Women and Politics in Southeast Asia – Navigating a Mans World

This book aims to contribute to the discourse on women and politics in Southeast Asia. The chapters—covering Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Singapore—analyze the asymmetrical power relationships between the sexes. The included essays show how the power differentials between men and women in the realm of politics are a reflection of the power contestations women face with men in other spheres of everyday life. Each chapter seeks to ask a different question in terms of where women viz. men stand in the political landscape of their countries, in an effort to answer the question of "Where are the women" in the gender trope in Asian politics. Recognizing that Asian politics is dominated by men, the question of how women have negotiated a value system that is inherently male-centred and male-controlled is also discussed.