Family Ties and Social Networks of Married Women in Post-Reformasi Jakarta, Indonesia.

The conservative doctrine of Pancasila was the cornerstone of many policies of Suharto’s "New Order" for more than 30 years in Indonesia. This conservative doctrine, in which conformity was a key element, had profound impact on everyday life including marriage and the family especially the participation of women in society. The fall of Suharto’s "New Order" in 1998 was preceded and precipitated by the Asian economic crises. Since then there have been a number of political developments such as the decentralization of government, democratic elections, and an anti-corruption drive. Reformasi also saw a rapid expansion of the media and reports on the visible Islamization of Indonesian society.

The aim of this paper is to examine the nature of family relationships as well as the social support networks of married women living in Jakarta in order to understand how women are experiencing family life, and if the family continues to be the main source of social support during this time of rapid social change now that the constraints of the "New Order" has been lifted. The data come from a project in the greater Jakarta area carried out between October 2013 and February 2014 in order to find out how all these changes have affected family life. 60 married women and 40 never-married women who were 30 years of age and older were interviewed. The focus of the project is on Jakarta because aside from the fact that it is both the political and economic center of the country, it is also at the forefront of social and cultural change.