EQUAL CITIZENSHIP AND INCLUSIVE POLICY: LESSON FROM FEMALE FISHERMEN MOVEMENT IN COASTAL AREA, INDONESIA

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the community movements of female fishermen, to obtain justice and fight discrimination for equal citizenship. Issuance of Indonesian Law concerning the protection of fishermen as a formal law to protect fishermen does not fully target female fishermen groups. One of the female fishermen movements in the coastal communities, which is joined by a community organization, was trying to request an adjustment of the occupation identity written in the National Identification Card (NIC) from housewife to fisherman to access the benefits of this law. Using four key dimensions of citizenship proposed by Stokke (2017), this paper seeks to fill a gap in the study of participatory and inclusive policy at the community level. We found that female fishermen experience unjust treatment in terms of recognition, welfare distribution, and political representation. They developed a shared identity based on their awareness of and encounters with unfair treatment, which is expressed in all four dimensions of citizenship, membership, legal status, rights, and participation. They learned a lot from this experience about how to identify each problem related to the four dimensions of citizenship, which serves as a strategy for developing and enhancing their sense of citizenship identity.  Through a series of advocacy efforts and agreements, the recognition of female fishermen's citizenship is pursued to fulfill their requests. These female fishermen's initiatives to secure legal recognition of their identity employ transformative and affirmative strategies. This legal recognition will strengthen their access and other positive externalities, particularly on the welfare distribution programs and political representation.

Keywords: citizenship, gender equality, civic participation and representation, inclusive policy, Indonesia