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Dr Jenny Munro
Dr

Jenny Munro

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 52204

Overview

Background

I am a cultural anthropologist with expertise in medical anthropology and critical global health. I have conducted extensive ethnographic research in Indonesia on health care, gendered violence, education, and racial stigma. My work in Papua/West Papua has tried to document and understand evolving forms of racism and violence, including how people resist and create change. Over the past 15 years I have worked with local Papuan and international research teams on studies of violence, older women's life stories, HIV/AIDS, hospital birth, and health vulnerabilities. My research aims to develop knowledge of the nuances and complexities of conditions and experiences in West Papua, while also working with Papuan scholars and community members to address pressing health and social problems.

I recently completed a study with Els Tieneke Rieke and Meki Wetipo on how urban Papuans understand and experience hospital childbirth, as part of an effort to understand dire maternal health in this location (2023, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology), published in a special issue on 'Reproducing Life in Conditions of Abandonment in Oceania', edited with Alexandra Widmer (York University, Canada). Another recent study funded by the Australian Research Council looked at vulnerabilities in Indonesia with Professor Lyn Parker (University of Western Australia) and others from the UK and Indonesia. The study used ethnography and surveys to develop a deeper, contextual understanding of who is vulnerable, how and why, and thus shed light on the concept of vulnerability and what it means. Recent publications look at education in gender inequality in Indonesia's frontier economy, older women’s narratives of economic agency and survivance (co-authored with Yohana Baransano), and the challenges faced by newlyweds.My article in Asian Studies Review, "West Papuan ‘Housewives’ with HIV: Gender, Marriage, and Inequality in Indonesia," was awarded the 2025 Wang Gungwu Prize by the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA).

Funded by the Australian Research Council, I am currently expanding my research on obstetrics and c-sections to understand the cultures and inequalities of maternity care in Indonesia, both in terms of local cultural needs and preferences, and in relation to the cultures of medicine and obstetrics that exist in hospitals and birth centres. This project is conducted with Dr Els Rieke (Universitas Papua), Associate Professor Najmah (Universitas Sriwijaya), and Dr Elan Lazuardi (Universitas Gadjah Mada). I also maintain ongoing collaborations with researchers at the National University of Singapore and Fiji National University, focused on maternity care.

I am an experienced PhD supervisor in medical anthropology and gender studies. I am interested in working with research students who wish to conduct anthropological research in Indonesia or the Pacific Islands. I teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in medical anthropology (ANTH2250/7250), Pacific anthropology (ANTH2020) and gender (SOCY2050).

Availability

Dr Jenny Munro is:
Not available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University

Works

Search Professor Jenny Munro’s works on UQ eSpace

52 works between 2004 and 2024

1 - 20 of 52 works

Featured

2023

Journal Article

From saving to survivance: rethinking indigenous Papuan women's vulnerabilities in Jayapura, Indonesia

Munro, Jenny and Baransano, Yohana (2023). From saving to survivance: rethinking indigenous Papuan women's vulnerabilities in Jayapura, Indonesia. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 64 (2), 209-221. doi: 10.1111/apv.12367

From saving to survivance: rethinking indigenous Papuan women's vulnerabilities in Jayapura, Indonesia

Featured

2022

Journal Article

Lukautim Yu Yet Gut (take good care of yourself): Moka Gomo women pursuing health in Papua New Guinea

Kulumbu, Ellen and Munro, Jenny (2022). Lukautim Yu Yet Gut (take good care of yourself): Moka Gomo women pursuing health in Papua New Guinea. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 23 (4-5), 368-387. doi: 10.1080/14442213.2022.2117843

Lukautim Yu Yet Gut (take good care of yourself): Moka Gomo women pursuing health in Papua New Guinea

Featured

2022

Journal Article

Hospital births and frontier obstetrics in urban West Papua

Munro, Jenny, Katmo, Els Tieneke Rieke and Wetipo, Meki (2022). Hospital births and frontier obstetrics in urban West Papua. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 23 (4-5), 388-406. doi: 10.1080/14442213.2022.2115121

Hospital births and frontier obstetrics in urban West Papua

Featured

2021

Journal Article

“There’s Money but No Work”: diploma disruptions in urban Papua

Munro, Jenny, Parker, Lyn and Baransano, Yohana (2021). “There’s Money but No Work”: diploma disruptions in urban Papua. The Contemporary Pacific, 33 (2), 364-384. doi: 10.1353/cp.2021.0035

