Social and cultural anthropology Books

Book SynopsisUnintended Revolution describes the ways in which development performed in and by nongovernmental organizations in an Indian metropolis serves as a tool for reinforcing and improving social standing. Anna Romanowicz argues that the NGO environment gives a particular opportunity to middle class members whose cultural and economic capital are (re)produced in such an environment. She concludes that the ineffectiveness of development lies in the interest of this group and as such reflects neoliberal policies more broadly. She also argues that class status is the most important factor in acquiring a job position in a contemporary NGO, and that this cuts across gender, caste, and nationality, as well as other identities.Trade ReviewAn extremely important study with a provocative argument on class and development. . . . A significant new addition to existing studies in class theory and the literature on postdevelopment studies. The book demonstrates that practices of development and women’s empowerment are not some faceless discourses. Actors involved in the discourses of development and empowerment carry forward the logic of contemporary capitalism. NGOs are complicit in the expansion of capital in the neoliberal era. In a compelling combination of useful theory and literature and enlightening personal anecdote, this book is remarkably readable. Anna Romanowicz’s Unintended Revolution promises to become an indispensable book for anyone who wants to understand the class dimension and the roles of social and cultural capital used to work in the areas of women’s empowerment and development. -- Michał Bukowski

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Book SynopsisThe volume presents a collection of texts describing contemporary research findings into the documentation of the Sektion Rassen und-Volsktumsforschung of the Institut für Deutsche Ostarbeit (IDO)—a Nazi-led institution that was established in occupied Poland during World War II.The research project was carried out by anthropologists from the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology together with representatives of other disciplines: historians, sociologists, and physical anthropologists from Jagiellonian University. The studies and papers are based on an analysis of a vast body of documents and photographs. It is first of all a vast collection of sources connected with research carried out by Sektion Rassen-und Volkstumsforschung IDO, kept at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The authors refer as well to previously unknown documents discovered during queries conducted over the last few years. The available sources provide greater insight into the activities of the Institut für Deutsche Ostarbeit as well as make it possible to verify the existing information concerning the character of research carried out by Sektion Rassen-und Volkstumsforschung.The book contains a rich number of illustrations: Photographs, medical and anthropological questionnaires, psychological tests, and questionnaires containing sociological and ethnographic information not only help visualize, but in a significant way complement the text of the publication.Trade ReviewAfter reading this voluminous and, contrary to what the title might suggest, engaging study, I have no doubt that it is a great scientific achievement. Firstly, the authors managed to develop an approach to the otherwise sensitive subject of the IDO heritage that enables a cool, albeit not entirely distanced way of looking at the history of a certain institution, as well as at the entanglement of many people in its activity. The fact that the institution was established in dark times, and, in addition, by Hans Frank, should not a priori put it in the context of regular Nazi propaganda and degenerated science. The authors managed to separate what in the IDO output was based on objective research from what could never be defined as scientific. Secondly, the high level of competence of the papers in this tome makes one confident about the applied methods of presentation and interpretation of the available material, which, moreover, is still subject to further verification. This publication is not yet the final outcome of several years of research and queries, but a stop-over, an important one, on the way to further work, which is signaled throughout the book. So it is an example of work in progress. -- Wojciech Józef Burszta, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw

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Book SynopsisManifestations of Male Image in the World's Cultures shows a single cultural phenomenon from a number of diverse perspectives. Methods used to analyze the titular male image range from Literary Studies and Cultural Studies to Media Studies. Thanks to the Authors' broad experience in various fields of academic research, the volume presents this highly layered theme in a truly interdisciplinary way. This multiauthored – and therefore "polyphonic" – collection as a truly original attempt to build a framework of humanistic thought that is based on clear theoretical and methodological criteria. Moreover, its open character allows the use and merging of a number of humanistic methods, such as the aforementioned Literary or Cultural Studies, with other inspirations that, layer by layer, add the depth and provide further insight into the relationship between the male image and broadly understood cultural practices.

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Book SynopsisBorneo, with its tales of White Rajahs and tribes of headhunters, has long excited the Western imagination. Today, however, there is another, 'green', imagination at work. Mention of the island is more likely to evoke images of tropical deforestation and concern about the cruel dispossession and displacement of indigenous peoples who once lived in relative harmony with their environment. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that most books dealing with the nomadic hunter-gatherers of Borneo have principally been pictorial studies. There is indeed a dearth of scholarship regarding these peoples, a situation that this first ever, comprehensive review of nomadic groups in the Borneo rain forest aims to rectify. Presenting a wealth of new research contributed by an inter-national team of scholars, the volume covers all those parts of Borneo where nomads (called Penan, Punan or by various other names) are or were known to exist, and provides a comparative historical-ecological study of these groups. The study is primarily concerned with issues of modernization (including the monetary economy, formalised institutions, centralized power structures, contractual relationships and extraction activities) and development policies. The impact of these policies is analysed with special regard to the natural environment inhabited by these small-scale societies, as well as the use of its resources. The book has no stiff theoretical orientation but informs ongoing debates about changing forms of ethnicity, relations between minorities and the state, minorities' rights and survival, native discourse, the sustainability of tropical forest use, and the neo-romantic environmentalist myth of so-called wise traditional peoples.Table of ContentsForeword (Kirk Endicott) 1. Introduction: Borneo, Hunter-Gatherers, and Change (B. Sellato and P.G. Sercombe) 2. Penan (Rodney Needham) 3. Resourceful Children of the Forest: The Kalimantan Punan through the Twentieth Century (Bernard Sellato) 4. The Emergence of the Ethnic Category Bhuket: Diversity and the Collective Hunter-gatherer Identity in Borneo (Shanthi Thambiah) 5. The Punan from the Tubu' River, East Kalimantan: A Native Voice on Past, Present, and Future Circumstances (K.A. Klimut and Rajindra K. Puri) 6. Stuck at the Bottom: Opportunity Structures and Punan Malinau Identity (Lars Kaskija) 7. Nested Disputes: Building Mediation Procedures for the Punan in West Kalimantan (Mering Ngo) 8. Game, Pets, and Animal Husbandry among Penan and Punan Groups (Stefan Seitz) 9. History and the Punan Vuhang: Response to Economic and Resource Tenure Change (Henry Chan) 10. Continuity and Adaptation among the Penan of Brunei (Peter G. Sercombe) 11. Penan Ethnobotany: Subsistence Strategy and Breadth of Knowledge (Robert A. Voeks) 12. Prior Transcripts, Divergent Paths: Resistance and Acquiescence to Logging in Sarawak, East Malaysia (J. Peter Brosius) References Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisAt face value, this book is about medicine in Cambodia over the last hundred years. At the same time, however, by using 'medicine' (in the sense of ideas, practices and institutions relating to health and illness) as a prism through which to view colonial and post-colonial Cambodian society more generally, it offers an historical and contemporary anthropology of the nation of Cambodia. Rich in ethnographic detail derived from both contemporary anthropological fieldwork and colonial archival material, the study is an account of the simultaneous presence in Cambodia of two medical traditions: the modern, biomedical one first introduced by the French colonial power at the turn of the twentieth century, and the indigenous Khmer health cosmology. In their reliance on one or the other of the two traditions, to a large extent the Khmer people have been concerned to find efficient medical treatment that also adheres to social norms (not least the emphasis on the morality of social relations). This concern is also evident in the prevailing medical pluralism in Cambodia today. The authors trace the interaction (and lack thereof) between these two traditions from the French colonial period via the political upheavals of the 1970s through to the present day. The result is more than a medical anthropology; this is a key text that also makes a significant contribution to the anthropological study of Cambodian society at large and will be an important resource for development planners and aid workers in medical and related fields.Trade Review'This is a compelling, persuasive study of the indigenizationA" of global bio-political knowledge in Cambodia from colonial to modern times. Rigorously researched, balanced in interpretation and cautionary rather than idealistic, scholars and policymakers alike will derive much benefit from this insightful assessment of the human condition in Cambodia today. It is benchmark, interdisciplinary social science for showing us how social order and everyday survival are continually shaped and reshaped by successive models of governance.' - Laura Summers, University of HullTable of ContentsPreface vii Glossary xi 1. Introduction 1 2. Colonialism and Medicine in Indochina 18 3. French Medicine in Cambodia 43 4. The Khmer Rouge Medical Regime and Socialist Health 84 5. Indigenous Practitioners: Healers, Spirit Mediums and Magic Monks 129 6. Midwives and the Medicalization of Motherhood 169 7. Leprosy: Symbol and Social Suffering 203 8. Contemporary Healthcare Resources 233 9. Conclusion 270 Appendix 275 References 277 Index 297

