From Silence to Strength: A Women-centered Framework in Faith-based Community Organizing

Kamilia Hamidah*  -  Department of Islamic Community Development, Faculty of Da’wah and Islamic Community Development, Institut Pesantren Mathali’il Falah, Pati, Indonesia
Sabariah Hussin    -  Department of Religion, School of Humanities, Rice University, Houston, United States
Sri Naharin  -  Department of Islamic Community Development, Faculty of Da’wah and Islamic Community Development, Institut Pesantren Mathali’il Falah, Pati, Indonesia

(*) Corresponding Author

Three models of community organizing (CO) are commonly used as paradigms: the conventional Alinsky’s, faith-based community organizing (FBCO), and the women-centered model. However, few studies on CO that focus on integrating these three models as a comprehensive lens of analysis. The women-centered community organizing paradigm lacks religio-spiritual complexity, which hinders the acceptance of women empowerment’s message among religious communities. This study aims to propose a practical community-organizing model by synthesizing three different community-organizing models carried out by religious-based women non-governmental organizations. This study combines a systemic literature review method and a qualitative approach to study women-based CSOs. The finding indicates that integrating three community organizing (CO) models effectively empowers women.

Keywords: community development; community empowerment; community organizing; faith-based community organizing; women-centered community organizing

  1. Agustina, Arifah Millati, and Nor Ismah. “Challenging Traditional Islamic Authority: Indonesian Female Ulama and the Fatwa Against Forced Marriages.” Journal of Islamic Law 5, no. 1 (2024): 125–46. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v5i1.2319.
  2. Alinsky, Saul David. Reveille for Radicals. New York: The Gallery Press, 1989.
  3. Allinsky, Saul David. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1989.
  4. Anastasia, Ayu, Edriana Noerdin, Frisca Anindhita, Rahayuningtyas, and Sita Aripurnami. Indonesian Women’s Movements: Making Democracy Gender Responsive. Jakarta: Women Research Institute (WRI), 2013.
  5. Butler, Judith. “Sex and Gender in Simone de Beauvoir’s Second Sex.” Yale French Studies, no. 72 (1986): 35–49. https://doi.org/10.2307/2930225.
  6. Candland, Christopher. “Faith as Social Capital: Religion and Community Development in Southern Asia.” In Social Capital as a Policy Resource, 129–48. Boston: Springer US, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6531-1_8.
  7. Caniglia, Beth Schaefer, Robert J Brulle, and Andrew Szasz. “Civil Society, Social Movements, and Climate Change.” In Climate Change and Society, 1:235–68. Oxford University Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199356102.003.0008.
  8. Chaves, Mark, and William Tsitsos. “Congregations and Social Services: What They Do, How They Do It, and with Whom.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 30, no. 4 (2001): 660–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764001304003.
  9. Christens, Brian, Diana L. Jones, and Paul W. Speer. “Power, Conflict, and Spirituality: A Qualitative Study of Faith-based Community Organizing.” Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research 9, no. 1 (2008). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-9.1.330.
  10. Clarke, Gerard. “Faith-based Organizations and International Development: An Overview.” In Development, Civil Society and Faith-based Organizations, 17–45. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230371262_2.
  11. Clarke, Gerard, and Michael Jennings, eds. Development, Civil Society and Faith-based Organizations: Bridging the Sacred and the Secular. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230371262.
  12. DeFilippis, James, and Susan Saegert. “Community Organizing or Organizing Community? Gender and the Crafts of Empowerment: Susan Stall and Randy Stoecker.” In the Community Development Reader, 2007.
  13. Fisher, Robert, James DeFilippis, and Eric Shragge. “Contested Community: A Selected and Critical History of Community Organizing.” edited by Ram A Cnaan and Carl Milofsky, 281–97. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77416-9_17.
  14. Flaherty, Mary Ann Ford, and Richard L. Wood. “Renewing Congregations: The Contribution of Faith-based Community Organizing,” 2002. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_fsp/6.
  15. Fulton, Brad. “Fostering Muslim Civic Engagement through Faith-based Community Organizing.” Journal on Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society 1, no. 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.18060/21406.
  16. Garlington, Sarah B, Margaret R. Durham Bossaller, Jennifer A Shadik, and Kerri A Shaw. “Making Structural Change with Relational Power: A Gender Analysis of Faith-based Community Organizing.” Social Inclusion 7, no. 2 (2019): 24–32. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v7i2.1961.
  17. Haynes, Jeff. Religion in Global Politics. London: Routledge, 2014. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315841700.
  18. Hidayatulloh, Taufik, and Bahro Syifa. “Analysis Study of the Movement of the Indonesian Women’s Ulama Congress (KUPI) in Against Sexual Violence and Child Marriage.” SMART: Journal of Sharia, Traditon, and Modernity 2, no. 2 (2023): 127–42. https://doi.org/10.24042/smart.v2i2.16044.
