AI-Summary – News For Tomorrow
Formichi’s “Domestic Nationalism” examines how Indonesian women in the Dutch East Indies used domestic activities to contribute to nation-building from the 1920s to 1950s. While colonial authorities focused on hygiene and nutrition education, Indonesian women actively resisted imposed boundaries. They forged a public voice through vernacular magazines, news outlets, lifestyle media, and advertising, sharing ideas and shaping national identity. Formichi argues that these seemingly domestic actions were politically significant, contributing to a collective sense of Indonesian nationhood. An interview with Formichi about her book is available on the College of Arts and Sciences website.
News summary provided by Gemini AI.
In the early 20th century Dutch East Indies, colonial authorities set about instructing residents of Java and Sumatra on hygiene and nutrition.
Resisting the boundaries imposed on them by the colonial and postcolonial state, Indonesian women created a public voice for themselves, sharing their ideas in vernacular magazines, news and lifestyle media and advertisements. In ”Domestic Nationalism,” published Oct. 28 by Stanford University Press, Formichi argues that during the 1920s to 1950s, Indonesian women’s domestic activities contributed to nation-building as a political project.
The College of Arts and Sciences spoke with Formichi about the book.
Read the interview on the College of Arts and Sciences website.
