Malaysian ‘matriliny’: past, present and future

Abstract

The ‘matrilineal’ social arrangements of the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan—the so-called ‘daughter’ society of the Minangkabau in Sumatra—and of Minangkabau itself have long intrigued observers, including colonial officials, scholars and missionaries, as well as members of surrounding societies. My own original anthropological research among Malays in rural Negeri Sembilan several decades ago was driven by a feminist interest in how ‘matriliny’ might affect the situation of women: did it make for versions of gender egalitarianism and what some term ‘relative female autonomy’? The demise of matriliny globally has often been predicted: what has happened to Negeri Sembilan’s matrilineal o..