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Book SynopsisWhile death, eschatology and exotic indigenous deathways have long held a privileged position in the ethnographic and popular literature on Borneo, ancestors have remained a strangely neglected topic. This volume fills this lacuna by presenting a collection of essays on ancestors in Borneo societies written by anthropologists with extensive experience in the field and drawing on new scholarship in kinship and animism studies. Belying the unimportance of ancestors in the literature, the essays document a complex significance of ancestors in Borneo religion and social life. Ancestors appear in a variety of manifestations and contexts, including as guests or distant beneficiaries of offerings in mortuary and community rituals, as village guardians and personal protecting spirits, as assistants in curing rituals and warfare, as unsolicited visitors in dreams and involuntary possession, and as sources of political authority, cultural legitimacy, and collective identity in public discourse. The pattern of relating to ancestors that emerges from this close collaborative effort differs from classic ethnographic representations of ancestor worship based on Sino-African material, and broadens the theoretical and comparative understanding of the subject. Exploring at depth complex questions about the constitution of ancestorship and how ancestral status is established - and the role in this regard of death, kinship, prowess, morality and ritual - this volume will not just be of interest to regional specialists but also will enrich the general anthropological theory of ancestors, kinship and religion.

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Book SynopsisWhen John Becker's Pattern and Loom was posthumously published in 1987, the work was hailed as an important work that revealed much new knowledge on the development of weaving techniques across the centuries from China through to Europe. The key to the book's almost forensic investigation of its subject was the author himself, a Danish damask weaver with a lifetime's practical experience in his craft and an intimate knowledge of weaving techniques that allowed him to decipher, experiment and interpret original techniques from small remnants of surviving material. Long out of print, the work has been tidied and reset by Becker's collaborator on the original work, the sinologist Don Wagner.Trade Review'To the modern weaver looking for a source of inspiration in the past John Becker has written an eye-opening indispensable handbook.' - John Peter Wild, Antiquity, 1988, no. 62 'The greatest virtue of this book is that it shows the archaeologist how much can be learned from practical experimentation in the re-creation of ancient crafts and artefacts.' - E.J.W. Barber, Archeomaterials, 1990, vol. 4.2 'In no work known to the reviewer are the technical analyses so firmly situated at the very heart of the work as the indispensable starting point for all other forms of investigation. They are an example of what is often preached but seldom practised in material culture studies: the primacy of evidence extracted from meticulous observation of objects in the fullest historical and technological context. - [A] noble memorial to an extraordinary technician and scholar.' - Verity Wilson, Oriental Art, 1989, vol. 35.2Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction 1 Part I: Patterned weaves of Han China, 206 BC - AD 220 7 1. The monochrome patterned weaves 16 2. Gauze weaves 35 3. The polychrome silks, jin 55 Part II: Patterned Weaves of Early Western Asia 81 4. Western Asia 83 5. Weft-faced compound twill or samitum 111 Part III: Patterned weaves of the Mediterranean region 145 6. Lampas 147 7. Double-faced weft weaves 196 8. Patterned double cloth 221 9. Damask 248 Part IV: The eclectic pattern weaves of Tang China 287 10. The eclectic pattern weaves of Tang China 289 Part V: Weaving implements 309 11. The development of mechanical patterning: 'The' drawloom 311 12. Our drawloom - some weaving implements 346 Bibliography 363 Index 376

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Book SynopsisThe Bodo (or Boros) are one of the indigenous tribal peoples of Assam. During colonial times they resisted Christianization and in recent decades they have been involved both in interethnic violence and separatist insurgencies. Much research has gone into understanding the Boros and their aspirations but an issue has been that earlier accounts of this once-animist people are meagre and date from the colonial period. The rediscovery and publication of the ethnographic material based on fieldwork carried out by Halfdan Siiger among the Boros in 1949-50 is thus hugely important. Siiger's manuscript is unique, offering detailed descriptions of the social and ritual life of the Boros and new insights into the traditions and myths as they were told in the village he studied before the transformation of religious life in recent decades. Thanks to Siiger's diligent translation and interpretation, the manuscript also preserves a number of ritual formulas and songs in the Boro language. Siiger's manuscript is given even greater relevance by the inclusion of more recent material contributed by the editors and other contemporary scholars. In addition, his original photos are augmented by new photos from the village and by rare images from the collections of the National Museum of Denmark.

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Book SynopsisIn contrast to many recent works on Muslim societies, which point to an increasing 'de-culturalization' and 'purification' of Islamic practices, this engaging study probes deeply into the nexus between religion and ethnicity. By exploring architectural designs, preaching activities, cultural celebrations, social participation and everyday practices, this book explores the formation and contestation of Chinese Muslim cultural identities in today's Indonesia. Here, for instance, it scrutinizes Chinese Muslim leaders who strategically promote their unique identities by rearticulating their histories and cultivating ties with Muslims in China. Yet, their intentional mixing of Chineseness and Islam does not reflect all aspects of the multi-layered and multifaceted identities of ordinary Chinese Muslims - there is no single 'Chinese way of being Muslim' in Indonesia. Moreover, asserting Chinese identity and Islamic religiosity need not imply racial segregation and religious exclusion; it can act against them. The study thus helps us to understand better the cultural politics of Muslim and Chinese identities in Indonesia, giving insights into current possibilities and limitations of ethnic and religious cosmopolitanism. In so doing, Chinese Ways of Being Muslim offers unique insights into the cultural politics of Muslim and Chinese identity in Southeast Asia today.

