Research
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Our Research Project focuses on Women and Peace issues

Difa Mahya Zahara1, Nina Farlina2
1Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Challenging Objectification through Alternative Beauty Concepts in the Film I Feel Pretty (2018)
ABSTRACT
Beauty ideals that primarily focus on physical attributes play the role of a cultural milieu in which women are vulnerable to objectification. Such a cultural force gives rise to the importance of investigations on literature, such as films, as a cultural product as well as a cultural shaper in which women are portrayed and represented through their narrative, characters, and more. This study is a qualitative descriptive study on the film I Feel Pretty that applies the feminist theory of objectification. It aims to explore the portrayal of Renee Bennett, the main character, in dealing with objectifying beauty ideals and how such phenomena are challenged in the film. The results found that Renee Bennett experiences objectification by others, self-objectification, and objectifying others under the context of appearance-focused beauty concepts. However, the film challenges such objectifying beauty concepts by introducing alternatives that focus on internal qualities or non-physical attributes, such as self-confidence, intelligence, and health. Thus, the film is a critique towards the existing beauty ideals that glamorize the physique, and it encourages a shift of focus from external to internal qualities that support women’s mobility and well-being.
Keywords: Beauty; character; feminism; objectification; women
Murni Murpadila
Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia
Renegotiating Piety, Identity, and Modernity: Islamic Education System of Salafi Women in Lampung
ABSTRACT
The rapid development of gender studies has given rise to various feminist movements worldwide, leading to a wide range of perspectives on gender equality issues. Conservative and progressive groups have emerged, each holding their interpretations of the relationships between men and women. Salafi women, who adhere to a patriarchal and conservative system, are often seen as passive and subordinated by secular liberal feminists. However, they also play an active role in spaces where men were previously dominant. This aligns with the growing number of conservative groups and their educational institutions.
This research aims to: 1. Explore the curriculum and the women’s program at the Salafi Islamic boarding school; 2. Understand the implementation of the curriculum and the women’s program which justify their practice of what they practice as authentic Islam; 3. To know how Salafi women negotiate piety, identity, and modernity with the existing relationship between men and women within the Salafi circle.
This study employed a qualitative methodology using a case study approach. Data were collected through three distinct methods: Document analysis, which included the review of curricula, lesson plans, and specific school rules. Observations to assess interactions between teachers and students, peer interactions among students, and the overall learning process. Interviews with six participants comprised three teachers and three students. A triangulation method, drawing on multiple data sources, was employed to analyze the data, this ensured the credibility and validity of the findings.
The findings of this research showed: (1) The Salafi women’s Islamic boarding school has embraced educational autonomy by integrating elements sourced from the Middle East, Gontor, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs into its curriculum. Moreover, the school has effectively implemented the women’s empowerment program, widely recognized as Tarbiyah al-Annisa. This program focuses on proselytization for fostering and educating women by Islamic values. Additionally, the school places a strong emphasis on extracurricular activities, including sports and entrepreneurship. (2) This Islamic boarding school uses the Qur’an and Hadith as the main sources of their practice, particularly concerning women’s issues. They refer to lessons that come directly from the Middle East and consistently implement the knowledge gained in their everyday lives. (3) They focus on studying religious sciences and emphasize personal piety. They reinterpret the concepts and practices of Salafi teachings without intending to oppose or discard them. They also utilize advances in technology and information as a foundation for da’wah. In this setting, women, as active participants, harmonize and negotiate with modernity rather than defying the system. This allows them to follow divine orders while remaining relevant in modern society.
Keywords: Islamic Boarding School, Women Salaf, Agency, Gender, Feminist, Conservative, Progressive, Islam Transnational
Sonia So’imatus Sa’adah
Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia
Why Do Countries Pursue a Feminist Foreign Policy? A Comparison between Developed and Developing Countries: the Case of Sweden, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico
ABSTRACT
This study seeks to examine the necessary conditions for countries to pursue a feminist foreign policy. By applying the method of agreement and focusing on the cases of Sweden, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia, which integrate a feminist foreign policy, this research aims to observe why countries with different socioeconomic development statutes chose to adopt this political strategy. Scholars have argued that domestic politics and international politics are strongly intertwined. What happens in national politics can often shape a country’s foreign policy to a certain degree. With this as a background, this study recognizes that domestic forces and transnational forces are interdependent and interconnected. Thus, I argue that a strong feminist movement is a necessary condition for countries to pursue a feminist foreign policy. The interplay between pressure from domestic forces (feminist movements) and transnational forces results in a “pincers’ effect” (Friedman, 2008), which leads states to put emphasize a genderresponsive foreign policy. In other words, the existence of a strong feminist movement is a required condition for countries to adopt a feminist foreign policy.
