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Gender, Conflict, Peace: The Roles of Feminist Popular Education During and After the Conflict in Aceh, Indonesia

Elizarni, FNU
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1605018870170842

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, Educational Administration (Education).
This is a narrative inquiry study that presented types of women's activism during and after the conflict in Aceh, Indonesia (1976-2005). The study sought to explain how divergent women's activism becomes possible against the backdrop of this conflict and how the establishment of peace alters the patterns of their activism. Women's activism here was confined to the theory of feminist popular education. The popular education uncovers strategies utilized by women activists to foster women's economic, social and political interests during these tumultuous periods. Insights from eight women activists leaders supported by observation and relevant documents were analyzed to gain a better understanding of Acehnese women's movement in the two periods--during the conflict (1998-2005) and the post-conflict tsunami recovery period (2005-2015). Gender in each period was explored to reflect the underpinning of women activists in manifesting their feminist agendas in two separate periods. Although the condition was threatening and the resources were scarce during the conflict, women groups in Aceh had taken risks to address practical and strategic needs of their fellow women. The conflict had deprived women of their rights to safety, education, livelihood, health care, and a safe space. Women activists manifested their ethics of care in a very calm and quiet way. In order to ensure women's safety, the popular education in the form of consciousness-raising occurred underground, in secretive forms, informal, and formal through existing organized groups. Beside organizing and educating their fellow women, women activists also educated the general public so that they could be informed of the politics of masculinity that perpetuated injustices that aggressively controlled women's actions. The conflict had called for women activists to take a collaborative approach to raise public consciousness on women's plights during the war, and their work was to empower every woman to step up to take care of the community. Women manifested solidarity through peaceful campaigns (e.g., protests, rallies, hunger strikes), policy advocacies, seminars, conferences, congress, etc., all of which were adjusted to the real condition of women and the Acehnese. By educating the public, the hope was that both women and the public could be mobilized to take political action to generate solutions to end the violence in Aceh. Like in times of the conflict, in times of peace, women activists took reign to address women's immediate and strategic needs. While male superiority returned to dominate during the post-conflict period, women countered such hegemony with different strategies to continue to pursue gender justice. The tsunami became a window of opportunity for women to continue to work on their remaining agendas during the conflict. Post-conflict feminist popular education highlighted the importance of gender mainstreaming in developing empowerment agendas. The focus was to ensure that women's immediate needs were fulfilled: livelihood, housing, land rights, health sanitation, and educational spaces. Unlike during the conflict, when the condition was repressive, women activism after peace occurred openly, greater collaborations ensued, and their agendas covered bigger ground. Gender-based policies using Islam as the main principle and increasing women's representation in leadership became the centerpiece of women activists' feminist agendas in post-conflict transformation. Therefore, women groups also had been central to advocating and acknowledging the contributions of women, as well as instilling gender consciousness in the general public. Their actions were localized and contextualized. They manifested the value of Islamic culture and traditions, which put high respect on local wisdom, which include respect for women who possess local knowledge. The feminist agenda during the post-conflict period underscores the importance of gender equality as a crucial component in sustaining peace in Aceh.
Dwan Robinson (Committee Chair)
Adah Ward Randolph (Committee Member)
Risa Whitson (Committee Member)
Charles Lowery (Committee Member)
531 p.
Adult Education; Asian Studies; Biographies; Cultural Anthropology; Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Gender; Gender Studies; History; International Law; International Relations; Islamic Studies; Peace Studies; Pedagogy; Philosophy; Political Science; Religion; Social Studies Education; Social Work; Womens Studies
Education; Popular education; Leadership; Gender; Feminism; Women; War; Conflict; Peace; Aceh; Indonesia; Islam; Tsunami; Paulo Freire; Sharia Law; Politics; Empowerment

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Elizarni, F. (2020). Gender, Conflict, Peace: The Roles of Feminist Popular Education During and After the Conflict in Aceh, Indonesia [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1605018870170842

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Elizarni, FNU. Gender, Conflict, Peace: The Roles of Feminist Popular Education During and After the Conflict in Aceh, Indonesia. 2020. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1605018870170842.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Elizarni, FNU. "Gender, Conflict, Peace: The Roles of Feminist Popular Education During and After the Conflict in Aceh, Indonesia." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1605018870170842

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1605018870170842
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.