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Traditional, Islamic and National Law in the Experience of Indonesian Muslim Women†

ABSTRACT This article examines how social imaginaries of women as equal in the public sphere, rooted in a long history, support gender equality. However, there is tension between national law, traditional (adat) law and Islamic law in the narratives of Indonesian Muslim women. In Indonesia, law is not conceived of as a universal boundary that may not be violated, but rather as a discursive tradition subject to negotiation depending on local conditions. In some parts of Indonesia, women are imagined as powerful agents who have often exercised leadership in society. In other parts, patriarchy is strongly entrenched. Law, and the imaginary of women, is in an ongoing process of transformation in response to the dynamic between modern education, global religious influences and traditional practices. Traditional law is grounded in the narratives of people within specific local ethnic groups and interacts with Islam and changing modern conditions to create unique local understandings of the role of women in society. National law in Indonesia often has less authority than religious and traditional law. Both the interpretation of law and the prevalence of women in positions of leadership are supported by imaginaries of women as powerful actors in the public sphere.