Veils and ecstasy: negotiating shame in the Indonesian Borderlands

Author: Johan Lindquist

Source: Ethnos, Volume 69, Number 4, December 2004 , pp. 487-508(22)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

'Malu', meaning approximately shame or embarrassment, is a key emotional trope for contemporary Indonesian migrants. This paper discusses the position of 'malu' in the lives of young female migrants who work as factory workers or prostitutes on the rapidly developing Indonesian island of Batam, located on the border with Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It shows how veiling and the drug 'ecstasy' have both become techniques for migrants to negotiate 'malu' in the context of the demands of migration and the contradictions of everyday life on Batam.

Keywords: Emotion; migration; gender; drugs; religion; Indonesia

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/0014184042000302317

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