Unity in Diversity: Women’s Groups Navigating Religious Nationalism in Malaysia

Across Europe, North America, and Asia, social groups align with political parties to battle over a range of hot-button culture war issues related to gender, sexuality, race, and national identity. This global trend of populist politics, often marked by the “othering” of out-groups based on religious difference, is further compounded in multi-ethnic societies like Malaysia. The growth of religious nationalism in Malaysia fuels the perception that majoritarian Islamic views over moral authority, beliefs, and values are non-negotiable. In this context, polarizing contention over Islamic law and gender are reinforced by toxic ethnic politics, (un)civil society activism, and media narratives, which erode social trust and push different social and political groups into oppositional and distrustful stances. Malay women’s civil society groups of differing ideological orientations (secular multiracial feminism, Islamic feminism, Islamic revivalism) have historically taken oppositional stances, contributing to this divide.

This presentation discusses the potential for Malay women’s groups to build trust and form cross cutting solidarity across ideological divides, despite their history of opposing stances. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with Malay women activists, findings reveal that tensions over religious authority remain a key barrier to trust-building. However, there is evidence of inter-group engagement and social learning among younger Malay women. Some younger women from Islamic revivalist groups share remarkably similar views with their secular feminist counterparts on controversial issues like teenage pregnancies, sex education, and early marriage. It is argued that women’s personal experiences in advocacy, coupled with pragmatic decision-making framed in religious terms, enable them to overcome prejudiced beliefs and be more open to finding common ground. It is argued that the women’s shared experiences of resistance to sexism, labelling, and polarized politics create a foundation for building trust, which is essential for cooperation and compromise in more complex areas.