The discourses on Polygyny: a Contemporary Debate in Indonesia

The notion of polygyny was being debated publically in Indonesia since 2006 until now when the Indonesia government wanted to apply laws to ban men from marrying more than one wife. This debate involved many actors to deliberate their perspective on the issue; some of them are Political groups, Islamist groups and women’s groups. Power, intersectionality and public sphere are the chosen conceptual tools to analyze the debate on polygyny in the Indonesia public sphere. This research argued that the debate did not express women and Islam interest, but rather to search power in the Indonesia public sphere. Discourses which are used by the chosen actors regarding to the debate are various, however the Islamic discourse is the most popular one as debating on polygyny, like debating on the family law in the Muslim countries, should in term of Islam. Different perspectives within groups acknowledge in this research, but the differences are sometimes not representing the class background of the chosen actors.