Gender Trends in Southeast Asia: Women Now, Women in the Future

4. Has Gender Analysis been Mainstreamed in the Study of Southeast Asian Politics?

53 4 HAS GENDER ANALYSIS BEEN MAINSTREAMED IN THE STUDY OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN POLITICS? Susan Blackburn INTRODUCTION About฀twenty฀years฀ago,฀some฀of฀us฀feminist฀scholars฀became฀exasperated฀ at฀ the฀ neglect฀ of฀ gender฀ in฀ writing฀ on฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ politics฀ and฀ held฀ a฀ conference฀ at฀ Monash฀ University฀ to฀ discuss฀ the฀ matter.฀ As฀ women,฀ we฀ were฀offended฀by฀the฀invisibility฀of฀our฀sex฀in฀political฀science,฀and฀by฀the฀ discipline’s฀failure฀to฀acknowledge฀that฀its฀concepts฀(for฀example,฀class)฀were฀ gendered.1 ฀The฀ conference฀ in฀ 1987฀ gave฀ rise฀ to฀ a฀ book฀ edited฀ by฀ Maila฀ Stivens฀ entitled฀ Why฀ Gender฀ Matters฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ Politics,2 ฀ which฀ launched฀ an฀ attack฀ on฀ the฀ political฀ science฀ discipline฀ for฀ its฀ neglect฀ of฀ gender฀as฀far฀as฀writing฀on฀Southeast฀Asia฀was฀concerned.฀My฀chapter฀in฀ that฀volume฀analysed฀a฀number฀of฀mainstream฀politics฀texts฀on฀Southeast฀ Asia฀and฀noted฀their฀abysmal฀lack฀of฀interest฀in฀anything฀relating฀to฀gender.฀ Two฀ decades฀ later,฀ I฀ am฀ revisiting฀ this฀ question฀ to฀ see฀ what,฀ if฀ anything,฀ has฀ changed.฀ When฀ we฀ held฀ our฀ earlier฀ conference,฀ feminism฀ had฀ only฀ just฀begun฀to฀influence฀the฀study฀of฀Southeast฀Asia.3 ฀Many฀feminist฀works฀ relevant฀ to฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ politics฀ have฀ now฀ been฀ written,฀ and฀ I฀ will฀ refer฀to฀some฀of฀them฀in฀what฀follows.฀Can฀we฀now฀see฀their฀impact฀on฀ mainstream฀politics฀writing? 04฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀53 9/9/09฀฀฀2:25:47฀PM 54 Susan Blackburn The฀task฀I฀posed฀for฀myself฀was฀to฀examine฀some฀mainstream฀political฀ writing฀about฀Southeast฀Asia฀in฀the฀last฀five฀to฀ten฀years,฀roughly฀since฀the฀ Asian฀financial฀crisis฀which฀had฀considerable฀political฀effects฀in฀some฀countries.฀ The฀question฀I฀asked฀was:฀If฀you฀wanted฀to฀find฀out฀about฀Southeast฀Asian฀ politics฀during฀the฀last฀decade,฀what฀general฀books฀(that฀is,฀not฀specifically฀ about฀women)฀would฀you฀turn฀to฀and฀would฀they฀tell฀you฀anything฀about฀ women฀or฀gender?฀Since฀there฀are฀very฀few฀general฀books฀on฀Southeast฀Asian฀ politics,฀I฀also฀chose฀to฀look฀at฀some฀political฀science฀works฀on฀the฀three฀ Southeast฀Asian฀countries฀with฀which฀I฀am฀most฀familiar:฀Indonesia,฀Malaysia฀ and฀Vietnam.฀I฀chose฀only฀scholarly฀works,฀so฀as฀to฀gain฀a฀better฀insight฀ into฀the฀discipline฀of฀political฀science,฀and฀I฀aimed฀to฀include฀authors฀from฀ both฀inside฀and฀outside฀the฀region.฀Although฀all฀the฀books฀are฀in฀English,฀ they฀give฀a฀reasonable฀coverage฀of฀scholarly฀writing฀because฀local฀scholars฀ contribute฀to฀books฀in฀English฀to฀reach฀a฀wider฀market.฀The฀following฀tables฀ (see฀Tables฀4.1–4.4)฀divide฀the฀books฀I฀will฀be฀analysing฀into฀four฀categories:฀ general฀works฀and฀those฀on฀the฀politics฀of฀the฀three฀Southeast฀Asian฀countries฀ I฀have฀selected.฀ This฀makes฀a฀total฀of฀sixteen฀books,฀too฀many฀to฀examine฀here฀in฀great฀ detail.฀My฀aim฀is฀to฀see฀what฀general฀statements฀can฀be฀made฀about฀gender฀ mainstreaming฀ in฀ this฀ literature.฀The฀ authors฀ of฀ these฀ books฀ come฀ from฀ Australia,฀North฀America฀and฀Europe฀as฀well฀as฀from฀Southeast฀Asia,฀and฀ while฀the฀vast฀majority฀of฀authors฀are฀men,฀women฀are฀also฀represented.฀ TABLE฀4.1 General฀Works฀on฀Southeast฀Asian฀Politics Book฀title Author/editor Publication฀ date Place฀and฀publisher Southeast฀Asian฀Affairs฀ 2008 Daljit฀Singh฀and฀Tin฀ Maung฀Maung฀Than,฀ eds. 2008 Singapore:฀Institute฀of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Studies Government฀and฀Politics฀ in฀Southeast฀Asia John฀Funston,฀ed. 2001 London:฀Zed฀Books The฀Political฀Economy฀of฀ Southeast฀Asia Gary฀Rodan,฀Kevin฀ Hewison,฀and฀Richard฀ Robison,฀eds. 2006 Melbourne:฀Oxford฀ University฀Press Politics฀in฀Southeast฀Asia:฀ Democracy฀or฀Less William฀Case 2002 London:฀Zed฀Books 04฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀54 9/9/09฀฀฀2:25:47฀PM Has Gender Analysis been Mainstreamed in the Study of Southeast Asian Politics? 55 TABLE฀4.2 Books฀on฀Indonesian฀Politics Book฀title Author/editor Publication฀ date Place฀and฀publisher Politics฀of฀Indonesia Damien฀Kingsbury 2005 Melbourne:฀Oxford฀ University฀Press Elections฀in฀Indonesia:฀The฀ New฀Order฀and฀Beyond Hans฀Antlov฀and฀ Sven฀Cederroth,฀eds. 2004 London:฀ RoutledgeCurzon The฀Indonesian฀Parliament฀ and฀Democratization Patrick฀Ziegenhain 2008 Singapore:฀Institute฀of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Studies Autonomy฀and฀ Disintegration฀in฀Indonesia Damien฀Kingsbury฀ and฀Harry฀Aveling,฀ eds. 2003 London:฀ RoutledgeCurzon Local฀Power฀and฀Politics฀in฀ Indonesia:฀Decentralisation฀ and฀Democratisation Edward฀Aspinall฀and฀ Greg฀Fealy,฀eds. 2003 Singapore:฀Institute฀of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Studies TABLE฀4.3 Books฀on฀Malaysian฀Politics Book฀title Author/editor Publication฀ date Place฀and฀publisher Protest฀and฀Possibilities:฀Civil฀ Society฀and฀Coalitions฀for฀ Political฀Change฀in฀Malaysia Meredith฀Weiss...