Family and State in Malaysian Industrialisation: the Case of Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Malaysia has recently experienced a significant growth in industrialisation. This chapter looks at a case study of changing patterns of ‘family’ among Malays, with special reference to arguments about the emergence of a nuclear family form in Malaysia, the effects of a remittance family economy and rising levels of female employment. It argues that the political economy of contemporary Malaysia, in particular state policies encouraging overseas investment in manufacturing, is having a profound effect in restructuring patterns of dependence within the extended family and discusses these findings in relation to arguments about the family as both an instrument and object of state policy. It finishes with a discussion of recent moves by Malay politicians in the government to abandon family planning policies and strongly encourage a return to motherhood, and the effects such moves might have both on women’s situation and the family economy in which it is embedded.