Hanafi Saputra, S.Pd., M.A. is a sociologist and lecturer from Indonesia specializing in social change, development sociology, and multicultural studies. He holds a Master of Arts in Sociology from Universitas Gadjah Mada and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology Education and Anthropology from Universitas Negeri Padang. His academic and research experience covers community development, social transformation, disaster mitigation, local wisdom, digitalization, multiculturalism, and education. He has authored numerous scholarly publications and has served as a lecturer, researcher, study-program secretary, journal editor, and community development project leader. He has also received several academic and professional achievements, including an LPDP scholarship award.

Indigenous Women’s Empowerment in Minangkabau Society: The Role of Bundo Kanduang in Sustaining Cultural Leadership and Community Life

Abstract:

Women’s empowerment is often associated with women’s participation in formal institutions, economic independence, and access to political decision making. However, empowerment can also emerge from indigenous social institutions that recognize women’s authority within their own cultural systems. This study examines the role of Bundo Kanduang as a form of indigenous women’s empowerment in Minangkabau society, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Bundo Kanduang represents women’s cultural leadership within the matrilineal Minangkabau social system and plays an important role in maintaining family values, transmitting cultural knowledge, educating younger generations, and contributing to decision-making within the community. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores how Bundo Kanduang exercises social and cultural authority and how this authority contributes to women’s empowerment. Data are obtained through interviews, observation, and analysis of cultural practices and community institutions. The study finds that Bundo Kanduang’s empowerment is not primarily expressed through individual autonomy but through relational authority embedded in family, kinship, and community structures. Bundo Kanduang functions as a cultural mediator, moral guide, educator, and guardian of Minangkabau identity. At the same time, social change, migration, digitalization, and changing patterns of family relations create new challenges for the continuity of this role. The findings demonstrate that indigenous cultural institutions can provide an alternative perspective on women’s empowerment by emphasizing collective agency, cultural authority, and intergenerational responsibility. The study contributes to broader discussions of women’s empowerment by highlighting the importance of recognizing locally grounded forms of female leadership and agency.

Keywords: Women’s Empowerment; Bundo Kanduang; Minangkabau Society; Women’s Leadership; Collective Agency.