Maznah Mohamad - Feminism and the Womens Movement in Malaysia

This study provides an account of the multiple struggles of the Malaysian women's movement from securing gender equality in a patriarchal society to achieving unity among members of a multiethnic society that are further divided along class and religious lines. While most historical versions of national struggles have created icons out of male figures usually prominent politicians this study provides a corrective. It details the important role of the women's movement, led by numerous unsung personalities, in promoting social change in Malaysia. A crucial argument is made: that in the context of an ethnically fragmented post-colonial, authoritarian society, an autonomous women's movement which began in the early 1980s had actually achieved significant political successes, introducing new issues into public debate and confronting the dictates of the state. But the study observes that, by the late 1990s, feminist issues were also readily appropriated and instrumentalized by the state and the market. It argues that the emergence of market feminism poses specific challenges for the future of the Malaysian women's movement. Overall, this book combines both personal and academic insights into the construction of an in-depth account of the Malaysian women's movement and the various feminisms behind it.

Cecilia Ng is an independent researcher and women's rights advocate. She was previously an Associate Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia and Visiting Associate Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. She has conducted research and published widely on gender, development and work, and is active in women's groups in Malaysia where she is involved in research, training and advocacy on advancing the women's movement in Malaysia.

Maznah Mohamad is an Associate Professor of Development Studies and was formerly the Director of the Women's Development Research Centre at the Science University of Malaysia, Penang. She is a committee member of the Penang-based Women's Centre for Change and sits on the Board of Directors of the International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific). She is also author of the book The Malay Handloom Weavers: A Study of the Rise and Decline of Traditional Manufacture.

tan beng hui is trained in political economy and economic history. She has been involved in the Malaysian women's movement since 1990, during which time she has also tried to put sexuality rights on the agenda of local women's groups. She most recently worked as a Programme Officer with the International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific).

Published in association with Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA)

Series Editors:

Mohammed Hazim Shah, University of Malaya
Shamsul A.B., University Kebangsaan Malaysia
Terence Gomez, University of Malaya

The Routledge Malaysian Studies Series publishes high quality scholarship that provides important new contributions to knowledge on Malaysia. It also signals research that spans comparative studies, involving the Malaysian experience with that of other nations.

This series, initiated by the Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA) to promote study of contemporary and historical issues in Malaysia, and designed to respond to the growing need to publish important research, also serves as a forum for debate on key issues in Malaysian society. As an academic series, it will be used to generate new theoretical debates in the social sciences and on processes of change in this society.

The Routledge Malaysian Studies Series will cover a broad range of subjects including history, politics, economics, sociology, international relations, geography, business, education, religion, literature, culture and ethnicity. The series will encourage work adopting an interdisciplinary approach.

The State of Malaysia
Ethnicity, equity and reform
Edited by Edmund Terence Gomez

Feminism and the Women's Movement in Malaysia
An unsung (r)evolution
Cecilia Ng, Maznah Mohamad and tan beng hui

First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY10016

2006 Cecilia Ng, Maznah Mohamad and tan beng hui

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ng, Cecilia, 1950
Feminism and the women's movement in Malaysia : an unsung (r)evolution / Cecilia Ng, Maznah Mohamad, and Tan Beng Hui.
p. cm. -- (Routledge Malaysian studies series ; 2)
Published in association with Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-37479-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Feminism--Malaysia. 2. Women's rights--Malaysia. 3. Women--Malaysia--Social conditions. I. Maznah Mohamad. II. Tan, Beng Hui, 1967- III. Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia. IV. Title. V. Series.
HQ1750.6N4 2006
305.4209595--dc22

2005026289

ISBN10 0-415-37479-0 (Print Edition)
ISBN13 9-780-415-37479-8

Cecilia Ng is an independent researcher and women's rights advocate. She was previously an Associate Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia and Visiting Associate Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, where she was also an editor of the AIT-based Journal of Gender, Technology and Development. Cecilia has conducted research and published widely on gender, development and work, with a focus on globalization, technological change and women's employment. She has also written on the women's movement in Malaysia. She is active in women's groups in Malaysia and is a founder member of the Women's Development Collective (WDC) and the All Women's Action Society (AWAM), where she is involved in research, training and advocacy on advancing the women's movement in Malaysia.

Maznah Mohamad is currently an Associate Professor of Development Studies at the School of Social Sciences, University of Science Malaysia (USM), Penang. She was formerly the School's Deputy Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and Director of the Women's Development Research Centre. She has done research on development policies in Malaysia especially in relation to women's organizations and the impact of Muslim Family Laws on women's status. Her publications include,