Christianity, Colonization, and Gender Relations in North Sumatra : A Patrilineal Society in Flux.

Intro -- Christianity, Colonization, and Gender Relations in North Sumatra: A Patrilineal Society in Flux -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- List of Illustrations, Maps, Graphics and Tables -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Grand Narratives: Where Do Kinship and Marriage Fit In? -- 1.2 The Toba Batak -- 1.3 Discourse, Agency and Modernities -- 1.4 Kinship: Structure, Process, and Issues -- 1.5 Composition -- 1.6 Sources -- Part 1: A Historical Ethnography -- 2 The Construction of Toba Batak Gender -- 2.1 Batak Adat and Its Divine Origin -- 2.2 The Origin of Mankind and the Creation of the Earth -- 2.3 Gendered Hierarchies -- 2.4 The Woman as the Intermediary between Clans -- 2.5 Prohibited Marriages -- 2.6 The Most Coveted Union -- 2.7 Reciprocal Marriage Payments -- 2.8 The Right Marriage is a Fertile Marriage -- 2.9 Myth and Reality: Recurrent Themes -- 2.10 Toba Batak Mythology as a Reflection of Gendered Interests -- 3 Customary Marriage -- 3.1 Hypogamy: The Ideal and the Practice -- 3.2 Reasons for Forging Marital Alliances in the Nineteenth Century -- 3.3 Fathers, Daughters, and Arranged Marriages -- 3.4 Courtship and Premarital Sexual Relations -- 3.5 Bypassing the Fathers -- 3.6 Never Relinquished by Her Family of Origin -- 3.7 The Crucial Factor: The Agency of the Daughter -- 4 Fertility, Mortality and the Pinnacle of Life -- 4.1 Fertility, Morbidity, and Mortality in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century -- 4.2 The Concept of a Blessed Life -- 4.3 Male Progeny and the Journey of the Soul -- 4.4 Joy and Grief -- 4.5 Strategies to Avert Disaster -- 4.6 The Male Strategy to Reach the Pinnacle of Life -- 4.7 Gendered Odds -- 5 Ruptures: Divorce and Widowhood -- 5.1 Conflict, War, Mediation, and Jurisdiction -- 5.2 Toba Batak Legal Terminology.

5.3 Unreasonable Dislike of the Spouse and the Material Settlement of Divorce -- 5.4 Women's Acquiescence -- 5.5 Adultery and Abduction of a Married Woman -- 5.6 Children Born out of Wedlock -- 5.7 Levirate and Sororate: A Mixed Blessing and Men's Convenience -- 5.8 Gendered Rights and Legal Competence -- Part 2: Negotiations on Marriage Customs (1830-1942) -- 6 The Encroachment on the Batak World (1830-1883) -- 6.1 The Batak World around 1800 -- 6.2 The Invasions of the Padri and Their Impact (1825-1860) -- 6.3 Conversion to Christianity, Ostracism and 'Dutch Brides' -- 6.4 Resistance and Conquest (1876-1883) -- 6.5 Changes in the Balance of Power -- 6.6 Modes of Encroachment and Their Impact -- 7 Negotiating the Future Social Order (1881-1885) -- 7.1 The Batak Mission's Dual Strategy for Transformation -- 7.2 Rajas and Missionaries as Partners -- 7.3 The Batak Mission's Aversion to the Brideprice -- 7.4 The Abolition of the Brideprice Rejected (1884-1886) -- 7.5 Reluctant Resignation (1885-1911) -- 7.6 Women's Views on the Brideprice -- 7.7 The Significance of the Debate -- 8 Engineering Christian Toba Batak Marriage (1866-1913) -- 8.1 Customary and Christian Marriage -- 8.2 Rite de passage at Puberty: Suppression and Replacement -- 8.3 Enforcing Virginity -- 8.4 Free Will as a Condition for Marriage -- 8.5 Crusade against Polygamy -- 8.6 Divorce: Pragmatism Overruling Dogmatic Constraints -- 8.7 'Alleviation' of the Plight of Widows -- 8.8 Inheritance Rights for Daughters -- 8.9 The Process of Negotiation: Give and Take -- 8.10 The Toba Batak Rajas' Reasons for Cooperation -- 8.11 Christian Modernity and Toba Batak Marriage -- 9 Shifting Alliances, Revised Strategies (1892-1913) -- 9.1 The Lax Implementation of the Christian By-Laws (1892-1913) -- 9.2 Unified and Codified Law for All Indonesian Christians? (1891-1913).

9.3 The Annexation and Regional Policy on the Christian By-Laws (1906-1913) -- 9.4 Resignation and a New Church Ordinance -- 9.5 The Emergence of the Christian Elite -- 9.6 Widened Horizons and the Elite's Demand for Dutch Education -- 9.7 A New Strategy: Women's Work for Women -- 9.8 Conclusions -- 10 The Secular Takeover (1914-1934) -- 10.1 Kielstra's Description of Customary Law for Toba Batak Christians (1914) -- 10.2 Awkward Negotations -- 10.3 Deadlock (1916-1923) -- 10.4 The Indigenous or the Government System of Justice for North Tapanuli? -- 10.5 Vergouwen: Causes of Legal Insecurity -- 10.6 Vergouwen: Caught between Preservation and Revision of Matrimonial Laws -- 10.7 Kielstra, Vergouwen, and Evolving 'Ethical' Modernities -- 11 Administrative Zeal Eroding Customary Marriage (1912-1942) -- 11.1 The Government's Introduction of the Marriage Registration -- 11.2 The Batak Mission: Open Support and Tacit Defiance -- 11.3 Optional Becomes Obligatory -- 11.4 Effectiveness and Legitimacy -- 11.5 The State versus the People -- 12 Dynamite Disputes: Mirror of Change (1923-1939) -- 12.1 The Irregular Marriage of the Widow Na Leoes (1922-1923) -- 12.2 The Irregular Marriage of Deserted Nantalia (1936) -- 12.3 Social Dynamics behind Irregular Marriages -- 12.4 First Wife Marianna Refuses Repudiation (1928) -- 12.5 Christian First Wife Kamaria Requests a Divorce (1928) -- 12.6 The Widow Mariam Defends Her Right to Manage the Estate (1930-1935) -- 12.7 Becoming a Legal Subject in Her Own Right -- 12.8 Naked Power, Veiled Contestation -- 12.9 Toba Batak Women Centre Stage -- 13 Matching Partners (1920-1942) -- 13.1 Modern Times -- 13.2 Hamajuon, Education for Girls, and Marriage -- 13.3 Policies and Anxieties -- 13.4 Partner Choice: Traditional and New Preferences and Objections -- 13.5 Were Daughters Educated to Fetch a High Brideprice?.

13.6 Fathers' and Daughters' Converging Interests -- 14 Conclusion: Toba Batak after All -- 14.1 Evolving Multiple Modernities -- 14.2 Altered Gendered Options and Entitlements and the Fate of the Toba Batak Patrilineal System under Colonial Rule -- 14.3 The Long Shadow of the Colonial Past -- Appendix: List of Interviewed Women -- Archival Sources -- Papers Presented at Batak Mission's Conferences -- Bibliography -- Index.

This book describes changes in the patrilineal society of the Toba Batak (Sumatra, Indonesia) due to Christianity and Dutch colonial rule (1861-1942) with a focus on customary law and gender relations.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.