“Resistilience”: women’s resistance and resilience in post eviction in North Jakarta

Abstract

The home is mainly a place of paid and unpaid care work for women in poor urban communities in North Jakarta. This thesis substantiates the claim that forced eviction constitutes not only a violation of human rights but of women’s rights in particular and will report the findings of a case study on the impact forced eviction has on women’s livelihood and their daily responses to such impact. The study focuses on the women of Kampung Akuarium, who were victims of forced eviction in April 2016. The data, retrieved from a focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews with six women, are analysed through the lens of James Scott’s theory of everyday resistance. The findings demonstrate that women adopt everyday resistance and resilience to alleviate and absorb the economic, social and environmental impacts forced eviction has on their livelihood and on that of their family, which the current study acknowledges as “Resistilience”. Therefore, the study adds to the existing body of literature on everyday forms of resistance and ultimately suggests that forced eviction constitutes a gross violation of women’s rights.

KEY WORDS: FORCED EVICTIONS/ RESISTANCE/ RESILIENCE/ WOMEN’S RIGHTS/ “RESISTILIENCE” / NORTH JAKARTA