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Book SynopsisThere is no moment of our waking life in which we do not experience sounds or make sounds. The human body is a sound-making organism. In densely peopled areas like many parts of Southeast Asia, then, the potential is for tumult, an infinity of different sounds competing to be heard. Pandemonium is not unheard of in Southeast Asia - not least in times of political unrest - but in everyday situations uproar is uncommon; cultural, social, political and personal factors (among others) work to calm, channel or even silence the tumult. Providing focus to this interdisciplinary volume on sound in SE Asia are detailed descriptions of the context of sounds and sound-making within the region's diverse socio-cultural semiotic frames of hierarchy and power. Drawing on examples from Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, each author discusses some aspect of sound in relation to their ethnographic context. Sound examples are also found on a companion website. Varied approaches to understanding sound are offered but in some way each relates to hierarchy and power. All show the importance of sound for understanding the processual implementation of hierarchy (or its opposite) in the construction of the social environment and the role of sound in the efficacious engagement of power in a variety of religious and political form. This is a much-needed volume, long overdue, not only offers non-Western perspectives to a field that is firmly Eurocentric; it also goes beyond examining sound in isolation, considering this instead in relation to the other senses and to sociocultural constructions. In such ways, then, the volume offers new directions of study, an exciting prospect.Trade ReviewHumans are surrounded by sound day and night and yet very few scholars have studied our sonic environment. "Hearing Southeast Asia" breaks the silence at last. It is the first major volume to explore the soundscapes of insular and mainland Southeast Asia. The chapters cover the full range of sounds from the sound wars of noisy megacities to the quiet healing music or ritual whispering of tribal communities. The authors form the fine fleur of sonic studies, mostly using an ethnographic approach. "Hearing Southeast Asia" will remain the standard work on Southeast Asian soundscapes for a long time to come. (Freek Colombijn, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

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Book SynopsisDecades of war, social upheaval and political change have not lessened the enduring interest of the people of East Timor (Timor-Leste) in their oral traditions, something they share with their neighbors in the eastern islands of Indonesia. Although oral literature continues to occupy a central place in Timorese cultures, new forms of expression are emerging (for instance via published fiction and in social media). Nonetheless, the corpus of Timorese oral narrative largely retains an underlying metaphysical unity. Among others, it continues to express indigenous notions about gender and precedence - two important sociocultural markers that are among the most prominent topics currently under discussion by scholars of the region today. What has yet to be done, however, is to bring Timorese oral narratives into mainstream social science scholarship by subjecting them to a rigorous scholarly analysis. That is the purpose of this masterly study by the veteran Timor scholar, David Hicks. Drawing upon more than a half century of fieldwork and publishing, he discusses the tropes found in and illuminating Timorese metaphysical thought and literature. No other work has discussed these tropes before nor indeed attempted to discern patterns of thought in Timorese narratives. Certainly, the study will be of interest to scholars of literature, social science, structural analysis, Indonesian cultures and philosophy, as well as to those interested in the country's colonial past and in efforts to conserve its natural environment. The book should also appeal to educated citizens of Timor-Leste; here is a work illuminating how future aspirations might be grounded in a common heritage.

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Book SynopsisHow can we conceive of kinship and sociality in the rapidly transforming uplands of mainland Southeast Asia? How to write about kinship in a way that neither falls into the trap of taking for granted kinship phenomena nor ignores the body of knowledge from earlier research? This in-depth study uses its rich findings from extensive fieldwork among the Khmu, upland dwellers of northern Laos, to bridge the divide between classical ethnography and modern approaches to kinship studies. Here, the author offers a fresh perspective on kinship by, first of all, stepping backwards and delving into how it is actually lived locally in northern Laos. She highlights that not only the beginning of life but also its ending deserves our attention when considering the relevance of kinship. Indeed, to a considerable extent, living kinship is about death. The context of kinship and sociality among the Khmu is significant here, these being framed by ties of matrilateral cross-cousin marriage and patrilineal descent - concepts on which this study casts new light. Dr Stolz explores this complexity in an absorbing series of intimate and self-reflective accounts. These touch upon a variety a topics, beginning with the language of kinship, then proceeding to examine the house, the changing importance of kinship throughout the life cycle, the key roles that gifting and commensality play, the meaning of work and, finally, to offer glimpses of the intricacies of village sociality and its cosmological dimensions. The underlying approach here is asking how the nature and praxis of kinship bring us closer to understanding what it means to live kinship - not just in upland northern Laos but in other societies as well. This is a significant study, one of long-term significance.

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Book SynopsisGender and sexuality in Japan has long been a field of academic study, with gender mainly being examined either as masculinities, femininities or as deviating sexualities. In recent years, however, widespread interest in manga, anime and cosplay among the world’s youth has aroused popular interest in the Japanese approach to gender and sexuality. In a sense, this engaging volume brings these two worlds together. It builds on earlier scholarly work and discusses normative and non-normative gender and sexualities in one volume. The chapters deftly bring together and engage with theories of gender presentation, performance and performativity. However, they are also solid ethnographic studies, extensively researched and clearly argued. Through careful attention to lived realities, they allow readers to understand not only how gender is constructed and commodified in contemporary Japan but also how it is presented and performed in different contexts. At the same time, youth culture resonates through the volume, which is mainly written by early-career scholars with a largely undergraduate and postgraduate readership in mind. With compelling studies, evocatively presented, this volume may well go on to become an important resource on gender and sexuality in Japan. Moreover, with its many insights into how ethnographic methodologies might best be employed, the book has much to offer students and scholars working outside of Japanese studies as well.

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Book SynopsisGender and sexuality in Japan has long been a field of academic study, with gender mainly being examined either as masculinities, femininities or as deviating sexualities. In recent years, however, widespread interest in manga, anime and cosplay among the world’s youth has aroused popular interest in the Japanese approach to gender and sexuality. In a sense, this engaging volume brings these two worlds together. It builds on earlier scholarly work and discusses normative and non-normative gender and sexualities in one volume. The chapters deftly bring together and engage with theories of gender presentation, performance and performativity. However, they are also solid ethnographic studies, extensively researched and clearly argued. Through careful attention to lived realities, they allow readers to understand not only how gender is constructed and commodified in contemporary Japan but also how it is presented and performed in different contexts. At the same time, youth culture resonates through the volume, which is mainly written by early-career scholars with a largely undergraduate and postgraduate readership in mind. With compelling studies, evocatively presented, this volume may well go on to become an important resource on gender and sexuality in Japan. Moreover, with its many insights into how ethnographic methodologies might best be employed, the book has much to offer students and scholars working outside of Japanese studies as well.

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Book SynopsisJust as global perceptions of Xinjiang have shifted dramatically, so too has scholarship on the history, culture, and politics of the Uyghur homeland experienced a sea-change. A field once dominated by philology and geopolitical analysis has, since the 1990s, become a site of vibrant interdisciplinary practice. Uyghur studies - particularly research on gender, family, and the village economy - are now often found at the intersection of anthropological fieldwork, discursive analysis, textual studies, and social history. This volume collects a series of studies on these themes, drawing upon the innovative work of one of the field's leading figures, Ildiko Beller-Hann. The result is a snapshot both of the Uyghur region (and beyond) in the midst of change, and of a field of scholarship that is evolving as the voices of people from the region themselves increasingly come to the fore. More than a reflection on the genealogy of this field's knowledge and methodologies, this is a celebration of scholarly community - and of the people at its center.

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Book SynopsisJust as global perceptions of Xinjiang have shifted dramatically, so too has scholarship on the history, culture, and politics of the Uyghur homeland experienced a sea-change. A field once dominated by philology and geopolitical analysis has, since the 1990s, become a site of vibrant interdisciplinary practice. Uyghur studies - particularly research on gender, family, and the village economy - are now often found at the intersection of anthropological fieldwork, discursive analysis, textual studies, and social history. This volume collects a series of studies on these themes, drawing upon the innovative work of one of the field's leading figures, Ildiko Beller-Hann. The result is a snapshot both of the Uyghur region (and beyond) in the midst of change, and of a field of scholarship that is evolving as the voices of people from the region themselves increasingly come to the fore. More than a reflection on the genealogy of this field's knowledge and methodologies, this is a celebration of scholarly community - and of the people at its center.

