LAP Lambert Academic Publishing Decentralization and Women in Indonesia: Engendering Local Governance in North Sumatra

This book rejects the assumption that women are passive recipients in local governance since they contribute significantly in fulfilling household and community needs and interests. Through knowledge and understanding to construction of power at the local level, women creatively produce and use alternative strategies which are based on their sexuality and traditional gender roles in challenging and transforming gender inequity at the local level and in improving the quality of everyday life. By raising women’s self esteem, confidence and solidarity in reconstructing gendered relations at the household and community levels, women’s grassroots organisations open up alternative arenas for political expression for women which is crucial for the realisation of good local governance. About the Author Dr. Asima Yanty Siahaan is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of North Sumatra, Indonesia. She obtained her PhD degree in Development Studies from Massey University, New Zealand. She has conducted research and training on gender, decentralization and disaster.