Indonesian women created a political voice through gendered care work

In the early 20th century Dutch East Indies, colonial authorities set about instructing residents of Java and Sumatra on hygiene and nutrition.

"Literate women often noted that the 'new scientific knowledge' broadcast by the Dutch administration echoed indigenous practices, such as the advantages of eating unpolished rice, or religious mandates like the requirement for extended breastfeeding," said Chiara Formichi, the H. Stanley Krusen Professor of World Religions in the College of Arts and Sciences. By medicalizing cleanliness and health, the Dutch marginalized women's traditional influence and knowledge - but the women pushed back, Formichi writes in her new book, "Domestic Nationalism: Muslim Women, Health, and Modernity in Indonesia."

Resisting the boundaries imposed on them by the colonial and postcolonial state, Indonesian women created a public voice for themselves, sharing their ideas in vernacular magazines, news and lifestyle media and advertisements. In "Domestic Nationalism," published Oct. 28 by Stanford University Press, Formichi argues that during the 1920s to 1950s, Indonesian women's domestic activities contributed to nation-building as a political project.

The College of Arts and Sciences spoke with Formichi about the book.

Read the interview on the College of Arts and Sciences website.