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Book SynopsisThe year 1543 marked the beginning of a new global consciousness in Japan with the arrival of storm-blown Portuguese merchants in Tanegashima Island in southern Japan. Other Portuguese rapidly followed and Japan became aware of a world beyond India. The Portuguese brought with them the musket, which was quickly copied and began to change Japanese warfare. Francis Xavier arrived in 1549 and other Christian missionaries soon after. This is not a new story but it is the first time that Japanese, Portuguese and other European accounts have been brought together and presented in English.Table of ContentsThe arrival of the Portuguese; the record of the musket; translation of the "Tanegashima Kafu"; the Tanegashima family and "Tanegashima Kafu"; the "Teppoki", "Tanegashima Kafu" and historical setting; Fernao Mendes Pinto and his four visits to Japan, according to the "Peregrinacam"; translation of the "Kunitomo Teppoki"; a discussion of "Kunitomo Teppoki"; "Teppo" production at Sakai; "Teppo" production at Negoro; the "Teppo" on Kyushu; Francis Xavier in Japan. Appendices: "Teppoki"; "Tanegashima Kafu" (partial); "Kunitomo Teppoki".

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the cultural traditions of Cantonese villagers who first settled in South Chinas Pearl River Delta during the Tang and Song dynasties (10th to 12th centuries). The authors lived and worked in the New Territories, Hong Kong's rural hinterland, during the 1960s and 1970s. Two villages, in particular, are featured in this book: San Tin and Ha Tsuen, homes (respectively) of the Man and Teng lineages. These are single-surname communities of the type that once dominated rural politics in South China. In the 60s and 70s, village life revolved around the performance of expensive and time-consuming rituals associated with birth, marriage, and ancestor worship. Geomancy (fengshui) was a universally accepted system of belief that linked the living to the dead. Men and women lived in separate social worlds that were closed to members of the opposite sex. The Watsons worked as a team and thus were able to document both sides of this gender divide. Many of the rituals and social activities described in this book are no longer performed in the New Territories, or in adjacent regions of Guangdong province. The physical landscape has also changed dramatically in recent decades. Several of the tenant communities studied by the Watsons were demolished in the wake of 'New Town' development during the 1980s and 1990s. Nonetheless, indigenous villagers of the New Territories still constitute a vibrant, recognizable minority in Hong Kong's rapidly expanding population. Globalization and hyperurbanization have combined to create a new, postmodern society in an area that was, until recently, a rural hinterland. Village Life in Hong Kong constitutes a unique ethnographic record of a cultural system teetering on the threshold of this historic transition.

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Book SynopsisVillage Life in Hong Kong constitutes a unique ethnographic record of a cultural system teetering on the brink of transition. Living and working in the New Territories during the 1960s-1970s, the Watsons explored the cultural traditions of the Cantonese villagers who first settled in South China's Pearl River Delta primarily during the Tang and Song dynasties.Two villages are featured prominently: San Tin and Ha Tsuen, homes of the Man and Teng lineages, single-surname communities that once dominated rural politics in South China. In the '60s and '70s, village life revolved around the performance of expensive and time-consuming rituals associated with birth, marriage, and ancestor worship. Geomancy (fengshui) was a universally accepted system of belief linking the living to the dead, while men and women lived in separate social worlds that were closed to members of the opposite sex. Working as a team, the authors were able to document both sides of this gender divide.Many of the rituals and social activities described in this book are no longer performed in the New Territories, or in adjacent regions of Guangdong province, and the physical landscape has also changed dramatically in the wake of the "New Town" development of the 1980s-1990s. Nonetheless, indigenous villagers of the New Territories still constitute a vibrant, recognizable minority in Hong Kong's rapidly expanding population.

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Book SynopsisThis collection of papers highlights the research achievements in the field of Chinese Anthropology, particularly those of Mainland scholars. With sophistication and sensitivity, the authors examine the reproduction of traditions in post-Mao southern Fujian, surveying lineages, religion, status of women, and other aspects of the cultural life. The politics of traditions and their relevance to local identities are also discussed. It is crucial to note the dynamic nature of traditions that are reproduced by different agents. The state is officially against traditions that are ""superstitious"", but the changing economic and political situations after liberalization provide much scope for toleration and negotiation. Paradoxically, official attempts to control ""superstitious"" traditions actually contribute to their revitalization. Thus this book's articles are essential reading not only for understanding Fujian traditions, but also for appreciation of the larger socio-political and cultural forces that have importantly shaped them.

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Book SynopsisToward the end of the eighteenth century Ji Xiaolan, widely regarded as the most eminent scholar and foremost wit of his age, published five collections of anecdotes and discourses centring on the interaction between the mundane and spirit worlds, but also including purely earthly life stories and happenings. Some items represent Ji’s own thought and experiences, but the majority were supplied by others, Ji acting only as recorder. Settings range socially from the milieux of peasants, servants and merchants to those of governors and ministers, and geographically extend to the far reaches of the Qing empire. Contents may dwell on comedy or tragedy, cruelty or kindness, corruption or integrity, erudition or ignorance, credulity or scepticism; several items borrow ghost stories to satirize men and manners; some straightforwardly examine current beliefs and practices. Taken together, this miscellany presents a picture of the contemporary world unmatched in its scope and variety of perspectives, and in this way comes nearer to depicting “real life” than novels or institutional histories.To impose order on this heterogeneous material, the selected items are grouped under topical headings. Each of these sections has a preface which explains general context, and where appropriate draws cultural comparisons. The introduction to the whole book appraises Ji Xiaolan’s own career and the atmosphere in which he lived. In order to make its matter further accessible to anyone who might chance upon this work, scholarly apparatus is reduced to a minimum and readability made the priority for the translation.

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Book SynopsisFor many Middle Eastern Muslims the "West" came to personify the ultimate "other," occupying a space that was simultaneously appealing, intimidating, and often abhorrent. The multilayered, ambivalent interaction between Middle Eastern societies and the West has been a major theme in the history of this region for the past two centuries. The al-Qa eda terrorist attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and Israel's war against Hizbullah in the summer of 2006 have made the in-depth study of this interaction more critically important than ever. Taking the concepts of the Middle East and the West into account as useful analytical categories, the various articles in this volume examine and analyze a broad spectrum of Middle Eastern encounters and attitudes toward the West. This collection provides a fuller understanding of the complexities involved in both the historical and contemporary relationship between Middle Eastern societies and the West.

