Challenging Religious Discourse

The women's movement in Indonesia s pesantren (Islamic boarding school) provides a good example of how Muslim women can act as agents of change in facing patriarchal repression derived from cultural practices and gender-biased religious interpretation. Instead of being mute victims, these women seek a more active role in the interpretation of religious teachings on women s rights issues. Although the conservative groups in pesantren have tried to silence or dismiss their works by simply labeling them as followers of a secular western agenda, women activists in pesantren have argued that their framework was grounded in Islamic teaching. This book, therefore, explores the women s movement in Indonesia s pesantren and their contributions to develop gender equality in the traditionalist Muslim communities, particularly in Java, after the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998. This book is an important study not only for readers interested in the rise of Islamic feminism in Indonesia, but also for all those interested in the development of global feminism in the world.

Autorentext

Riri Khariroh: Earned Master Degree from the Department of Southeast Asian Studies with the minor on Women and Gender Studies at Ohio University, Ohio USA. Lecturer at the Institute of PTIQ Jakarta and Researcher at the Center for Islam and State Studies (CISS),Indonesia.

Klappentext

The women s movement in Indonesiäs pesantren (Islamic boarding school) provides a good example of how Muslim women can act as agents of change in facing patriarchal repression derived from cultural practices and gender-biased religious interpretation. Instead of being mute victims, these women seek a more active role in the interpretation of religious teachings on women s rights issues. Although the conservative groups in pesantren have tried to silence or dismiss their works by simply labeling them as followers of a secular western agenda, women activists in pesantren have argued that their framework was grounded in Islamic teaching. This book, therefore, explores the women s movement in Indonesiäs pesantren and their contributions to develop gender equality in the traditionalist Muslim communities, particularly in Java, after the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998. This book is an important study not only for readers interested in the rise of Islamic feminism in Indonesia, but also for all those interested in the development of global feminism in the world.