ABSTRACT
This chapter deploys the concept of a ‘productive, pious feminine subject’ to demonstrate that the contemporary ideal young Muslim woman in Indonesia is imagined to be a woman/wife/mother who is also an entrepreneur capable of being productive, efficient, and, at the same time, pious. The concept also articulates the specific set of expectations and sources of tensions about young Muslim women engendered by a global assemblage that mediates the relationship between Indonesian state policies and the flowing of various global changes into Indonesia, including the rise of the creative economy, Islamic revival, and neoliberal feminism. Market-driven logics are a fundamental element of feminine pious subject formation. They work through the dissemination of the narratives of self-transformation and the opportunities for entrepreneurship, which are made possible by the economic reforms and burgeoning e-commerce in Indonesia. The formation of the contemporary young Muslim woman’s ‘self’ is a result of the curated markers of piety which, while seemingly arbitrary, reveal the historical, cultural, and political specificity of this reconfigured womanhood. Understanding this helps us make sense of the difficult requirements levied by the market and religious institutions on Indonesian young women.