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Book SynopsisThe Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences offers a uniquely comprehensive and global overview of the evolution of ideas, concepts and policies within the human sciences. Drawn from histories of the social and psychological sciences, anthropology, the history and philosophy of science, and the history of ideas, this collection analyses the health and welfare of populations, evidence of the changing nature of our local communities, cities, societies or global movements, and studies the way our humanness or ‘human nature’ undergoes shifts because of broader technological shifts or patterns of living. This Handbook serves as an authoritative reference to a vast source of representative scholarly work in interdisciplinary fields, a means of understanding patterns of social change and the conduct of institutions, as well as the histories of these ‘ways of knowing’ probe the contexts, circumstances and conditions which underpin continuity and change in the way we count, analyse and understand ourselves in our different social worlds. It reflects a critical scholarly interest in both traditional and emerging concerns on the relations between the biological and social sciences, and between these and changes and continuities in societies and conducts, as 21st century research moves into new intellectual and geographic territories, more diverse fields and global problematics. ​Table of ContentsContent The International Handbook of the Human Sciences will tentatively be divided into 10 sections based on key discussions/themes in the field, led by internationally recognised researchers and writers on academic integrity. This proposal lists 12 possible sections of between 8-12 chapters in each section, a possible 65 chapters of between 8,000-10,000 words in each chapter. Every section editor will be a long-established colleague and peer. Ideas for sections, section editors and some chapters are tentatively indicated below: 1. Defining the human sciences (Ian Hunter, Australia, Uni of Queensland) 11 chapters a. Critique, and the history of theory (Ian Hunter) b. Enlightenment and Modernity (Gary Wickham, Aust., Murdoch University) c. Does reflexivity separate the human sciences from the natural sciences? (Roger Smith, c/o Lancaster University) d. The Social Construction of Scientific Knowledge (Greg Myers, Lancaster University) e. Social histories of knowledge (Peter Burke, Emmanuel College Boston) f. Self / Personhood (Elwin Hofman, KU Leuven Belgium) g. Conduct (Paul du Gay, University of Copenhagen) h. Intellectual fields: science and culture (Tony Bennett, Aust., Uni of Western Sydney) i. Human sciences and the global south (Raewyn Connell, University of Sydney) j. Knowledge and power in the human sciences k. Current issues in linguistic theory: N Chomsky – 1988, 7-17 2. Categories in the history of human sciences (Section Editor: Ian Hacking, College de France) 9 chapters a. ‘Making up’ categories of people (Ian Hacking, College de France) b. Ideas and Politics (Thomas Osborn, UK, University of Bristol) c. Humanities (Martin Aidnik, Tallin University, Estonia) d. History of Sexuality (Stuart Elder, University of Warwick: Theory, Culture and Society, 2018 e. Cultural and historical geography (Veronica della Dora, Uni of Bristol) f. Habitus: Mauss and Bourdieu g. Constructing human and social subjects (Gregory Hollin, UK, University of Nottingham) h. Genealogy/history of the present (Jeffrey Minson, University of California) i. Power and resistance (Ausgar Allen, Roy Goddard, University of Sheffield) 2. History of Statistics (Section editor: Roger Smith, co Lancaster University) 6 chapters a. How should we do the history of statistics? (Ian Hacking, The Foucault Effect eds. Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller eds, 1991, 181-196 b. The enlightenment and statistics (Roy Porter) c. How to make things which hold together: Social science, statistics and the state (Alain Desrosières, 1990) d. Science in the archives: pasts, presents, futures (Lorainne Daston, University of Chicago) e. Governing by numbers (Ian Hacking, College de France) f. Change or mutation? Reflections on the foundations of contemporary science (T Shinn: Social Science Information, 1999) 5. Context and theory (Section editor: Paul du Gay, University of Copenhagen) 10 chapters a. The civilizing process (Paul Du Gay) b. Histories of legal theory (Daniel Chernilo, Universidad Diego Portales. Visiting Professor, Loughborough University) c. The English national character: the history of an idea (Peter Mandler: 2006 d. Culture and Consumption (Liz McFall, UK, Open University) e. History of science/cultural hegemony (Pietro Omoeleo, Max Blanck Institute, Berlin) f. Science and imperialism (Douglas Lorimer, UK) g. Post-colonial Europe (Monika Bobako, Adam Mickiewicz, Poland) h. Postcolonial penality: Liberty and repression in the shadow of independence, India c. 1947, M. Brown, Theoretical Criminology, 2017 i. The Evolutionary Origins of Human Political Systems (Herbert Gintis, Carel van Schaik, and Christopher Boehm: Current Anthropology 56, 3, June 2015, 327-353) 6. Anthropology, ethnography and ethnology (Section Editor: Tony Bennett, Aust., Uni of Western Sydney;) 12 chapters a. Race, culture, and evolution: reflections on the history of anthropology (G. Stocking: 1982) b. The history of anthropology: Where, whence, whither? (GW Stocking Jr: Journal of the History of the Behavioral, 1966). c. The past as it lives now: an anthropology of colonial legacies (B De L'Estoile: Social Anthropology, 2008) d. The sins of the fathers: British anthropology and African colonial administration (H. Kuklick - Research in Sociology of Knowledge: Sciences and Art, 1978) e. Liberal government and the practical history of anthropology (Tony Bennett: History and Anthropology Journal Vol 25, 2014 - Issue 2: Anthropology, Collecting and Colonial Governmentalities) f. Historicity and ethnography (Tomomi J Emoto, Japan?) g. Ethnology and psychology (Gustav Johoda, UK, University of Strathclyde) h. Histories of anthropology (Vassos Argyrou, UK University of Hull, Veronika Lipphardt, Germany, University College, Frieberg i. Anthropology and the Southern Question (Claudia Castelo, Uni of Lisbon, Portugul) j. Anthropological history of the early 21st century (Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Uni of Olso) k. A mission to civilize: the republican idea of empire in France and West Africa, 1895-1930 (Alice L. Conklin 1997: citeulike:10058147) l. Margaret Mead Amongst the Natives of Great Britain (Peter Mandler: Past & Present, Volume 204, Issue 1, 1 August 2009, Pages 195–233) 7. Archaeology and ethnoarchaeology (Section Editor: Amanda Kearney, Aust., Uni of New South Wales) 11 chapters a. The Hidden History of a Third of the World: the Collective Biography of Australian and International Archaeology in the Pacific (CBAP) Project: Matthew Spriggs, Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 27, 1, 2017 b. History and Indigenous cultural artefacts (Amanda Kearney, Uni of NSW,) c. The origins of culture history in prehistoric archaeology: rethinking plausibility and disciplinary tradition: T. Murray, World Archaeology, 2017, 49, 2, 187-197. d. Introduction to Geographic and Spatial Approaches in the History of Archaeology: N. Gupta, B K Means,,Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 25, 2, 2015 e. Hitting two birds with one stone: An afterword on archeology and the history of science: M. Brusius, History of Science, Sept 2017, Vol. 55 Issue 3, 383-391 f. Geographies of Governmentalities (M. Huxley: Space, Knowledge and Power: Foucault and Geography, JW. Crampton, S Elden eds, 183-204) g. Archaeology and Modem Climate Change: Friesen, T. Max, Canadian Journal of Archaeology. 2018, Vol. 42,1, 28-37 h. A Cosmopolitan History of Archaeology: The Olov Janse Case: A Källén, J Hegardt, Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, Vol 24, 2014 i. The Infertile Crescent Revisited: A Case Study for the History of Archaeology (J Bracewell: Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, Vol 25, 2, 2015 j. Archaeology and the Anxiety of Loss: Effacing Preservation from the History of Renaissance Rome (D Karmon: American Journal of Archaeology, 115, 2,159-174 k. Building colonial histories: the archaeology of the Menzies Centre site, Hobart: P Crook. R McCay, P Kostaglou, Australasian Historical Archaeology. 33:27-36 8. Historical Sociology (Section Editors: Robert van Krieken, Australia, University of Sydney; Stephen Mennell, Uni of Leicester) 9 chapters a. History of sociology (Stephen Turner, Uni of South Florida, US) b. Toward a transnational history of the social sciences: Johan Heilbron, N Guilhot, L Jeanpierrem, 2008 c. National traditions in the social sciences d. Norbert Elias: An Outsider Full of Unprejudiced Insight (Wolf Lepenies: New German Critique, 1978) e. History, politics and power f. Sociology of crowds (Christian Borch, Copenhagan Business School) g. The sociology of knowledge (Steve Woolgar, Steve Fuller) h. Knowledge society (Andrea Cerroni, University of Milan) i. On the appearance of autism (Bonnie Evans, UK, Kings College London) 9. Governing Individuals and Societies (Section Editor: Mitchell Dean, Copenhagen Business School) 9 chapters a. The liberal state and self-governing individuals (Michell Dean) b. Globalisation and the individual (William Walters, Carlton University, Ottawa) c. Rationalities of rule (XXX) d. Sovereignty, and powers of life and death (XXX) e. Exceptionalism and authoritarianism (XXX) f. Calculable minds and manageable individuals (Nickolas Rose: History of the human sciences, 1988) g. Governing Science (Steve Fuller) h. Governing through crime (Jonathon Simon, University of Chicago) i. Global biopolitics and the history of world health (A. Bashford: History of the Human Sciences: February 1, 2006) 10. Histories of Economics (Section Editor: Mary Morgan, London School of Economics) 8 chapters a. The philosophical bases of institutionalist economics (Philip Mirowski: Economics and Hermeneutics, ed. Don Lavoie, 2005) b. Does Economics Have a Useful Past? (George J. Stigler: History of Political Economy, 1969, 1 (2), 217-230 c. Society, economy and State effect (Timothy Mitchell: State/Culture. State-Formation After the Cultural Turn, ed. George Steinmetz, pp. 76-97) d. Theories of markets and theories of society (M Fourcade: American Behavioral Scientist, 2007) e. Models, stories and the economic world (Mary Morgan: Journal of Economic Methodology, 2001 f. Economic History and Economics (Robert M. Solow, The American Economic Review, Vol. 75, No. 2, 1985, 328-331) g. Breaking Away: History of Economics as History of Science (M Schabas: History of Political Economy, 24 (1), 1992: 187-203. h. A Short History of Economics As a Moral Science (James E. Alvey: Journal of Markets & Morality 2, 1, 1999, 53-73. 11. Psychology (Section editor: Nikolas Rose, UK, Kings College Cambridge) 9 chapters a. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (Roger Smith: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C 36, 1, 2005, 55-94 b. Current debates in the history of psychology (Nikolas Rose, UK) c. Community psychology and decolonising practices (Mohammed Seedat, South Africa, Uni of SA) d. Psychology and science (Tom Quick, Independent scholar) e. Psychopathy (Canada, University of Alberta) f. Psychology and commerce (David Keller, Germany, Universitat zu Lubeck) g. Psychology and the Southern Question (Wahbie Long, South Africa, University of Cape Town) h. The reflexivity of cognitive science: the scientist as model of human nature (J Cohen-Cole: History of the Human Sciences, 2005) i. Does the history of psychology have a subject? (Roger Smith: History of the Human Sciences, October 1, 1988) 12. Psychiatry (Section editors: Stephen Garton, Australia, University of Sydney; Matt Efytche, UK, University of Essex; Gavin Miller, Glasgow University) 10 chapters a. Mapping the relations between history and history of science: the case of the history of psychiatry: L. Vasia, Rethinking History, 21, 4, 606-617, 2017 b. Ancient philosophers on mental illness: M Ahonen, History of Psychiatry. October 9, 2018 c. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (Rachel Cooper, Lancaster Uni) d. Transcultural psychiatry (Ivan Crozier, Uni of Newcastle, Australia) e. Psychotherapy (Sarah Marks, UK, Birkbeck College Uni of London) f. Psychoanalysis (Silvana Veto, Chile, Uni Andres, Bello; Marcelo Sanchez, Chile, Uni de Chile) g. Eugenics and science in Peru (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru) h. Therapeutic culture and authenticity (Roger Foster, Manhattan Community College) i. The Aboriginal child’s mind (David Robertson, Princeton University, USA) j. Childhood and Normality (Katie Wright, Australia, La Trobe University 13. Tendencies in post-war social sciences (Series editor … a. The Strange Silence of Political Theory (J.C. Isaac: Political Theory, November 1, 1995) b. Riding natural scientists' coattails onto the endless frontier: The SSRC and the quest for scientific legitimacy (Mark Solovey: The History of the Behavioral Sciences, September 2004) c. “Hypothetical machines”. The science fiction dreams of Cold War social science (R Lemov: Isis, 2010) d. Beyond behaviorism: On the automaticity of higher mental processes (Bargh, John A., Ferguson, Melissa J.: Psychological Bulletin, Vol 126(6), Nov 2000, 925-945) As for all reference works, chapters will be supported by relevant illustrations, tables, figures, glossaries. The handbook will be a useful reference resource for practitioners/instructors in higher education and researchers and graduate students exploring the diverse range of work in the history of human sciences. The most significant benefit of the handbook will be to provide this overview in one location.

