Melissa Johnston: Resilient Patriarchies

Melissa Johnston: Resilient Patriarchies

From Talking Indonesia by Talking Indonesia

February 26, 2026 · 44 min

About this episode

Melissa Johnston discusses the complexities of gender equality in Timor Leste post-independence.

Timor Leste became independent from Indonesia in 2002, after 24 painful years of Indonesian occupation built on centuries of Portuguese colonisation. Both regimes were deeply violent and extractive, and as my guest today argues, drew Timorese society into different forms of a valorised armed masculinity that would have repercussions well after Timor’s independence. It’s in this post-conflict context that Mel Johnston examines Timor’s gender interventions. Gender mainstreaming is a global set of strategies, interventions and approaches that seek to address the inequality of being a women in policy-making. These set of principals have particular traction in the region. Gender mainstreaming has been mandatory in Indonesia since 2000. In Timor Leste, gender mainstreaming is so important its crystallised in the actual constitution. And yet, Mel went to East Timor to investigate women’s lives after independence, she found deep tensions between the goal of peace on one hand and gender equality on the other. Why would this be so? Did Timor’s independence transform the role of women in Timorese society? How did major gender reforms like microfinance and the law against domestic violence…

People in this episode

Host: Talking Indonesia

Guest: Melissa Johnston

Topics covered

  • gender equality
  • Timor Leste
  • post-conflict society
  • gender mainstreaming
  • armed masculinity

Keywords

  • Timor Leste
  • gender mainstreaming
  • armed masculinity
  • domestic violence
  • microfinance

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Building Peace, Rebuilding Patriarchy

Places: Timor Leste, Indonesia, East Timor

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