Women in Changing Coastal Areas of the Global South: Local Gender Dynamics, Intersectional Marginalization, and Everyday Negotiation from the Margin

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-545-4_23How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Coastal Areas; Gender; Global South; Local Dynamics; Marginalization; POWERE

Abstract

This study is part of POWERE, a collaborative initiative aimed at enhancing women’s participation in renewable energy projects in off-grid coastal areas of South Sulawesi. Coastal regions in the Global South, including Sulawesi, often epitomize localities that are marginalized and vulnerable, presenting limited opportunities and resources for their women residents. This socio-geographical context should be understood as a space where various factors intersect, complicating the notion of locality. While such intersections may lead to multiple layers of marginalization for local women, they can also create new opportunities for learning and negotiation. This study systematically reviews the literature on intersectionality, marginalization, and gender dynamics to explore how coastal areas act as both sites of intersectional marginalization and spaces for critical negotiation. Based on initial observations of local gender dynamics and experiences in remote coastal regions of South Sulawesi, this paper presents the lived experiences of coastal women, highlighting their unique strategies for self-negotiation and empowerment. By analyzing the diverse gendered experiences of women in these coastal areas of the Global South, this study offers a critical understanding of gender as a central element of their realities, illustrating how they adapt, negotiate, challenge, and transform various forms of marginalization shaped by intersections of socio-geographical context, class, ethnicity, and potentially religion. It emphasizes the crucial roles that coastal women play in social transformation within their communities, showcasing their ability to reinterpret marginality as a space of radical potential, a site of resistance (hooks, 1989), and a locus of negotiation. This study contributes to understanding coastal areas as evolving and transformative spaces, where the marginal position is not simply one of deprivation and oppression for women, but also a domain of empowerment.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Diah Irawaty
AU  - Bradley Parrish
AU  - Raminder Kaur
AU  - Mia Siscawati
AU  - Runavia Mulyasari
AU  - Chu Chun Yu
AU  - Leuserina Garniati
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
TI  - Women in Changing Coastal Areas of the Global South: Local Gender Dynamics, Intersectional Marginalization, and Everyday Negotiation from the Margin
BT  - Proceedings of the World Conference on Governance and Social Sciences 2025 (WCGSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 321
EP  - 337
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-545-4_23
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-545-4_23
ID  - Irawaty2026
ER  -