Women's Movements in Asia: Feminisms and Transnational Activism

287 Pages·2010·1.59 MB·English

by  Mina Roces

Women’s Movements in Asia
This book is a comprehensive study of women’s activism across Asia. With
chapters written by leading international experts, it provides a full overview of
thehistoryoffeminism,aswellasthecurrentcontextofthewomen’smovement
in twelve countries: the Philippines, China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan,
Singapore,Vietnam,Thailand,Cambodia,Korea,IndiaandPakistan.
Women’smovementsinAsiaweresimultaneouslytransnationalinoutlookand
indigenizing in orientation. This volume provides country-focused case studies
that help us understand the contexts within which ‘national essence feminism’
emerged in Asia. Western feminisms were immediately identified as Other—
compelling each Asian country to search for its own unique answers to the
‘woman question’ by deconstructing how the feminine was constructed not just
by culture and religions but also by history and the experiences of colonialism
andimperialism.ThechaptersrevealhowAsianactivistsmobilizedtransnational
forumsandprotocolstolegitimizetheirspecificnationalcampaigns.
Eachchapterincludesacomprehensivebibliographyofkeyworksinthefield
makingitidealforcoursesonwomenandfeminisminAsia.Itwillappealboth
tostudentsandspecialistsinthefieldsofgenderandsocialandpoliticalhistory.
Louise Edwards is Professor of Modern China Studies at the University of
HongKong.
MinaRocesisanAssociateProfessorintheSchoolofHistoryandPhilosophy,
TheUniversityofNewSouthWales,Sydney,Australia.
Expertsinanalysinggenderissuesofferthisuniquecomparativeanalysisofthe
evolutionof‘nationalessencefeminism’inthecontextofglobalfeminism.Tofind
outhowthewomen’smovementintwelveAsiannationshavefoughtforbodily
autonomy,participationinpoliticsandreligion,newdefinitionsofwomanhood,
changedfamilyrelationsandmuchmore–thisbookisthebest(indeedtheonly)
onetoread.
ChillaBulbeckProfessoremeritaandvisitingresearchfellow,TheUniversityof
Adelaide,Australia
Women’s Movements in Asia
Feminisms and transnational activism
Edited by
Mina Roces and Louise Edwards
Firstpublished2010
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
270MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
©2010EditorialSelectionandmatter,MinaRocesandLouiseEdwards.
Individualchapters,thecontributor.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilizedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
fromthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Women’smovementsinAsia:feminismsandtransnationalactivism/
editedbyMinaRocesandLouiseEdwards.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Feminism–Asia.2.Women–Politicalactivity–Asia.3.Transnationalism.
I.Roces,Mina,1959–II.Edwards,LouiseP.
HQ1726.W6952010
305.42095–dc22
2009047320
ISBN 0-203-85123-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN:978-0-415-48702-3(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-48703-0(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-85123-4(ebk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Listofcontributors viii
1 Asianfeminisms:women’smovementsfromtheAsian
perspective 1
MINA ROCES
2 Feminismandthewomen’smovementintheworld’slargest
Islamicnation 21
SUSAN BLACKBURN
3 ‘Rethinking‘theFilipinowoman’:acenturyofwomen’s
activisminthePhilippines,1905–2006 34
MINA ROCES
4 Chinesefeminisminatransnationalframe:between
internationalismandxenophobia 53
LOUISE EDWARDS
5 Transnationalnetworksandlocalizedcampaigns:the
women’smovementinSingapore 75
LENORE LYONS
6 Crossingboundaries:transnationalfeminismsin
twentieth-centuryJapan 90
BARBARA MOLONY
7 Feminism,Buddhismandtransnationalwomen’smovements
