Connecting the life stories of women from Java, Bali, Sumba, Lombok and Aceh with an analysis of the social and political conditions, the book shows how Indonesian women develop their identity between religious and moral expectations, traditional values and global consumerism.

The portrayals of entrepreneurs, leaders, labor migrants, workers, intellectuals and housewives illustrate how women from different social and cultural backgrounds make choices between collective norms and individual dreams, family duties and professional career, religious responsibilities and social engagement, communal obligations and self-fulfillment.

Jutta Berninghausen, Birgit Kerstan and Nena Soeprapto-Jansen have been working and living in Indonesia for more than 25 years. Combining a journalistic and scientific approach, they address scholars, travelers, foreigners living in Indonesia and everybody interested in exploring the country’s diverse socio-cultural fabric from a female perspective.