Since September 11, 2001, the world has been rocked by terrorism and war. The repercussions of these events have deeply impacted Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population. Not surprisingly, there has been a backlash in Indonesia against ideas and institutions identified as American or "Western." The rights and roles of women in the family and society are currently vital discussions in Indonesia. At the same time, the Indonesian women's movement has continued to grow and mature. Women's groups have benefited from their exposure to foreign donors and interaction with international women's movements. So in the current context of polarization, I ask, how are Indonesian women's organizations using Western-derived ideas about gender and women's rights? How are they adapting these concepts in their struggles for equality, rights, and justice? How does their application of such ideas shape their participation in ongoing debates and conflicts within Indonesia? To answer these questions, I spent September 2002 through August 2003 pursuing ethnographic research on four women's organizations in Jakarta. These organizations ranged from a secular feminist group to the women's division of an Islamist political party. Through in-depth, participant observation, I came to know these Indonesian activists and understand their views on women's rights, gender equality, and sexuality. Women's rights movements in the Middle East are usually secular, so the Indonesian women's movement is distinctive in that many participants find it possible to be a Muslim and a feminist. This research examines the multiple meanings of gender and women's rights to women activists, probing different ways of being feminist. It also contributes to the debates on feminism, gender, and Islam by adding an Indonesian context to the research of scholars such as Lila Abu-Lughod and Haleh Afshar. Finally, suggesting that similar women's organizations even within the same city may be engaging with diverse global structures, this research provides a more multifaceted understanding of globalization's impacts on Indonesia. Though globalization is often blamed for provoking religious fundamentalism, this research shows that global flows of culture and ideas can also provide important conceptual tools for women's organizations to promote rights and equality in their countries. The broader impacts of this research include the following. This research will be useful to researchers, students, and policymakers interested in understanding Muslim women's movements in the developing world, a topic which has not been adequately studied in the social sciences. When the dissertation is complete, I will donate copies to the libraries of my research sites, as well as to the Women's Studies Department at the University of Indonesia and the Center for Societal Development Studies at Atma Jaya University.