“There’s Money but No Work”: diploma disruptions in urban Papua

Featured

2020

Journal Article

‘Saving our people’: health workers, medical citizenship, and vernacular sovereignties in West Papua

Munro, Jenny (2020). ‘Saving our people’: health workers, medical citizenship, and vernacular sovereignties in West Papua. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 26 (3) 1467-9655.13318, 633-651. doi: 10.1111/1467-9655.13318

‘Saving our people’: health workers, medical citizenship, and vernacular sovereignties in West Papua

Featured

2020

Journal Article

Global HIV interventions and technocratic racism in a West Papuan NGO

Munro, Jenny (2020). Global HIV interventions and technocratic racism in a West Papuan NGO. Medical Anthropology, 39 (8), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2020.1739036

Global HIV interventions and technocratic racism in a West Papuan NGO

Featured

2019

Journal Article

Indigenous masculinities and the “refined politics” of alcohol and racialization in West Papua

Munro, Jenny (2019). Indigenous masculinities and the “refined politics” of alcohol and racialization in West Papua. The Contemporary Pacific, 31 (3), 36-63. doi: 10.1353/cp.2019.0005

Indigenous masculinities and the “refined politics” of alcohol and racialization in West Papua

Featured

2018

Book

Dreams made small: the education of Papuan highlanders in Indonesia

Munro, Jenny (2018). Dreams made small: the education of Papuan highlanders in Indonesia. New York, United States: Berghahn Books. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvw04f91

Dreams made small: the education of Papuan highlanders in Indonesia

Featured

2017

Book Chapter

Adding insult to injury: experiences of mobile HIV-positive women who return home for treatment in Tanah Papua, Indonesia

Butt, Leslie, Munro, Jenny and Numbery, Gerdha (2017). Adding insult to injury: experiences of mobile HIV-positive women who return home for treatment in Tanah Papua, Indonesia. Mobilities of return: Pacific perspectives. (pp. 147-170) edited by John Taylor and Helen Lee. Canberra, ACT Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/mr.12.2017.07

Adding insult to injury: experiences of mobile HIV-positive women who return home for treatment in Tanah Papua, Indonesia

Featured

2017

Book Chapter

Gender struggles of educated men in the Papuan highlands

Munro, Jenny (2017). Gender struggles of educated men in the Papuan highlands. Transformations of gender in Melanesia. (pp. 45-67) edited by Martha Macintyre and Ceridwen Spark. Acton, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/tgm.02.2017.02

Gender struggles of educated men in the Papuan highlands

Featured

2016

Journal Article

(Not) getting political: indigenous women and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in West Papua

Munro, Jenny and McIntyre, Lynn (2016). (Not) getting political: indigenous women and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in West Papua. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 18 (2), 156-170. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2015.1070436

(Not) getting political: indigenous women and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in West Papua

Featured

2015

Book

From ‘Stone-Age’ to ‘Real-Time’: exploring Papuan temporalities, mobilities and religiosities

Martin Slama and Jenny Munro eds. (2015). From ‘Stone-Age’ to ‘Real-Time’: exploring Papuan temporalities, mobilities and religiosities. Monographs in Anthropology, Canberra, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/fsart.04.2015

From ‘Stone-Age’ to ‘Real-Time’: exploring Papuan temporalities, mobilities and religiosities

2024

Journal Article

Desiring family ties: marriage, class, and care in the life stories of young, lower-class newlyweds in Indonesia

Munro, Jenny, Parker, Lyn, Rahayuningtyas, Dyah, Fithry, Tengku Syawila and Baransano, Yohana (2024). Desiring family ties: marriage, class, and care in the life stories of young, lower-class newlyweds in Indonesia. Ethnos, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/00141844.2024.2404855

Desiring family ties: marriage, class, and care in the life stories of young, lower-class newlyweds in Indonesia

2024

Journal Article

Feminist participatory action research to co-develop localised health promotion in Indonesia

Najmah,, Stia Budi, Iwan, Purnama Sari, Indah, Misnaniarti,, Sunarsih, Elvi, Kusnan,, Yani, Novia Sri Anda and Munro, Jenny (2024). Feminist participatory action research to co-develop localised health promotion in Indonesia. Development in Practice, 34 (8), 954-964. doi: 10.1080/09614524.2024.2397500

