Guest lecture "Conversation on Islam and Gender Ethics in Indonesia. With special reference to Aisyiyah’s Imaginaries of Womanhood" by Siti Syamsiyatun, June 16th, 2016

Indonesia is known to become the fourth major democratic country and home to Muslim majority population. Although Islam is formally adhered to by most Indonesians, this does not mean that Middle East Culture dominates the daily life of the people. In fact, other influential axial civilizations, i.e. Europe, India and China, have left their substantial imprints in Indonesian land-water and culture. Thus the idea and practice of gender status, role and relations in today’s Indonesia have also been influenced by these afore mentioned civilizations, in addition to social changes took place in the region. In her presentation Siti Syamsiyatun highlighted a particular case of a Muslim women organization, named Aisyiyah, in their struggle to promote “Perempuan Islam Berkemajuan” (Progressive Muslim Women). Since its inception in the early 20^th century, Aisyiyah has propagated to moderate Islam that brings joy, life and meaning for its adherents and community, and in active conversation with the current development of sciences. Aisyiyah has applied various methods to carry out its vision of Progressive Muslim Women, varying from education to economic empowerment, and from a cultural revolution to become political interest group.
The students who participated at the guest lecture were impressed by the engagement of those courageous women in the religiously and politically difficult Indonesian context.
The presentation was organized by the Department of Political Sciences in the course of the INEX-lectures.