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Book SynopsisThe basement of a veteran shopping mall located in the central business district of Singapore affords opportunities to a group of amateur and semi-professional musicians, of different ethnicities, ages, and generations to make a sonic way of life. Based on five years of deep participatory experience, this multi-modal (text, musical composition, social media, performance) sonic ethnography is centered around a community of noisy people who make rock music within the constraints of urban life in Singapore. The heart and soul of this community is English Language rock and roll music pioneered in Singapore by several members of the 1960s legendary 'beats and blues' band, The Straydogs, who continue to engage this community in a sonic way of life. Grounded in debates from sound studies, Ferzacca draws on Bruno Latour's ideas of the social-continually emergent, constantly in-the-making, 'associations of heterogeneous elements' of human and non-human 'mediators and intermediaries' - to portray a community entangled in the confounding relations between vernacular and national heritage projects. Music shops, music gear, music genres, sound, urban space, neighborhoods, State presence, performance venues, practice spaces, regional travel, local, national, regional, and sonic histories afford expected and unexpected opportunities for work, play, and meaning, in the contemporary music scene in this Southeast Asian city-state. The emergent quality of this deep sound is fiercely cosmopolitan, yet entirely Singaporean. What emerges is a vernacular heritage drawing upon Singapore's unique place in Southeast Asian and world history.Trade Review“Sonic City plugs the gap for younger Singapore rock enthusiasts such as myself and throws the creative spurt of the 1990s into stark relief, making the latter era seem even more precious and fragile by revealing its place in a longer history of state policing and censorship.” -- Ken Kwek * Mekong Review *“[Ferzacca maps out the] emotionally charged vibrant, cosmopolitan acoustemological undercurrent circuits of the Straydogs in Sonic City.” -- Liew Kai Khiun * Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society *“Ferzacca’s sonic ethnography is well supported by scholarship on broader human relational capital.” -- Eugene Dairianathan * Anthropological Forum *“Sonic City is an enjoyable read and should appeal to specialists and non-specialists alike, including undergraduate students. Like Ferzacca, the reader gets drawn into the blues rock community and gains a good sense of the people involved, and their lives in music as well as in Singapore society.” * Asian Ethnology *“[This] is a dense yet engaging read on Singaporean musicians and Singapore’s blues and rock and roll scene in the 2010s… Overall, Sonic City is worth the read for anyone interested in blues and rock and roll. This book proves that these musical styles will hopefully not die out anytime soon, and their reach is felt far beyond the United States, even in a country that perceives the styles as 'noisy.' Any collection will be enriched by the resources provided by Ferzacca and his experiences in Singapore.” * Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal *

