Book Review. Accepted by Pacific Affairs, publication date, April 2010.
GENDER, ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA. By Kathryn Robinson. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. X, 256pp. US$160, cloth. ISBN 978-0-415-41583-5.
Gender, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia is an overview of the subject from colonial times to the present written by a sympathetic scholar who has spent a life’s work studying, interviewing, and observing Indonesia’s women. The book should be required reading for all those in Indonesian studies, as many of our fields are blind to the gender perspective Robinson effectively demonstrates is so vital in understanding the country’s politics, policy, economics, society, law, and religion—at least if one wants to understand the whole population.
Robinson’s book starts with an important corrective to mainstream history. The fall of Suharto in May 1998 was precipitated by student protests, right? No, actually, it was the Voice of Concerned Mothers (Suara Ibu Peduli, SIP) protest in February 1998 that Robinson argues began the protest movement. The women of SIP turned a central feature of New Order ideology on its head, the idea that women are primarily wives and mothers and that the nation was like a family with Suharto the benevolent and wise father. Women’s “counter-hegemonic use of the role of ‘mother’ is more significant as an act of resistance than critics give it credit for. If women can stand up as mothers against the fathers, the familist paradigm totters” (152). The women centered their protest on cost of living and women’s role in feeding the family and the trial of those arrested as a way to showcase the “crisis in trust” in the government (1).
Robinson’s book has many strengths. It brings together a wide variety of studies, drawing on the most prominent names in the study of Indonesian women, along with the author’s own years of field research, consulting, and study. I particularly enjoyed a section on how some woman scholars are using Islam itself to critique those who would limit woman’s rights. Lily Munir uses the overarching push for egalitarianism and justice in Islam to critique parts of the tradition which appear to put women in an inferior position. Siti Musdah Mulia uses the concept of tauhid, the oneness of God, to argue that domination of man over woman involves putting the dominant party in the position of God; therefore, since God is one, equality between men and women is preferred (183).
Robinson points out that violence against women was a feature that ran throughout the history of Suharto’s New Order regime, from the “founding myth” that Communist women had danced over the corpses of slain generals (190) through the rape and murder of labor activist Marsinah in 1993 to the rapes of Chinese Indonesian women in 1998, at the time of the regime’s downfall. Robinson discusses the New Order regime as a hegemonic masculinity which used violence and domination, particularly against women, in order to stay in power. Interestingly, Robinson shows how some discourse since the fall of the New Order has represented an attempt to keep males dominant, under a new justification, Islam. For those who call a return to Islam a return to tradition, Robinson shows that this is an “invented tradition” as local customary traditions were and are extremely diverse (175).
If I had to find fault with the book, I would say I wished it had more. I wanted more on the regional elections (begun in 2005) and decentralization. Are these elections empowering women or sending them backwards? I wanted a more comprehensive examination of the local regulations including curfews and dress codes that have attempted to limit women’s freedom often in the name of morality and Islam. Robinson has an intriguing but too limited discussion.
Also, some elements of the text felt dated. In a chapter conclusion, Robinson observes: “Indeed, the number of districts that have established a women’s office has been disappointing (only nine by September 2001, from over 400 . . . )“(163). In a 2009 publication, I would hope this figure would be more updated. Robinson discusses the 1999 attack on Megawati’s candidacy because she was a female. But, that’s not updated to show how little traction the same argument got when tried in 2004.
At points, Robinson thinks about some of the progress women have made in Indonesia. A woman, Megawati, has served as president. A commission on violence against women, Komnas Perempuan, has been created. The media reports cases of violence against women. The Women’s Ministry, while underfunded and with little line authority, has evolved into a pro-active player on women’s issues. Special Investigation Rooms have been established in police stations so sensitive crimes like rape may be reported more easily. A special law on domestic violence supplements the criminal code. Political parties are encouraged to nominate 30% female candidates. Still, outstanding issues remain: polygamy, divorce, the status of religious versus secular law, crimes against women, maternal and child health, and inequalities in political representation and education.
University of North Carolina Wilmington PAIGE JOHNSON TAN