Indonesia. The individual stories reflect a feminist research approach in foregrounding women’s voices and draws out the complex processes that women go through and the barriers that they have to overcome to exercise voice and influence in village development. These life stories show how women navigate the constraints on gender inclusion and women’s empowerment. Through the analysis we see how change can happen in Indonesia, despite entrenched patriarchal norms and limited women’s representation in governance institutions and other structures of power and decision making. The volume is available both in English and Bahasa Indonesia