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Book SynopsisGets to the heart of what is unique about Indonesian art. Exploring the work of established and emerging artists in Indonesia’s vibrant art world, this book examines why so many artists in the world’s largest archipelagic nation choose to work directly with people in their art practices. While the social dimension of Indonesian art makes it distinctive in the globalized world of contemporary art, Elly Kent is the first to explore this engagement in Indonesian terms. What are the historical, political, and social conditions that lie beneath these polyvalent practices? How do formal and informal institutions, communities, and artist-run initiatives contribute to the practices and discourses behind socially engaged art in Indonesia? Drawing on interviews with artists, translations of archival material, visual analyses, and participation in artists’ projects, this book presents a unique, interdisciplinary examination of ideologies of art in Indonesia. Table of Contents Author's Introduction: Entanglement in the world Part 1: History, identity and culture: the matrix for the artist's soul Si Kabayan Nyintreuk: eccentricity and activism Local knowledge: Jiwa ketok The unified eye: Where do the Quiet Ones Go? Etching performance: reflections from praxis Personal/social/interactive: a formula for the engaged artist Drawing on the personal-social-interactive Part 2: Turba, down to 'the people' People's culture inside and outside institutions Participation, pedagogy and politics: Made Bayak's Plasticology Adiboga Wonoasri – cosmopolitanism out of starvation Jakarta Biennale and Trotoart: social tactics in the city IBU at Cigondewah: turba as antagonism Part 3: Kerakyatan: conscientisation for the people The New Order and New Indonesian Art: Opportunity and Oppression Conscientisation and the rakyat – global/local entanglement Rayuan Pulau Kelapa – turba, conscientisation and negotiation KuehSenyum: actions in social exchange Tepuk Tangan Nuhun: interventions in gratitude Back to the Bay: Tita Salina and conceptual conscientisation Performing opposition: the burial of Made Bayak Part 4: Ethics and Aesthetics Local knowledge: gotong royong and rasa Pirates and maids: gotong royong as horizontal knowledge-building An ecosystem of production: institutional practices and contemporary art practice in Indonesia Mamahkuaing: maternal feelings Rasa: Feeling, Flavour, Taste and Touch A conversation: true fiction, fictional truth Impermanent conclusions An artistic ideology Originary discourses Coda

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Book SynopsisA new analytical perspective on stones and stone masters across Southeast Asia that extends and deepens the recent literature on animism. Stones and stone masters are an important focus of animist religious practice in Southeast Asia. Recent studies on animism see animist rituals not as a mere metaphor for community or shared values, but as a way of forming and maintaining relationships with occult presences. This book features city pillars, statues, megaliths, termite mounds, mountains, rocks found in forests, and stones that have been moved to shrines, as well as the territorial cults which can form around them. The contributors extend and deepen the recent literature on animism to form a new analytical perspective on these cults across mainland Southeast Asia. Not just a collection of exemplary ethnographies, Stone Masters is also a deeply comparative volume that develops its ideas through a meshwork of regional entanglements, parallels, and differences, before entering into a dialogue with debates on power, mastery, and the social theory of animism globally.Table of Contents List of figures and tables Section I: Stone Theory Chapter 1: Holly High: An introduction to Stone Masters Chapter 2: John Clifford Holt: Theorizing 'Stone Masters': Revisiting Paul Mus Chapter 3: Holly High: "They can see us but we can't see them": Power, deities, and presences of places in Sekong, Lao PDR Chapter 4: Courtney Work: 'The Dance of Life and Death: Social relationships with elemental power Chapter 5: Paul-David Lutz: The State Has Come Chapter 6: Benjamin Baumann: Masters of the Underground: Termite Mound Worship and the Mutuality of Chthonic and Human Beings in Thailand's Lower Northeast Chapter 7: Holly High: Lady Luck of the City: Myth and meaning at Vientiane's city pillar Chapter 9: Kazuo Fukurra: From Ritual Traditions to Spirit Mediumship: The Evolution of Pillar Worship in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Chapter 10: Klemens Karlsson: Territory Cults and Power in the Eastern Shan State of Myanmar Chapter 11: H?ng T. D. Ngô: The Mountain, the Masters and the Nation: Enduring Power Encounters at a Temple in Contemporary Vietnam? Chapter 12: Penny Van Esterik: Afterword

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Book SynopsisA study of interlocutor reference that significantly deepens our understanding of the ways in which self-other relations are linguistically mediated in social interaction, based on the analysis of Southeast Asian languages. Terms used by speakers to refer to themselves and their interlocutors form one of the ways that language expresses, defines, and creates a field for working out social relations. Because this field of study in sociolinguistics historically has focused on Indo-European languages, it has tended to dwell on references to the addressee—for example, the choice between tuand vous when addressing someone in French. This book uses the study of Southeast Asian languages to theorize interlocutor reference more broadly, significantly deepening our understanding of the ways in which self-other relations are linguistically mediated in social interaction. As the authors explain, Southeast Asian systems exceed in complexity and nuance the well-described cases of Europe in two basic ways. First, in many languages of Southeast Asia, a speaker must select an appropriate reference form not only for other/addressee but also for self/speaker. Second, in these languages, in addition to pronouns, speakers draw upon a range of common and proper nouns including names, kin terms, and titles, in referring to themselves and the addressee. Acts of interlocutor reference, therefore, inevitably do more than simply identify the speaker and addressee; they also convey information about the proposed relation between interlocutors. Bringing together studies from both small-scale and large, urbanized communities across Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia, this is an important contribution to the regional linguistic and anthropological literature.Table of Contents Interlocutor Reference in Southeast Asian Speech Communities: Sociolinguistic Patterns and Interactional Dynamics Part 1: Systems Asymmetries in the System of Person Reference in Kri, a Language of Upland Laos Speaking of People in South-Central Java Part 2: Practices Vocatives in Javanese Conversation New Patterns, New Practices: Exploring the Use of English Pronouns I and you in Asymmetrical Relations in Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malay Talk Part 3: Intimacies "Respect those above, yield to those below": Civility and social hierarchy in Vietnamese interlocutor reference "Friends who don't throw each other away": Friendship, pronouns, and relations on the edge in Luang Prabang, Laos Interlocutor reference and deferential relations in Indonesian broadcast talk Part 4: Theories Interlocutor reference and the complexity of East and Southeast Asian honorific registers

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Book Synopsis"In the springtime of the year that I was twenty-one, I found myself stuck at the border between two familiar countries, unable to enter either. I had never felt my statelessness so keenly."Japan's 1972 termination of diplomatic ties with the Republic of China left 9,200 Chinese residents stateless. Tienshi "Lara" Chen was one of them, born to Chinese parents in Yokohama's Chinatown. What does it mean to be stateless? What does it feel like?In a lively blend of life writing, auto-ethnography, and study of stateless communities around Asia, this book unpacks the idea of citizenship by showing the hidden everyday narratives and lived experiences of stateless persons who have no legal ties to any nation state. Originally published in Japanese, this adapted and updated English edition critically engages with questions of borders, mobility, belonging, and identity.We follow Chen's engaging autobiographical account of her bi-cultural upbringing and Japanese education, and how her experience of statelessness eventually led her into a career spanning academia and activism. Across different levels of analysis, the author points out the contradictions inherent in the concepts of nationality, nation-state and citizenship, in a world where individual nationality, identity and experience are increasingly complex. She concludes that the current system of regulating individuals with citizenship is unworkable in the long run. Stateless is a fascinating read on borders, states and identities.

