Women and Work in Indonesia

With chapters written by Indonesian scholars and based upon extensive fieldwork experience in Indonesia, this is a fascinating and significant examination of the meaning of work for women in contemporary Indonesia. Taking a broad definition of work so as to question assumptions about work and economic activity, this book focuses on what women themselves see as their work, including not only paid employment, home life and child care, but also activities surrounding ritual, healing and religious life. Considering all the key issues surrounding womena??s work in modern Indonesia, this extraordinary text analyzes: the contrasts between a??newa?? and a??olda?? forms of work t the relationship between experiences of migration and work the ways in which religion a?? especially Islam - shapes perceptions and practice of work. the meaning and valuing of womena??s a??traditionala?? work, be it agricultural labour, domestic work or otherkinds of reproductive labour, challenging assumptions of women as a??onlya?? mothers and housewives how women can negotiate new definitions of a??housewifea?? by organizing kinship and village relations to go beyond conventional categories such as wage labour and the domestic sphere. Women and Work in Indonesia is an important study of the meaning of work for women in modern Indonesia.