This book explores how women deal with the realm of marriage in Lombok, eastern Indonesia. It draws on women s narratives of their marital trajectories, recounting their stories of courtship, marital discord, and experiences of divorce, remarriage and polygamy. In this part of Indonesia, which is strongly Islamic, up to seventy per cent of marriages are informal and unregistered, legalised only under Islamic, not state, law. The book examines the consequences of this, which include the fact that in Islamic law divorce can only be initiated by a man, whose pronouncement of divorce is final...

As China globalizes, the number of marriages between Chinese people and foreigners is increasing. These Chinese--foreign marriages have profound implications for China's cultural identity. This book, based on extensive original research, outlines the different types of Chinese--foreign marriage, and divorce, and the changing scale and changing patterns of such marriages, and divorces, and examines how such marriages and divorces are portrayed in different kinds of media. It shows how those types of Chinese--foreign marriage where Chinese patriotism and Chinese values are preserved are...

The term "sheng nu" ("leftover women") has been recently coined in China to describe the increasing number of women, especially highly educated professional women in their late twenties and over who have not married. This book explores this phenomenon, reporting on extensive research among "leftover women," research which reveals that the majority of women are keen to get married, contrary to the notion that traditional marriage has lost its appeal among the new generations of economically independent women. The book explains the reasons behind these women's failures to get married,...

This book examines the life of women in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where Islamic law was introduced in 1999. It outlines how women have had to face the formalisation of conservative understandings of sharia law in regulations and new state institutions over the last decade or so, how they have responded to this, forming non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have shaped local discourse on women's rights, equality and status in Islam, and how these NGOs have strategised, demanded reform, and enabled Acehnese women to take active roles in influencing the processes of...

Economic development in the poorest countries often makes better progress when women become involved in, and take a lead in, development projects. Encouraging women s involvement, however, is often a major difficulty in societies where traditionally women s status has been inferior and where women are expected to be domestic and passive. This book, based on extensive original research, considers major projects undertaken by non-governmental organisations in Bangladesh to encourage women s participation. The book identifies the factors which motivated women to be active, discusses how women...

This book presents a wide-ranging overview of the position of women in Timor-Leste, 15 years after the country secured its independence. It considers the role of women in Timor-Leste s history, explores their role in the present day economy and politics, and discusses their contribution to culture and society. The contested meaning of gender itself is investigated in the contemporary culture of this new society. It applies a wide range of different feminist theories and approaches, and concludes with a discussion of what new directions gender studies in Timor-Leste might take. "

This book brings an important new perspective to the study of sex trafficking by considering the different types of social contracts which existed in the past that had sexual labour or activity as an inherent component. It outlines the nature of these social institutions marriage, temporary marriage, debt bondage, and slavery which were recognized in local law, carried no stigma, and endured for long periods. It discusses how labour pledged in return for a loan of cash or as a result of a punishment dictated by the state often included sexual labour, and how this could take the form of...