Branding the Islamic Village: Modesty and Identity in Yogyakarta Kauman Village, Indonesia

Abstract

Having served as the center of Islamic preaching in the early-twentieth-century Java, the Kauman village of Yogyakarta preserves its brand as an Islamic village. It was where the first Indonesia's Islamic movement, the Muhammadiyah (1912), and its female wing, the ‘Aisyiyah (1922), were founded, developing into national and even international levels, and surviving until today. This paper investigates the use of the Islamic gender ideology in maintaining the Kauman's branding as an Islamic village, and how women have been involved as members of the Islamic organizations and the community and participate themselves in the attempt to maintain the village's image as an Islamic village. The research finds that the hijab practice is central to the place-branding. It shows that the prevailing Islamic definition of gender differences is constructed, distributed, and imposed through the ‘Aisyiyah's recommendation of the hijab (the Islamic veiling) throughout the community in support of the place-branding.