9312149 Tickamyer This project supports dissertation research of Ms. Siti Kusujiarti under the direction of Dr. Ann R. Tickamyer, Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky, and subsequent collaborative research on hidden power in gender relations among Indonesians, for a period of 24 months. Gender relations and power negotiations in daily relations in 48 couples in two villages in Java, Indonesia, will be investigated by intensive interviewing and observation. This study will focus on 5 household activities: household chores, reproduction, production, financial matters, and social activities analyzing who has power, how it is negotiated, and the "hidden transcripts" which hide latent conflict. This research has both theoretical and practical social significance. Theoretically, it provides a comparative view of how power is conceptualized and manifested in gender relations among the Javanese people. Gender ideology plays a central role as the foundation of women's government programs and in defining the characteristics of women's involvement in these programs. Thus, this research has great practical significance for the course of Indonesian development and for understanding how the development process benefits women. The PI is a highly respected researcher in the field of this proposal. She is fortunate in having as a graduate student and, later, as a postdoctoral collaborator an Indonesian woman with a thorough knowledge of the culture and acceptability, as an insider, to those whose relations will be studied. This project is relevant to the objectives of the East Asia and Pacific Program which seeks to increase the level of cooperation between U.S. scientists and engineers and their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region through the exchange of scientific information, ideas, skills, and techniques and through collaboration on problems of mutual benefit. ***
