Critically examines the usefulness of the 'household; concept within the historically and culturally diverse context of Indonesia, exploring in detail the position of women within and beyond domestic arrangements. So far, classical household and kinship studies have not studied how women deal with two major forces which shape and define their world: local kinship traditions, and the universalising ideology of the Indonesian regime, which both provide prescriptions and prohibitions concerning family, marriage, and womanhood. Women are caught between these conflicting notions and practices....

While the image of modern Myanmar/Burma tends to be couched in human rights terms - and especially of a heroic Aung San Suu Kyi opposing and oppressive military regime - in reality there are several conflicts with ethnic and religious dimensions, as well as political and ideological differences between the opposition and the ruling military regime. This is not surprising in a country where 30% of the population and much of the land area are non-Burman, and where contradictory tendencies towards regional separatism versus unitary rule have divided the people since before...

Critically examines the usefulness of the 'household; concept within the historically and culturally diverse context of Indonesia, exploring in detail the position of women within and beyond domestic arrangements. So far, classical household and kinship studies have not studied how women deal with two major forces which shape and define their world: local kinship traditions, and the universalising ideology of the Indonesian regime, which both provide prescriptions and prohibitions concerning family, marriage, and womanhood. Women are caught between these conflicting notions and practices....