UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Embodied contestations : muslim politics and democratization in Indonesia through the prism of gender van Wichelen, S.J. Publication date 2007 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): van Wichelen, S. J. (2007). Embodied contestations : muslim politics and democratization in Indonesia through the prism of gender. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. 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UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:30 Sep 2021 EMBODIED CONTESTATIONS Dit proefschrift werd mogelijk gemaakt met de financiële steun van: Amsterdam School voor Social Science Research (ASSR) Belle van Zuylen Research Institute for Multicultural and Comparative Genderstudies Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Marinus-Plantema Stichting EMBODIED CONTESTATIONS Muslim Politics and Democratization in Indonesia through the Prism of Gender ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. J.W. Zwemmer ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op dinsdag 18 september, te 12.00 uur door Sonja Judith van Wichelen geboren te Leiderdorp PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotores Prof. dr. F. Gouda Prof. dr. P. Pattynama Co-promotor Dr. Dubravka Zarkov Overige Leden Prof. dr. A. Bayat Prof. dr. A. Moors Prof. dr. P. Spyer Prof. dr. R. Eyerman Prof. dr. S. Wieringa Dr. T. Sunier Faculteit Der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen For Stan Contents List of Figures xi Acknowledgements xiii PART I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE Embodied Contestations in a Changing Nation 1 Islam and Gender 3 Beyond the “Woman Question” 7 Toward a Study of Public Phenomena 11 Contesting Bodies 14 Media and the Politics of Representation 17 Religion and the Public Sphere 19 Cultural Citizenship 22 Crafting the Project: Methodological Considerations 25 Discourse Analysis 25 Fieldwork 27 Outline of Chapters 30 CHAPTER TWO Mapping Muslim and Gender Politics in Indonesia 35 Untangling “Indonesian Islam” 37 Mainstream Islam 40 Liberal Islam 42 Islamism 44 Islamic Revitalization, the Nation-state and the Public Sphere 49 The Islamic Turn 51 Shaping of Muslim Middle Classes 53 Gender Discourses, Muslim Debates and Feminisms 56 Colonialism and Anti-colonial Struggle 59 Sukarno’s Old Order 61 A New Order 63 The Late New Order 65 Post-authoritarian Democracy 69 Conclusion 72 PART II: CASE STUDIES CHAPTER THREE Politicizing Gender, Gendering Politics 77 Media and Fatwa Politics 79 In the Name of Islam? 83 Nostalgia, Gender, and Nation 87 Family Metaphors: Mothers and Daughters 90 Islamizing Megawati 94 Feminist Strategies 96 Human Rights Discourse 97 Responses from Muslim Women’s Groups 99 De/sexing Megawati 100 Conclusion 104 CHAPTER FOUR Sexualized Bodies and Morality Talk 107 Sexuality in Indonesia’s Mediascape 109 The Phenomenon of Inul: Dynamics of Class, Gender, and Nation 113 Music and Class: “Dangdut is the Music of my Country” 115 Rhetorics of Gender and Religion: Inul Daratista versus Rhoma Irama 117 Intersections of Class, Gender, and Nation 120 Islamism versus Culturalism 123 Islamist Paradigms of Morality 125 Cultural Frameworks of Body and Sexuality 129 Feminism and the Intervening State 134 Conclusion 138 CHAPTER FIVE Formations of Public Piety 141 Islamization and Veiling 142 New Democracy, New Veiling 145 Politicized Bodies as Spectacle 150 Visuality and Spatial Power 152 The Purity of Piety 156 Identity, Belonging, and the Transnational 158 The Consumer Body 162 “Jilbab Inc.”: Celebrating the Veil 163 Mobility of Class and Global Capital 168 The Making of Middle Classes 170 New Femininities and Feminist Interventions 173 Femininity and Sexuality 173 False Consciousness and Feminism 176 Conclusion 183 CHAPTER SIX Contesting Masculinity 185 Debate, Practice, and Discourse 187 Socio-legal Debates on Polygamy 188 Marginal Practice, Ubiquitous Discourse 191 Icons of (Anti-) Polygamy 192 The Pro-Polygamy Campaign 195 Sexual Potency, Wealth, and Status 196 Male Sexuality, Family, and Nation 201 Woman’s Piety and Modern Coping Strategies 205 Muslim Conservatism: Distinguishing Justification from Promotion 207 Secular Quietism: The Precarious State of Nominal Muslims 210 Women’s Opposition 214 Secular Critique 215 Muslim Feminists Respond 220 Traditionalist and Modernist Muslim Women’s groups 224 Islamist Women 226 Reconfiguring Masculinity 229 Conclusion 235 PART III: CONCLUSION CHAPTER SEVEN Negotiating the Citizen-Subject 239 Embodied Sites of Contestation 240 Muslim Politics and Democratization 244 Feminist (Re-) Locations 248 Refashioning Indonesian Citizenship 251 References 255 Summary 283 Samenvatting 289 List of Figures 1. Contemporary Islam in Indonesia 39 2. Contemporary feminist and women’s activist groups in Indonesia 57 3. PDIP 1999 parliamentary election material 89 4. 