The Meaning of Collective Identity Amongst Muslim Women: The Case of Persaudaraan Muslimah (Salimah) in Makassar

摘要

Democratization has opened a channel for Muslim women to speak out their needs as citizens. Since Muslim women are not one entity, a number of religious movement organizations increases along with the rising of Muslim consciousness in practicing Islamic values. Establishing these organizations are a response to religious needs of Muslim women which have not been fully fulfilled yet by the mainstream of Islamic movements. By joining the organizations, Muslim women find the path to increase their understanding of Islamic values and their political awareness as well as forming of their collective identity that as a connection of personal cognitive, moral and emotion with group or organization. In terms of process, collective identity shows how actors share meanings, understandings, and emotions during their participation in religious programs. Meanwhile as a product, identity collective is the recognition of outsider organizations to the actors. Collective identity internally leads to solidarity, proudness, and empowerment meanwhile the others perceive it as affiliation, exclusiveness, and contestation. This study shows that the different meanings of collective identity do not trigger a manifest conflict because Muslim women have remarkable abilities to accommodate and respect dissimilarities among them that support the harmony of Indonesian society.