Feminist participatory action research to co-develop localised health promotion in Indonesia

2024

Journal Article

On Other Indonesians: Nationalism in an Unnative<i> Language</i>

Munro, Jenny and Hoogervorst, Tom (2024). On Other Indonesians: Nationalism in an Unnative Language. Sojourn-Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 39 (2). doi: 10.1355/sj39-2d

On Other Indonesians: Nationalism in an Unnative<i> Language</i>

2023

Other Outputs

Localising HIV education in West Papua, and insights for humanitarianism

Katmo, Els Tieneke Rieke, Munro, Jenny, Wambrauw, Yustina and Syufi, Yafet (2023, 08 01). Localising HIV education in West Papua, and insights for humanitarianism Development Policy blog

Localising HIV education in West Papua, and insights for humanitarianism

2023

Journal Article

Review of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonization in West Papua. By Camellia Webb-Gannon. Honolulu, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2021. 228 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780824887872 (hbk), 9780824888886 (pbk). US$68.00 (hbk), US$28.00 (pbk)

Munro, Jenny (2023). Review of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonization in West Papua. By Camellia Webb-Gannon. Honolulu, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2021. 228 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780824887872 (hbk), 9780824888886 (pbk). US$68.00 (hbk), US$28.00 (pbk). The Journal of Pacific History, 58 (4) 2222455, 478-480. doi: 10.1080/00223344.2023.2222455

Review of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonization in West Papua. By Camellia Webb-Gannon. Honolulu, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2021. 228 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780824887872 (hbk), 9780824888886 (pbk). US$68.00 (hbk), US$28.00 (pbk)

2023

Journal Article

West Papuan ‘housewives’ with HIV: gender, marriage, and inequality in Indonesia

Munro, Jenny (2023). West Papuan ‘housewives’ with HIV: gender, marriage, and inequality in Indonesia. Asian Studies Review, 48 (1), 121-139. doi: 10.1080/10357823.2023.2188580

West Papuan ‘housewives’ with HIV: gender, marriage, and inequality in Indonesia

2023

Journal Article

Letter to the Editor regarding 'East is east, and West is west'

Teo, Jon Paul, Moody, Gary and Munro, Jenny (2023). Letter to the Editor regarding 'East is east, and West is west'. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 57 (4), 616-617. doi: 10.1177/00048674221130982

Letter to the Editor regarding 'East is east, and West is west'

2023

Journal Article

‘Tricked by a hoax’: truth and irrational violence in West Papua

Munro, Jenny (2023, 03 23). ‘Tricked by a hoax’: truth and irrational violence in West Papua Inside Indonesia

‘Tricked by a hoax’: truth and irrational violence in West Papua

Funding

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2027
    Experiences and inequalities in Indonesia's transition to hospital birth
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    Maintaining blue carbon by learning from Indigenous Papuan women's conservation and adaptation strategies in Papua's mangrove areas (KONEKSI grant administered by Universitas Papua)
    Universitas Papua
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2022
    Engaging adat leaders to support HIV prevention and care
    Australia Indonesia Institute
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Indigenous reproductive sovereignty and health services in Indonesia
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2022
    Understanding the Social, Economic and Health Vulnerabilities in Indonesia (UWA led DP)
    University of Western Australia
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Jenny Munro is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Domestic Violence Restraining Order System in Fiji: Experiences of Criminal Justice Actors

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Emma Antrobus

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Pacific Seasonal Workers Health and Health Care Access in Australia: An Ethnographic Study of Seasonal Workers in Regional Queensland

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Walters

  • Doctor Philosophy

    A feminist ethnographic study on girls' education in Laiagam District of Enga Province in Papua New Guinea

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Documenting and working through loss and grief from climate change in the Cook Islands

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Stefanie Plage

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The impact of feminism on young Chileans women's corporal practices.

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Mair Underwood

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Discursive Renderings of Medicinal Cannabis Patients: Policy, Practice, Priorities

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Rebecca Olson

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Gender-based analysis of agricultural resource management for sustainable livelihoods and food security of smallholders in West Papua, Indonesia

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Zannie Langford

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Spiritual healing and its impact on mental health: A comparative analysis of Australia and the Solomon Islands

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Dr Jenny Munro directly for media enquiries about:

  • Indonesia racism
  • West Papua education
  • West Papua health
  • West Papua HIV
  • West Papua racism

Need help?

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communications@uq.edu.au