inThailand 110
MONICA LINDBERG FALK
vi Contents
8 Followingthetrailofthefairy-bird:thesearchforauniquely
Vietnamesewomen’smovement 124
ALESSANDRA CHIRICOSTA
9 TheHongKongwomen’smovement:towardsapolitics
ofdifferenceanddiversity 144
ADELYN LIM
10 Militaryrule,religiousfundamentalism,women’s
empowermentandfeminisminPakistan 166
ANDREA FLESCHENBERG
11 Mappingahundredyearsofactivism:women’smovements
inKorea 189
SEUNG-KYUNG KIM AND KYOUNGHEE KIM
12 ‘Ridingabuffalotocrossamuddyfield’:heuristicapproaches
tofeminisminCambodia 207
TRUDY JACOBSEN
13 RightstalkandthefeministmovementinIndia 224
SUMI MADHOK
Index 242
Acknowledgements
Thisbookisatestamenttothevalueofacademicconferencenetworking.Ithad
itsoriginsinaconversationbetweenRoutledgeEditor,StephanieRogers,Mina
Roces and Louise Edwards at the International Congress of Asian Scholars in
Shanghai in 2005. Once the team of contributors had formed, some authors
presentedtheirfirstdraftsattheAsianStudiesAssociationofAustralia(ASAA)
conferencehostedbyMonashUniversityin2008.Yetotherspresentedtheirwork
attheASAA’sWomeninAsiaConferenceheldattheUniversityofQueensland,
alsoin2008.Ateachoftheseevents,colleaguesfromaroundtheworldprovided
invaluablefeedbackandinterrogationoftheconceptsanddetailsofthechapters.
Tothosewhoparticipated,thankyouforyourcollegiality.Youwillnoticemany
ofyourideashavebeenincorporatedintothisfinalversion.
The volume also provides evidence that the transnational nature of feminism
isaliveandwellintheacademiccommunityaswellasamongtheactivistsand
organizers discussed in the volume. Contributors to this book are drawn from
aroundtheworld:Europe,Asia,AustralasiaandtheUSA.Forsomeauthors,this
istheirfirstopportunitytoworktogetheronajointproject.Forothers,itreflects
anongoingcommitmenttoteamprojects.
All books draw on the time and energies of people beyond the academic
authors. The editors would like to thank Samantha Hauw, Claire Moore, Raina
AnneBernardez,AlanWalker,XiPing,StevenXuezhongSu,DarrelDorrington
andShashimSharmafortheirinvaluableassistance.GrantsfromtheAustralian
ResearchCouncilsupportedtheprojectandtheFacultyofArtsattheUniversity
ofNewSouthWalesprovidedfundsfortheproductionoftheindex.Wewould
also like to acknowledge the enthusiasm and energy provided by Routledge,
in particular Stephanie Rogers and her team of Leanne Hinves and Sonja
VanLeeuwen.
Finallywewouldliketothankourpartners,MartynLyonsandKamLouiefor
theircontinuedsupportofourongoingeffortstopromoteknowledgeoffeminism
andwomen’smovementsinAsia.
MinaRoces,Sydney
LouiseEdwards,HongKong
Contributors
SusanBlackburnisanAssociateProfessorintheSchoolofPoliticalandSocial
InquiryatMonashUniversity,wheresheteachesSoutheastAsianPolitics.In
recentyears,herresearchhasfocusedonwomeninpoliticsanddevelopment.
She is the author of Women and the State in Modern Indonesia (Cambridge
UniversityPress2004).
AlessandraChiricostaisaPhilosopherandHistorianofReligionsandspecializes
inSoutheastandEastAsianCultures.Shefocusesoninterculturalphilosophy,
religious and cultural dialogue, Gender Studies and Anthropology and has
workedasaconsultantforinternationalNGOsandfortheItalianEmbassyin
Vietnam.ShehastaughtatthreeuniversitiesinItaly—LaSapienza,Urbaniana
andRomaTre(wheresheobtainedherEuropeanPhD)—aswellastheSchool
ofOrientalandAfricanStudiesandtheUniversityofHaNoi.Herpublications
includeIsensidelsincretismo[MeaningsofSyncretism],2004(withMazzoleni
and Franceschelli) and Oltre i Confini [Beyond the Boundaries], 2005, both
published by Bulzoni; she also translated and edited Matteo Ricci SJ, Il vero
significato del Signore del Cielo [The true meaning of the Lord of heaven]
(UrbanianaUniversityPress2006).