Keywords: feminist foreign policy, necessary condition, Sweden, Canada, Mexico,
and Colombia
Luciana Anggraeni, R Tanzil Fawaiq Sayyaf
Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang
The Role of Women as Movers of Religious Moderation Through The Family
ABSTRACT
Amid the issue of Indonesian religious extremism, the role of women in strengthening literacy and religious moderation in the family is a serious concern. Preventing cases of radicalism can start from the closest point, namely the family. This is important to study because the role of women in the family is not only as mothers, but women can carry out their multi-role as individuals, wives, mothers, and community mobilizers in the implementation of religious moderation. Through parenting applied by mothers to children, they can integrate the values of justice and togetherness so children learn to respond to differences wisely. The role of mothers and women amid the Covid-19 pandemic is completing domestic work and indirectly acting as teachers for children. In this situation, mothers must be wise and need to supervise their children using technology, which is the main door for children to receive information. This study examines the role of women in the family as movers of religious moderation in Indonesia. The research method used is library research, which will focus on the literature, while the analysis used is descriptive-analytical. The result of this research is that women as mothers can instill values of religious moderation through child-rearing, women as wives can work together with their husbands in fostering a household ark that integrates the value of religious moderation in educating children as a mother, and the nuclear family. While women as a society have the potential to maintain and maintain inter-religious harmony, this potential is underutilized.
Keywords: Women, Religious Moderation, Family
Rahayu Hartini, R. Tanzil Fawaiq Sayyaf, Luciana Anggraeni
Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang
Alternative Dispute Resolution as a Solution to Family Law Issue (Field Study at the Muhammadiyah Branch Leaders in Tegalgondo, Malang
ABSTRACT
Harmonious family life is the goal of fostering the household to become sakinah, but it cannot be denied that conflict will always arise in family life, so an alternative dispute resolution is needed. The main question that arises is why people take litigation methods to solve family problems such as divorce, distribution of inheritance in the Religious Courts compared to alternatives dispute resolution. This study can provide the community with an understanding of Alternative Dispute Resolution in dispute resolution. This question will be solved by an empirical normative study of family dispute resolution with Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Leadership of the Muhammadiyah Branch of Perumahan IKIP-Tegalgondo Asri, Karangploso, Kabupaten Malang. This research uses descriptive analysis method. It is also complemented by a literary approach in the form of Islamic Family Law literature and Journal of Dispute Resolution to address the issues raised in this paper. The findings in practice prove that there should give more socialization about Alternative Dispute Resolution so that the community has more than one way to resolve the dispute. Thus, it does not make litigation a final solution as an institution that solves its dispute. Understanding of Alternative Dispute Resolution and its types is further enhanced to create a solution in the legal bureaucracy in Indonesia.
Keywords: Alternative, Dispute, Family, Law, Resolution
Hasnan Bachtiar, Luciana Anggraeni
Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang
Rethinking the Contemporary Discourse of Jihād
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to evaluate the phenomenon of combative jihadism domination and the associated conditioning factors. Also, it evaluates the possibility of jihād’s dominant concept being paralleled to the Western concept of ‘just war.’ It can be argued that Islam normatively recognizes two forms of jihād, namely the greater form, which is for self-purification and improvement, as well as the lesser jihād for combative war. Although the combative meaning has historically dominated the contemporary discourse of jihād, it has been conditioned by several factors. These factors include the growth of the radical Islamism ideology, Western hegemonic behavior, globalization, and the absence of alternative narratives. Furthermore, it was discovered that the dominant concept of jihād in a legalistic view, is relatively similar to the Western concept of ‘just war,’ which in reality tends to be illegal or “breaks the law.” It also discusses the normative and historical meanings of jihād, the factors that conditioned the domination of combative jihadism, and the concept of ‘just war’.
Keywords: Jihād; jihadism; combative jihadism; Jama’ah Islamiyah; Laskar Jihad; terrorism