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A Study of Women's Organisations in Malang, East Java

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A Study of Women's Organisations in Malang, East Java The State, Local Communities and Women; A Study of Women’s Organisations in Malang, East Java. Kirsty Martin A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Arts and Social Science University of New South Wales April 2004 Abstract This thesis is an ethnographic study of five women’s organisations in Malang, Indonesia. The contemporary significance of local women’s organisations in the lives of kampung women in Indonesia is revealed through an investigation of the relationship between the Indonesian state, local communities and women. This study sets contemporary women’s organisations in the context of their changing historical role and relationship with the state. Women’s organisations have been a part of the Indonesian political and social landscape since the early twentieth century. They played an important role in mobilising women during the struggle for independence. Under Sukarno’s policy of Guided Democracy, restrictions were placed on the political mobilising role of all organisations, including those for women. These restrictions were taken much further under Suharto’s New Order government when many were proscribed. Only state-approved and controlled organisations were accepted. The New Order era essentially undermined the credibility of women’s organisations as vehicles for promoting women’s interests, instead they were generally regarded as ‘tools of the state’. Indonesianists and feminists have been especially critical of state-run women’s organisations arguing they have offered Indonesian women ‘no path to female power’. This perception of state-sponsored women’s organisations has continued in the post-Suharto era even though their links to the state have changed radically. They now exist alongside a range of NGOs, religious and social women’s organisations. The crucial question that this thesis addresses is why these state-sponsored organisations continue to exist and what motivates women’s participation in these organisations? Through membership in local women’s organisations women enter into a complex relationship with the state, local society and the socio-religious and political institutions within the wider society. The membership status women enjoy provides them with opportunities to engage in a social bargain. Through this bargaining process, local women make social, religious, personal and romantic gains for themselves. The results of the social bargaining process depend largely on the particular organisation to which women belong but they remain strongly oriented towards their local kampung worlds. The thesis provides an alternative way of thinking about the complex role that women’s organisations play in Indonesian society and what function they may continue to have within Indonesia’s post-Suharto future. ii Acknowledgements This doctorate thesis is the result of five years of work. I am indebted to many people for their assistance and support during this time. I was granted an APA for three and a half years and I wish to thank the Australian government for this opportunity. I would like to acknowledge those who inspired me to pursue my study of Anthropology during my undergraduate degree at the university of Newcastle. Thanks to the academic staff in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Special thanks go to my honours supervisor Santi Rozario who worked tirelessly with me and introduced me to research on Islam and women in Asia in 1995. Santi’s belief in me has not been forgotten. My thesis is based on my twelve months stay in Malang. The research was successful mainly due to the help, assistance, support, friendship and patience that the Malang community offered me during my stay. I would like to thank the women who shared their stories, lives, dreams, secrets and homes with me. I thank the members of the local PKK organisation, the kampung’s Tahlilan group, members of the Saturday Morning Club, the women from the local NGOs and the local PSW members. I would like to thank the warm and friendly local women for answering my questions and persevering with my version of the Indonesian language. And for accepting this foreigner into their homes and heart so sincerely. Certain people were invaluable to my fieldwork year. I wish to offer a very special thank you to Ibu U, Ibu W, Sari, mbak D, Mbak Penni, Mbak Fitri and family, Bu Tuty, Bu Ali, Bu Su, Ibu Ka, Pak Widodo, Sander, Michiel, and the countless others who effortlessly helped me during my time in the field. I would also like to thank my support group back ‘home’ who made my time in the field possible. One very special person, whose support and advice has been invaluable, is my friend Marie Preston. Marie has long been a continual source of love, inspiration and faith since I began my academic journey in 1994. Her belief in me has kept me going and led me to finish when even I wasn’t sure I would or could. Thank you to my New Zealand friend. May you one day know how much your wisdom guided me. My mother and father (Margaret and John Martin) have always supported me during my study. Their quiet confidence in my abilities has not gone un-noticed or unappreciated. I wish to take this chance to express my gratitude to them both. I also wish to thank my sister Elisha and my Aunty June for their love and support. Heart-felt thanks go to my dear friend Catherine, who just waited and knew. The conversations, hot chocolates, honest feedback and overwhelming kindness you have offered me since the journey began in 1999, will not soon be forgotten. Thanks also to Annette and Fred in New Zealand for their love and hospitality during short and much needed visits across the Tasman. Warm appreciation is also felt for my dear friends, Verlie and Dave. It is hard for me to imagine how I could have got through the last twelve months without the kindness and support of my friends and family. iii I would like to thank David Reeve for his diligent and conscientious editing of the last drafts of the thesis over the past twelve months. I appreciate your insight into Indonesia and am thankful for the help you have kindly provided. Thanks also go to Rochayah Machali for sharing her insight into Malang society and providing me with useful and much appreciated assistance whilst in the field. I wish to offer my heart-felt thanks to my supervisor Michael Humphrey. No words seem to express my enormous debt of gratitude for the numerous hours of reading, commenting, discussions, gendering, debates and brainstorming sessions that have taken place over the last five years. A great big thank you to the man whose title really is ‘supervisor of the year’! Thank you for everything. I also want to thank my best friend and husband Thorin Kerr. Thorin has been a wonderful objective editor, a silent sounding board, a loud cheer squad, and the never- ending positive voice behind this thesis. Thank you for never giving up on me and never allowing me to give up. Perhaps now we can do all those wonderful things we have talked about! iv Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements............................................................................................... iii Glossary ........………………………………………………………………….... vi Acronyms and Organisations.............................................................................. ix Introduction............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE Mobilisation, the New Order Government and Gender Politics................ .....24 CHAPTER TWO Indonesian Women’s Organisations ..................................................................58 CHAPTER THREE Membership and Participation as National Politics for Malang Women.....122 CHAPTER FOUR Membership, Social Bargaining and Malang Women....................................170 CHAPTER FIVE Social Taboos and The Limitations of Social Bargaining ..............................208 Conclusion...........................................................................................................242 Bibliography .......................................................................................................249 Appendix I ..........................................................................................................279 Appendix II.........................................................................................................281 Appendix III .......................................................................................................283 v Glossary Aborsi .......................................................................................................... abortion Akrab................................................................. very closely related, close (friends) Aku........................................................................................................... I, me, mine Anak ...................................................................................................................child Angka...............................................................................................statistics, figures Angket..............................................................................................................survey Anjing...................................................................................................................dog Arisan....................................................................................................a
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