The Women's Movement in Post-Colonial Indonesia: Gender and Nation in a New Democracy

This book examines women's activism in the early years of independent Indonesia when new attitudes to gender, nationalism, citizenship and democratization were forming. It questions the meaning of democratization for women and their relationship to national sovereignty within the new Indonesian state, and discusses women's organizations and their activities; women's social and economic roles; and the different cultural, regional and ethnic attitudes towards women, while showing the failure of political change to fully address women's gender interests and needs. The author argues that both the role of nationalism in defining gender identity and the role of gender in defining national identity need equal recognition.

Elizabeth Martyn completed a MA at Canterbury University, New Zealand in 1993 and a PhD in Politics at Monash University, Australia in 2001. She is a Honorary Research Associate of the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University and has an extensive research record in the areas of women's political participation, women and development, children's rights, and global justice issues. Based in New Zealand, she currently works in the international aid and development sector.