2004 presidential election material 94 5. Internet campaign against the pornography bill 131 6. Women demonstrating against the ban on the veil in France 155 7. Inneke Koesherawati’s public transformation 164 8. Inside the Muslim women’s glossy Noor 167 xi Acknowledgements Institutional support, intellectual feedback, and emotional encouragement are the ingredients that make writing a dissertation possible. I am indebted to many people and organizations who have provided me with these essential elements, and however inadequate, I would like to start thanking and acknowledging them here. It goes without saying that I alone take responsibility for the final work and any discerned errors and shortcomings. I am profoundly grateful to my three supervisors Frances Gouda, Pamela Pattynama, and Dubravka Zarkov for their unyielding trust in my intellectual capacities and their continuous support for my project throughout these years. Their distinctive expertise in the different disciplines of respectively History, Literature, and Anthropology has contributed to shaping my project and the ways in which I have come to understand my research field in a truly interdisciplinary manner. I much welcomed Frances Gouda’s astute suggestions to look at the many ways in which the colonial past continues to resurface in Indonesia’s postcolonial present. I thank her for her kindness and enthusiasm and her always genuine inquiry into my well being. I am also indebted to her partner Gary who edited my entire PhD. I cherish deeply the discussions with Pamela Pattynama on issues of gender, ethnicity, race, “Indo-ness”, belonging, and the idea of authenticity that have gone beyond the scope of this project and into my new research interest in transnational adoption. I valued her warm and sincere openness as well as her rigorous professionalism. The theoretical and methodological interventions from Dubravka Zarkov have been indispensable for my work. I envy her analytical sharpness and I am very thankful for her generous time and her analysis of my work that have constantly kept me attentive to the complexity of method and theory in analyzing public discourses, identity, and politics. I cannot find a way to properly thank all the people in Indonesia who were willing to share – both formally and informally – their ideas with me about Muslim politics and democratization in the new post-Suharto era. Their time and patience xiii have made possible the fine nuances and complexities apparent in the analyses of the different public debates. I want to mention in particular the following people for their help in the research field. They are Putu Oka Sukanta, Maria Ulfah, Carla Bianpoen, Nani Nurachman, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, Ciciek Farha, Ayu Ratih, Maria Hartiningsih, Neng Dara Affiah, Siti Musdah Muliya, Ita Nadia, Debra Yatim, Ratna Batara Munti, Kamala Chandrakirana, Nuriyah Abdurrachman Wahid, Nani Zuminarni, Lily Zakiyah Munir, Andree Feillard, Chamamah Soeratno, Ery Seda, AD Kusumaningtyas, Nur Iman Subono, Syafiq Hasyim, Hanna Satriyo, Masruchah, Nursanita Nasution, Ledia Hanifa, Sri Mulyati, Ery Rosatria, Wa Ode Ajmawati, and Herni Ramdlanningrum. I thank my relatives, friends, and colleagues in Indonesia, without whom my fieldwork would not have been such a pleasure. In Solo and Sragen my aunt Ira Weenas, and my cousins Ellen and Sandra Andaka, have been an invaluable support during my exciting but also exhaustive research visits. In Jakarta the collegiality and friendship from Lies Marcoes, Melani Budianta, and Manneke Budiman have meant a lot to me. I have appreciated their insightful perspectives on contemporary Indonesian politics and their always warm encouragement toward my project. I am happy that I got to know Alia Swastika and Vera