The talk explores the discourse of gender empowerment in hypermediated Indonesia, foregrounding the significance of digital citizenship for girls and young women in the face of an increasingly constrained civic space. 

It examines how organizations that promote gender empowerment narratives often co-opt and obscure possibilities of resistance for girls and young women. While well-intentioned, adult-led programs and campaigns frequently uphold hierarchies and exploit the emotional labor of girls and young women. Meanwhile, youth-led advocacy work on digital platforms—an alternative to adult-managed programs—receives minimal support and recognition. 

This presentation draws from a participatory research project with young women leaders across Indonesia, informed by their experiences with international NGOs, non-profits, as well as their own grassroot organizational work. Using a feminist digital citizenship approach, it critiques current gender empowerment frameworks that, despite appearing progressive, reproduce the very power imbalances they claim to challenge. It suggests a critical, grounded analysis of empowerment, exposing how these narratives obscure opportunities for resisting dominant gender norms and those in power. 

Finally, it proffers a more youth-centered approach to gender empowerment advocacy through digital citizenship practices.  

Speaker

Annisa R. Beta is an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow (2023-2025) and a senior lecturer in Cultural Studies at the School of Culture and Communication, the University of Melbourne, Australia. Before joining the University of Melbourne, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Singapore, where she also completed her PhD. She is the author of Pious girls (Routledge, 2024) and a co-founder of Anotasi and Jaringan Etnografi Terbuka.

Moderator

David Kloos is a historian and anthropologist with a focus on Southeast Asia. His main interests are religion (particularly Islam), gender, the politics of knowledge formation, visual methods, and the study of the social, political, and cultural aspects of climate change.

Format, date, time & venue

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Tuesday 3 June from 16.00 – 17.30 PM (CET).

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Young women collaborators in Indonesia workshopping their ideas to promote gender empowerment. Photo by Annisa R. Beta.

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