Susan Blackburn and Helen Ting's anthology, Women in Southeast Asian nationalist movements, tells fascinating stories of 12 women who have been socially, politically, and militarily active in anti-colonial and independence struggles in seven countries in Southeast Asia from the early twentieth century to the present day. Each chapter is devoted to the life story of one or two women, most of whom have been forgotten or undervalued, despite considerable contributions to their respective struggles. What readers will see in this book are vivid and colourful stories of these women as independent journalists and writers; as professional military and intelligence officers; as fervent and stubborn guerrilla fighters in jungles; and as capable educators, propagandists, and politicians. As a whole, this anthology challenges conventional, male-dominated national histories, and convincingly shows that the histories of anti-colonial and independence movements in Southeast Asia cannot be written without recognising the considerable contributions made by women.
What is particularly successful about this book is the method used in each chapter: a biographical approach that focuses on an individual's life story. In taking this classic and recently reappraised approach, the book successfully sheds light on the lives of a number of women, adding nuance to our understandings of decolonisation in Southeast Asia and further complicating long-standing discussions of relationships between women and nationalism. For example, Chie Ikeya tells the story of a forgotten woman (chap. 1), an independent and prolific Burmese writer and journalist, Daw San, who founded a popular weekly newspaper in the 1930s. Beyond simply introducing her life, Ikeya analyses the reason behind the amnesia, locating it in Daw San's unconventional attitudes and ways of life, which challenge existing norms concerning gender and femininity in Burmese society (p. 40).
Most chapters, like Ikeya's, aim at shedding light on forgotten women and their roles in history, but some intend to reveal new aspects of well-known women. Micheline Lessard, for instance, focuses on the life of Nguyen Thi Giang, who, in today's Vietnam, is generally remembered in a dramatic and romanticised fashion as a tragic lovelorn woman who committed suicide after witnessing her husband's execution (chap. 2). In this chapter, however, she is depicted as a capable and professional propagandist and intelligence officer, who was even specifically watched by French intelligence due to her prominent roles. Lessard, thus, describes her suicide less as that of a tragic wife than as an officer in sheer despair (p. 70).
In addition, this book's biographical approach is useful in analysing these women's motivations for joining their movements. To be sure, some were hard-core activists, like Nguyen Thi Giang, who from the beginning hoped for the independence of her homeland from French colonialism. However, several of them joined their movements for non-ideological and non-political reasons. Vatthana Pholsena tells the stories of two Laotian women who joined anti-colonial revolutionary movements in Laos largely as a result of their desire for a better education (chap. 8). In such cases, as Pholsena aptly describes, more politically-inspired motivations, whether faith in communism or hope for the liberation of women, matured progressively over the course of their struggles (pp. 207–8).
This approach also reveals that family contexts often had crucial impacts on the lives and careers of these women. Welyne J. Jehom (chap. 7) provides a glimpse of the life of Lily Eberwein, a Western-educated and English-speaking Eurasian, who, following the early death of her Eurasian father, converted to Islam, adjusted to her mother's social and cultural contexts, and adopted Malay culture, language, identity, and, eventually, the political movement against the cession of Sarawak to British colonialism. Eberwein, of course, chose this life through her individual will, but did so based on her changing circumstances.
Something similar can be seen in the cases of Suyatin Kartowiyono of Indonesia (chap. 3), whose father was a nationalist movement activist, ‘Bisoi’ of Timor-Leste (chap. 9), whose uncle was a well-known military commander, and Zipporah Sein of the Karen State (chap. 10), whose father was a prominent leader of the Karen revolutionary movement. For these women, the processes of becoming politically aware were not simple accumulations of their own decisions; it might be more accurate to say that they were dependent on circumstances, absorbing the ethos of their times. As Helen Ting summarises in her conclusion, historical structures intervened in individuals' lives in the forms of both resources for and constraints on individuals (p. 277).
As Susan Blackburn succinctly summarises in her introduction, there have been various theories and viewpoints on the issues of women and nationalism. In contrast to such theoretical analyses, what this anthology intends to offer is nuance and diverse viewpoints. The relationship between women and nationalism has varied on a case-by-case basis, depending on individual situations and perspectives. To be sure, observed as a whole, many nationalist movements in Southeast Asia contributed little to the improvement of women's rights and status, but, on a more individual level, it could be said that women in quite a few cases were indeed empowered through joining anti-colonial and independent struggles. As Sara Niner's study on ‘Bisoi’ of Timor-Leste most clearly shows, for instance, women's contributions have not been recognised properly, and women still face blatant discrimination today. Yet, as an individual, ‘Bisoi’ was, indeed, empowered and gained prestige through joining and being active in the movement.
In this way, the book has many aspects to be commended, and one of its great contributions is the multitude of interesting life stories that will facilitate further discussions and complicate generalised views of the relationships between women and nationalism. Yet, at the same time, it raises some questions, particularly concerning its treatment of women and nationalism. For example, most authors in this book problematise the lack of recognition of women in nationalist movements, arguing that women's contributions should be added to the pages of generally male-dominated national histories. But, why should we recognise women's various contributions in terms of nationalism and national histories? Also, if recognising women's contributions means treating women as the same as men and adding them to the ranks of men without raising significant questions about gendered frameworks, such an approach could rather confirm and consolidate the superiority of masculinity as a benchmark.
Interestingly, some of these women's own voices actually reveal the inherently violent and insensible nature of nationalism. We can see examples of this in Daw San's, as well as Shamsiah Fakeh's and Aishah Ghani's, attitudes toward minorities in their territories. On the other hand, Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung and Violet Cho's interesting examination touches on the doubts and uneasiness toward the nationalism of Zipporah Sein. In other words, while the individual authors are successful in presenting tensions concerning the concept of nationalism, developing substantial discussions about the nature and problems of nationalism is left to the reader.
However, none of this negates the value of this book, as these issues actually help to facilitate such further discussions of women and nationalism. In view of the relative lack of studies of this subject, the book is an important addition not only to the field of Southeast Asian studies and history, but also to the recently growing field of biographical studies, as well as the literature of gender and nationalism. As such, Women in Southeast Asian nationalist movements should attract a wide audience in diverse fields.
