Sexual Politics in Indonesia - Hardcover

by S. Wieringa (Author)

This book analyzes the interaction between nationalism, feminism and socialism in Indonesia since the beginning of the twentieth century until the New Order State of President Suharto. The focus is on the communist women's organization Gerwani, which was by 1965 the largest communist women's organization in the non-communist world. Gerwani members combined feminist demands such as a reform of the marriage law with an insistence upon a political role for women. The organization was destroyed in a campaign of sexual slander orchestrated by the military under General Suharto. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed. President Sukarno lost his power and General Suharto took over.

Author Biography

SASKIA E. WIERINGA is Associate Professor of Women's Studies at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She has published widely on these themes and is co-editor of the award-winning anthology Female Desires: Same-Sex Relations and Transgender Practices Across Cultures.