Explaining The Institutional Capacity Of State Feminism In A Non-Western Setting: A Case Study of the Malaysian Women’s Policy Agency A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2015 RABI’AH BINTI AMINUDIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Department of Politics Table of Contents FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................ 7 FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................ 8 LIST OF ACRONYMS .................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. 12 DECLARATION ............................................................................................ 13 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ......................................................................... 14 DEDICATION ............................................................................................... 15 ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 17 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................18 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................25 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ..........................................................................26 RESEARCH FINDINGS ......................................................................................29 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH ......................................30 Single Case Study Design ............................................................................30 Scope of Research ........................................................................................30 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH ........................................................................31 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................... 34 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................34 FEMINISM AND THE STATE .............................................................................34 Dimensions of State Feminism .....................................................................38 State’s Response to Feminist Demands ......................................................43 Limitations of State Feminism ......................................................................48 STATE FEMINISM IN NON-WESTERN CONTEXTS ..........................................57 Elements of Non-Western State Feminism ..................................................58 Nationalisation .............................................................................................61 Types of Government...................................................................................63 Negative Perception .....................................................................................64 Political Environment ...................................................................................66 2 Challenges of Non-Western State Feminism Analysis. ..............................67 FEMINIST INSTITUTIONALISM AND THE STUDY OF STATE FEMINISM .......70 UNDERSTANDING CRITICAL GENDER CONCEPTS .......................................78 STUDYING STATE FEMINISM IN MALAYSIA UTILISING FEMINIST INSTITUTIONALISM ANALYTICAL TOOLS .......................................................80 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ............. 83 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................83 RESEARCH METHOD ........................................................................................84 Research Design ...........................................................................................84 Case Study Design ........................................................................................86 Case Study Selection ....................................................................................89 Theory Specifications and Hypotheses .......................................................90 DATA COLLECTION...........................................................................................93 Phase One ......................................................................................................94 Phase Two......................................................................................................95 Phase Three ...................................................................................................97 Phase Four ................................................................................................... 101 Validity and Reliability (Triangulation) ....................................................... 103 LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES .................................................................. 105 Access to Information ................................................................................. 105 CHAPTER FOUR: INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE ................................... 107 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 107 SOLID INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE ............................................................. 108 Institutional Stability ................................................................................... 108 Location of the WPA .................................................................................. 109 Strong State Authority ................................................................................ 116 Dominant Party System ............................................................................. 124 Strong Bureaucratic Foundation ................................................................ 131 Colonial Legacy ......................................................................................... 132 Centralisation of Power under the Prime Minister’s Department ............... 133 Open Service System in a Closed Setting .................................................... 147 Competent Administrative Infrastructure .................................................. 153 3 Existing Administrative Knowledge............................................................. 153 Formal Frameworks Governing WPA Behaviours ...................................... 155 Firm Initiatives for Administrative Reform ................................................... 157 Fusion between Politics and Administration ............................................. 162 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 167 CHAPTER FIVE: RESOURCE CONTROL AND UTILISATION ................. 171 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 171 ACCESS TO AND AUTHORITY OVER RESOURCES ..................................... 172 Political Resources ..................................................................................... 173 Administrative Resources .......................................................................... 177 RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND UTILISATION ............................................... 193 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 206 CHAPTER SIX: THE WPA’S RELATIONSHIPS/NETWORK ..................... 209 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 209 FORMALISED ENGAGEMENT ........................................................................ 210 Dependency on Other Actors’ Goodwill .................................................... 224 SELECTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS ........................ 230 WELL-CONNECTED LEADERSHIP ................................................................. 236 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 244 CHAPTER SEVEN: HOW THE WPA’S CAPACITY SHAPES ITS OPERATIONS............................................................................................ 250 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 250 POLICY ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 251 Status-Based Policies ................................................................................. 253 Violence against Women (VAW) ................................................................. 254 Marital Rape ................................................................................................. 260 VAW vs. Marital Rape .................................................................................. 262 Class-Based Policies .................................................................................. 265 Entrepreneurship Programmes .................................................................. 265 GRB Pilot Project ......................................................................................... 272 4 CAPACITY (INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT, RESOURCES, NETWORK) INFLUENCE ON POLICIES EXECUTION ............................. 281 CONSOLIDATED MISSION THROUGH ITS SYNERGISED MANDATE .........