dr. M.A. Muhammad Ammar Hidayahtulloh (Muhammad)

Ammar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for International Conflict Analysis & Management (CICAM). He obtained his PhD in political science from the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia in 2025. His research focus broadly falls under the field of gender politics, including women’s political activism and participation, the intersection of gender and Islam, gender, peace and security, and gender policymaking. He has a strong interest in progressing feminist institutionalism as both an analytical framework and a methodology by using Southeast Asia as a site for knowledge production. Throughout his research journey, he has closely worked with women's rights and feminist organisations in Indonesia and Timor Leste.

His PhD project at UQ investigates the emergence of Islamists as anti-gender forces in the post-democratic transition period in Indonesia. By building on feminist historical institutionalism, he conceptualises Islamist opposition to gender equality beyond the dominant narrative of gender backlash. He argues that the Islamists' struggle against gender equitable reform should be understood as an integral part of the broader Islamist political project to gradually establish an Islamic state and society in Indonesia. This diagnosis allows for feminist and gender equality advocates to devise more effective strategies to counter Islamist opposition.

Together with Dr Israelsen at CICAM, he is currently working on a research project about women's groups and post-conflict development in Southeast Asia. The project aims to understand the emergence and strategies of women's groups in conflict and post-conflict contexts as political actors promoting peace beyond the 'liberal peace' framework. While Ammar is embarking on a new research project at CICAM, he is looking forward to publishing his PhD dissertation during his postdoc.