INDONESIAN WOMEN, THE WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ‘WOMEN'S RIGHTS’, 1946–1965

Abstract

This article examines the transnational links Indonesian women made with women abroad by means of participation in the WIDF (Women's International Democratic Federation) from 1946–1965. Drawing on Indonesian women's speeches at WIDF congresses, contributions to WIDF publications and documents from Gerwani (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, the Indonesian Women's movement) national congresses the article argues that the WIDF provided an important political compass for Indonesian women on the political left and directly influenced the form and content of its campaign for women's rights. At the same time Gerwani women were able to draw attention and attract support from the extensive membership of the WIDF for domestic challenges, which they positioned as connected to broader struggles against imperialism. With a rapidly rising membership Gerwani was assuming increased importance and influence in the WIDF by the early 1960s and had begun to shape the direction and causes of the WIDF.

Notes

¹Sarmadji, interview 16 August 2011, Amsterdam.

²Jay 1969 cited in Wieringa (2002: 176).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katharine McGregor

I would like to thank Adrian Vickers and Julia Martinez for inviting me to participate in the workshop on Indonesians abroad held in 2010 at the University of Wollongong from which this article originated, and Saskia Weiringa, Francisca de Haan, Jennifer Lindsay and the anonymous referees for their helpful feedback. Thanks also to Vannessa Hearman for her research assistance and to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne for a grant to support this research.