  19. Jones, Diana L. “The Organizational Context of Faith-based Community Organizing: Effects on Member Civic Engagement.” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 25, no. 5 (2015): 361–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2014.930363.
  20. Karam, Azza. “Faith-Inspired Initiatives to Tackle the Social Determinants of Child Marriage.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 13, no. 3 (2015): 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2015.1075754.
  21. Laily, Elida Imro’atin Nur, and Roestoto Hartojo Putro. “Partisipasi Masyarakat dalam Perencanaan Pembangunan Partisipatif (Studi Kasus tentang Partisipasi Masyarakat Desa Sugio dalam Pembangunan Perluasan Pasar Desa di Desa Sugio Kecamatan Sugio Kabupaten Lamongan).” Jurnal Kebijakan Dan Manajemen Publik 3, no. 2 (2015): 186–90. https://journal.unair.ac.id/KMP@partisipasi-masyarakat-dalam-perencanaan-pembangunan-partisipatif-(-studi-kasus-tentang-partisipasi-masyarakat-desa-sugio-dalam-pembangunan-perluasan-pasar-desa-di-article-9063-media-138-category-8.html.
  22. Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. New Jersey: Crossing Press, 1984.
  23. Ma’shumah, Lift Anis. “Teks-Teks Keislaman dalam Kajian Feminisme Muslim: Telaah Metodologis Atas Pandangan Feminis Muslim Terhadap Penciptaan Dan Kepemimpinan Perempuan.” Sawwa: Jurnal Studi Gender 7, no. 2 (2012): 67–90. https://doi.org/10.21580/sa.v7i2.650.
  24. McGuire, Meredith B. Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
  25. Meyer, David S, and Debra C Minkoff. “Conceptualizing Political Opportunity.” Social Forces 82, no. 4 (2004): 1457–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3598442.
  26. Mizrahi, Terry, and Jessica Greenawalt. “Gender Differences and Intersectionality in Community Organizing.” Journal of Community Practice 25, no. 3–4 (2017): 432–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2017.1356784.
  27. Oyakawa, Michelle Mariko. “‘Turning Private Pain into Public Action’: Constructing Activist-Leader Identities in Faith-based Community Organizing. [Master Thesis].” The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1341340078.
  28. Ozzano, Luca, and Sara Fenoglio. “Conceptions of Power and Role of Religion in Community Organising.” Religions 13, no. 9 (2022): 837. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090837.
  29. Pew Research Center. “Key Findings From the Global Religious Futures Project,” December 21, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/12/21/key-findings-from-the-global-religious-futures-project/.
  30. Rohmaniyah, Inayah, Samia Kotele, and Rr Siti Kurnia Widiastuti. “Reclaiming an Authority: Women’s Ulama Congress Network (KUPI) and a New Trend of Religious Discourse in Indonesia.” Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 11, no. 3 (2022): 60–70. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2022-0068.
  31. Roux, Elisabet Le, and Selina Palm. Learning from Practice: Engaging Faith-based and Traditional Actors in Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls. New York: UN Women, 2021.
  32. Sakina, Ade Irma, and Dessy Hasanah Siti A. “Menyoroti Budaya Patriarki di Indonesia.” Share: Social Work Journal 7, no. 1 (2017): 71. https://doi.org/10.24198/share.v7i1.13820.
  33. Speer, Paul W. “Congregation-Based Community Organizing.” In the Cambridge Handbook of Community Empowerment, 110–38. Cambridge University Press, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009153720.006.
  34. Stall, Susan, and Randy Stoecker. “Community Organizing or Organizing Community?: Gender and the Crafts of Empowerment.” Gender & Society 12, no. 6 (1998): 729–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124398012006008.
  35. Tarrow, Sidney G. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511973529.
  36. Uysal, Nur. “Peacebuilding through Interfaith Dialogue: The Role of Faith-based NGOs.” In Communicating Differences, 265–78. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137499264_17.
  37. Verba, Sidney, and Norman H. Nie. “Participation in America: Political Democracy and Social Equality.” Chicago: University Chicago Press, 1987.
  38. Walker, Edward T. “Organizations, Congregation‐based.” In the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. Wiley, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm146.
  39. Warren, Mark R., and Richard L. Wood. Faith-based Community Organizing: The State of the Field. New York: Interfaith Funders, 2001.
  40. Wood, Richard L., and Brad R. Fulton. A Shared Future: Faith-based Organizing for Racial Equity and Ethical Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019.
  41. Wood, Richard L. “Religion, Faith-based Community Organizing, and the Struggle for Justice.” In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, 385–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807961.026.

Open Access Copyright (c) 2024 Sawwa: Jurnal Studi Gender
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Publisher:
Center for Gender and Child Studies (Pusat Studi Gender dan Anak)
LP2M, Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Semarang.
Central Java, Indonesia


Sawwa Visitor Statistics
 
apps