This book is the result of the thesis containing the discourse analysis at three levels; level of language, institutions and social processes, and subjectivity to understand the struggle of power relations in the construction and deconstruction of nationalism in Aceh based on Islam. This thesis examines oral tradition, practiced by women of Aceh today, to understand the resistance that women played in Aceh against the discourse that cast them from the political arena.

This thesis also examines how the advocates of Islam in Aceh turn women into symbols of Islamic collectivity to mobilize popular strength and support (legitimacy) against the Indonesian military. This thesis attempts to look at the Indonesian government’s efforts to domesticate women by introducing the rules and institutions that discriminate against women. In the end, this thesis examines the differences of subjectivity positions taken by women activists in Aceh in the midst of diversity discourse, which consists of -at least- gender, nationality, and religion.

The interviews with nine female activists in Aceh to develop this thesis were an attempt to find how discourses work at the level of subjectivity. The goal is not merely to map the diversity of discourse and subjectivity to understand existing power relations. But more than that, the purpose of this thesis is to find the “webs of connections called solidarity in politics” (Haraway, 1991, p. 191) to help the Acehnese women identify “areas and strategies for change – and the region strategies for change”(Weedon, 1987, p.. 40-41) in their struggle to achieve gender equality. By doing so, this thesis sees women in Aceh as an agent that plays a central role in social change in Aceh. ***

POLITICAL IDENTITY OF WOMEN IN ACEH
Author: Edriana Noerdin
Publisher: WRI, 2005
Pages: xiii+68 pages
ISBN: 979-99305-2-9
Price: IDR 20.000,-

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