Oil for Freedom in Brunei - State Policies and Women¿s Strategies in Brunei: A Case Study of the Women¿s Business Council

Abstract

This study explores the emerging economic position of a selection of educated Malay Muslim women in Brunei: the urban businesswomen. My thesis attempts to unsettle the mainstream perceptions of Brunei that assume all the members of this society depend unconditionally on the government for their economic and social well-being. While this may largely still be the case, such a presumption certainly does not encompass some major developments in the private sector since the late nineties. I focus on the unprecedented rise of independent and educated middle-aged businesswomen who formed the Womenb