LouiseEdwardsisProfessorofModernChinaStudiesattheUniversityofHong
Kong. Her publications include: Gender, Politics and Democracy: Women’s
SuffrageinChina(StanfordUniversityPress2008);MenandWomeninQing
China(E.J.Brill1994,HawaiiUniversityPress2001);CensoredbyConfucius
(M.E. Sharpe 1996, with Kam Louie); and a series of edited volumes with
MinaRocesincludingThePoliticsofDressinAsiaandtheAmericas(Sussex
Academic 2007); Women’s Suffrage in Asia (RoutledgeCurzon 2004); and
Women in Asia: Tradition, Modernity and Globalization (Allen & Unwin,
MichiganUniversityPress2000).
MonicaLindbergFalkisaSocialAnthropologistandlecturerandresearcherat
the Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies, Lund University, Sweden.
Her research interests include gender, Buddhism, anthropology of disaster,
women’s movements, religious movements, development and social change
in Southeast Asia. Her scholarship includes extensive fieldwork in Thailand.
Contributors ix
Shehaspublishedamonographandseveralarticlesonthemesrelatedtogender
andBuddhism.HercurrentresearchprojectisongenderandBuddhism’srole
intherecoveryprocessafterthetsunamicatastropheinThailand.
Andrea Fleschenberg, PhD, currently works as research associate and lecturer
at the Institute of Social Science at the University of Hildesheim, Germany.
Previously, she was a research fellow at the Institute of East Asian Studies/
Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen and a lecturer at the
UniversityofCologne,Germany.In2007,shewasavisitingprofessoratthe
University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan, and in 2006, at the Universitat
JaumeIinCastellon,Spain.Herresearchareasarecomparativeandthirdworld
politicswithaparticularfocusonSouthandSoutheastAsia,democratization
and election studies, transitional justice issues, gender and politics, on which
shehascontributednumerouspublications.Recentpublications:Afghanistan’s
ParliamentintheMaking.GenderedUnderstandingsandPracticesofPolitics
inaTransitionalCountry(Heinrich-Böll-FoundationUNIFEM,Berlin2009);
The Gender Face of Asian Politics, co-edited with Aazar Ayaz (Oxford
University Press 2009); Goddesses, Heroes, Sacrifices: Female Political
Power in Asia, co-edited with Dagmar Hellmann-Rajanayagam (LIT Verlag,
Zürich/Münster2008).
Trudy Jacobsen is Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian History at Northern
IllinoisUniversity.ShehaspublishedonBuddhismandpoliticsinCambodia,
justice and reconciliation in Southeast Asia, and the history of women and
powerinCambodia,mostsignificantlyLostGoddesses:TheDenialofFemale
Power in Cambodian History (NIAS Press 2008). Her postdoctoral research
projectIntersectionsofDesire,DutyandDebt:SexualContractsinBurmaand
Cambodiawillbepublishedin2011.
KyoungheeKimisanAssociateProfessorofSociologyandHeadofInstituteof
Sociology at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. Her major research areas
aregenderequalitypolicies,carework,andwomen’smovementsinKoreafrom
acomparativeperspective.Hermostrecentpublicationsincludeacomparative
analysisoftheERAmovementinUSandthemovementtoabolishthefamily
headsysteminKorea,andthecommercializationofcareworkandmotherhood.
HercurrentresearchisongenderbudgetsandpayequityinKorea.
Seung-kyungKimisAssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofWomen’sStudies
at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research expertise includes
Women and Work, Gender and Labour Politics, Gender and Development,
Ethnography, Feminist Theory, and women in East Asia and Asian America.
Herpublicationsinclude:ClassStruggleorFamilyStruggle?:LivesofWomen
Factory Workers in South Korea (Cambridge University Press 1997, 2009);
Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspective (Routledge 2003,
2009). She has written articles and book chapters that were published in
various journals and anthologies. She is currently working on two book
manuscripts:Women’sMovementsinDemocraticSouthKorea:TheTrajectory