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Paper short abstract

This paper employs poststructural policy analysis to understand contestations of knowledges related to construals of child marriage as feminist ‘problem’ vs. development ‘problem’. It explores the emergence, domination, resistance, and subjugation of knowledges governing child marriage in Indonesia.

Paper long abstract

Child marriage had been known as a feminist issue in Indonesia since the 'problem' was voiced in the First Women’s Congress (1928). Yet, child marriage emerged as a development ‘problem’ in the 2010s since international NGOs began to produce knowledges on the topic. Different ways of knowing what kind of ‘problem’ child marriage is exemplifies different ways of governing. This paper employs “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) poststructural policy analysis to understand contestations of knowledges influencing anti-child marriage governance in Indonesia.

In the National Strategy on Child Marriage Prevention (2020), child marriage is represented to be a ‘problem’ of risk threatening re/productive potentials of children. The currently dominant view is supported by development, scientific and technical knowledges on public health, economics, and statistics. However, child marriage inadvertently becomes a legitimiser for global development goals to govern almost everyone in the whole population. This not only entails state accountability but also responsibilising at-risk children, families, and communities through capacity building programs.

The feminist movement, with human rights and justice knowledges, poses a resistance to the development approach. Child marriage is categorised as sexual violence in the Law on Sexual Violence Crimes (2022); unlike in other countries where it is associated with child labor/slavery. Hence, child marriage is re-created into a criminal ‘problem’ to be solved judicially, whereby the sole responsibility of the state; in opposition to traditions that see marriage as a solution to sexual violence. Nonetheless, both feminist and development approaches ostensibly leverage subjugated knowledges through ‘participatory’ policymaking.