Changes facing women today in Indonesia and Iran: Why previously-banned books are now being published 
(Other University events)
3 May 2012
4pm - 5pm
Venue: Room 325, Level 3, Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road
Website: www.nzai.auckland.ac.nz
NZ Asia Institute panel discussion.
Panel:
Rena Herdiyani, Director, Kalyanamitra, Jakarta,
Hegel Terome, Organisation Deputy, Kalyanamitra, Jakarta,
Mary-Alice Waters, President, Pathfinder Press, New York
Sharyn Graham Davies, Auckland University of Technology
Kalyanamitra is a women's rights organisation in Indonesia. It was founded during the military regime of Suharto, in 1985, in response to injustices faced by Indonesian women. Since the overthrow of the Suharto regime, previously banned literature is now being published in Indonesia. Kalyanamitra has recently published two classic books from Pathfinder Press on the origins of women's oppression, in the Indonesian language. They are Woman's Evolution, by Evelyn Reed, and Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, by Frederick Engels. Woman's Evolution has also been recently translated into Farsi in Iran. The speakers will discuss the changing position of women in Indonesia and why there is a growing interest in countries like this and Iran in previously prohibited books that address these changes.
About the Panellists:
Rena Herdiyani is the executive director of Kalyanamitra. She is the coordinator of the CEDAW Working Group Initiative in Jakarta, a coalition of NGOs that monitors government policies on discrimination against women. Rena has campaigned against violence against women and has worked for Indonesia's Family Planning Association.
Hegel Terome is the organisation deputy of Kalyanamitra. He is a graduate of Gadjah Mada University and has translated and edited a number of books on women's rights. Hegel worked for the Bina Desa Secretariat, which advocates for rural communities.
Mary-Alice Waters is the president of Pathfinder Press from New York. She is Evelyn Reed's literary executor and authored the prefaces to the recent Farsi and Indonesian editions of Woman's Evolution. Her most recent book is Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution. (Pathfinder, 2012)
Sharyn Graham Davies is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at AUT. Her research interests centre on gender and sexuality in Indonesia. She has published Gender Diversity in Indonesia (Routledge, 2011) and Challenging Gender Norms (Thomson Wadsworth, 2007). Sharyn is currently researching surveillance and policing in Indonesia.
