Pustaka Ilmiah Universitas Padjadjaran

Abstrak

Women and Environmental Movement: Some Japanese and Indonesian Experience

This research is inspired by women, by their stories, by their struggle and fight to preserve the environment and to significantly contribute to the society by their diverse means and ways, particularly by their concerns for their children and family. The women who we discussed are extra-ordinary women. They are firmly grounded in their communities, working among their peers and making changes and transformations that can only be considered as critical to the improvement of their environment. While many started at a small venture, it nevertheless turned out to be a substantial positive influence affecting better condition for the community as a whole. This research is made possible by the grant generously provided by the Sumitomo Foundation. From the very beginning, the research has taken women as the focus of discussion and how women play a crucial role in making efforts to create a safer and healthier environment. Having read the success story of the Kitakyushu women who majestically turned one of the highly polluted citiesin the world into one of the cleanest through their concerns and worked on making the city a better place for their children. This research intends to dwell upon the narrative of success of these Kitakyushu women’s environmental struggle and to learn from their experience. We then try to contextualize the similar women’s environmental activism conducted in Indonesia, specifically in Bandung and Cirebon.