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Book SynopsisThis collection of essays on the music of migrant minorities in and from Japan examines the central role music plays in the ongoing adjustment, conciliation and transformation of newcomers and "hosts" alike. It is the first academic text to address music activities across a range of migrant groups in Japan-particularly those of Tokyo and its neighbouring areas. It is also the first to juxtapose such communities with those of Japanese emigrants as ethnic minorities elsewhere. It presents both archival and fieldwork-based case studies that highlight music in the dynamics of encounter and attempted identity making, under a unifying framework of migration.A radical change in policy with the 2019 introduction of a new "Specified Skilled Worker" visa category marked the beginning of Japan's "new immigration era" (imin gannen). The authors in this volume interrogate and shed light on the bureaucratically disseminated slogan of tabunka kyōsei, rendered in English as "multicultural coexistence". The concept itself and the many problems of realizing this ideal are examined through ethnography-based accounts of current minorities, including South Indians, Brazilians, Nepalis, Filipinos, Iranians and Ainu domestic migrants, and in light of comparative historical accounts of California and Australia. This volume will be of interest to ethnomusicologists, students of the cultures of migrant communities, and those engaged with cultural change and diversity in Japan and East Asia.Trade Review"Unsilent Strangers is a scholarly work that allows us to listen for ways by which music expresses minority identities in and through Japan. Together, these essays demonstrate ways by which music matters, as not merely a cultural idiom, but as a vital and fundamental part of our coexistence with each other." -- Christine Yano, University of Hawai`i, Manoa

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Book SynopsisDrawing on original Burmese texts and illustrations, recent scholarship, and mapping, Mandalay and the Art of Building Cities in Burma argues that the founding of Mandalay shifted critically in emphasis and scale during its planning from a protocol that established the royal city as a “cosmic city” to one that viewed the royal capital as a sanctuary. As part of that shift, FranÇois Tainturier shows, the founding protocol used Buddhist narratives as models for action and drastically altered patterns of spatial order that had been prevalent at former royal capitals. The systematic planning of Mandalay and the construction of its potent landscape constituted the expression—formulated not in words but in tangible form—of the throne’s claim that Burma was a “Buddhist land,” at a time when Lower Burma had been annexed by non-Buddhist believers. Tainturier provides further insight into how rulers articulated their lineage, power, and the promotion of Buddhism by creating potent landscapes. Mandalay and the Art of Building Cities in Burma renews scholarly discussion on Southeast Asian urban traditions and offers a critical investigation into the “cosmic” dimensions of one of the region’s centers of power.Trade Review“François Tainturier and NUS Press show a work of very good quality. The visual quality, the format, the large number of figures–old maps, photos from the colonial era, diagrams and comparative plans–the care given to the very beautiful layout, are all elements that strike you at first sight.” * Moussons *[This] is a fascinating book, fluidly written, thoroughly researched and clearly structured around key arguments. . . . Overall, the book is a textured and meticulous work of passion that deserves to be read by anyone interested in Southeast Asia’s cultural, religious and urban history. It is also a valuable reminder that Burma can be apprehended and appreciated for its cultural and historical richness beyond the horrors faced by its people today.” * SOJOURN *“In producing this uniquely interdisciplinary study of Mandalay’s urban planning history, Tainturier effortlessly integrates disparate scholarly domains, including religion, architecture, history, and area studies… The careful analysis that distinguishes this book makes it a significant contribution to the historiography of urban planning outside Europe and the Americas, and demonstrates that local concepts and terminologies need not always be understood as perennial or inherent. To engage in nuanced discussion, scholars also need to take historical change into account.” * Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians *Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Building Upon Precedence 3. The Making of a Sanctuary 4. The "Earth Palace" as Cosmic Pivot 5. Ordering Space in the Royal City and Beyond 6. The "Seven Places" 7. The "Blessed One's Bazaar" Materialized 8. Conclusion: Building the City of Dhamma

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Book SynopsisIntroduction – Institutionalising Indigeneity.- Vernacular Economy Matters – Subsistence and Capitalism.- Politicisation of Indigeneity – Being and Beyond Indigenous.- Indigenising the Academia – Education, Institutions, Curriculum, Language and Scripts.- Indigeneity and Culture – Religion, Festivals, Art and Craft.- Reflecting Indigeneity in Mainstream Media – Print, Audio-Visual and Digital.- Indigenous Activism – Global and Local.- Indigeneity and Essentialism – Preservation, Research and Methodology.- Conclusion – Indigeneity Revisited.

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Book SynopsisChina's Engagement in the Multilateral Platforms: The GDI, BRI, and LMC and the Reshaping of the Global Governance.- The Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative.- Taking Stock of Ten Years of BRI Projects in Malaysia.- The Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone: the Chinese State-Owned Enterprise's Business Practices and the Local Responses.- NESTING FOR EAGLES TO LAY EGGS: How did public critiques transformed SEZ policy in Vietnam.- Chinese Nomadic Recycling Industry: A Socio-ecological Fix in the BRI-EEC Alignment.- Impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative in Lao PDR on the Transborder Cattle Trade in Southeast Asia.- Seeing the Silent Voices: Understanding Local Responses to China's Railway Construction in Laos and Thailand.- Chinese Agricultural investment and Land Governance in Southeast Asia.

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Book SynopsisAs an anthropologist and native of Gao Village, the author combines ethnographic analysis, personal vignettes, and a number of fascinating stories to present a convincing yet complex picture of how Gao villagers interact with the outside world twenty years after the publication of his original ethnography of Gao Village. With his sympathetic and insider’s approach, the author argues that rural Chinese display great entrepreneurship and inner strength of self-improvement; they are active contributors to China’s economic boom.Trade Review“This sequel to Gao’s earlier work about his home village in Jiangxi Province is an engaging and digestible short course on contemporary China’s rural economy. The anecdotes from observation and personal knowledge of the lives of Gao villagers reflect Gao’s critical, often wry perspective; some of the best chapters are those that profile the lives of Gao villagers’ entrepreneurial vicissitudes in a relatively unregulated market environment.” – Ann Hill, Dickinson College

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Book SynopsisThe world's population negotiates a multiplicity of naming systems. Some are compatible with the "normative" system of the world of passports and identity cards but a great many are not. This is particularly true in Asia, a region with some of the most sophisticated naming devices found anywhere in the world, including nicknames and teknonyms, religious and corporation names, honour and death names, pseudonyms and retirement names, house names and clan names, local and foreign names, official and private names.People across the continent carry multiple names meaningful to different audiences. Some are used only in family relations while others locate individuals in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, caste, class, and nation. The centrality of names to many of the crucial debates and preoccupations of the modern world - identity, hybridity, migration, nationalism, multi-culturalism, globalisation - makes it particularly surprising that there has been little systematic comparative exploration of Asian names and naming systems.This path-breaking volume classifies and theorises the systems underlying naming practices in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia where systems are abundant and fluid. Using historical and socio-anthropological perspectives, the authors of this exceptionally close collaborative effort show the intricate connections between naming systems, notions of personhood and the prevailing ethos of interpersonal relations. They also show how the peoples of Asia are fashioning new types of naming and different ways of identifying themselves to suit the demands of a changing world.

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Book SynopsisArguably Southeast Asia's most spectacular city, Kuala Lumpur - widely known as 'KL' - has celebrated 50 years as the national capital of Malaysia. But KL now has a very different twin in Putrajaya, the country's new administrative capital. Where KL is a diverse, cosmopolitan, multi-racial metropolis, Putrajaya fulfils an elitist vision of a Malay-Muslim utopia. KL's multicultural richness is reflected in the brilliance and diversity of its architecture and urban spaces; Putrajaya, by contrast, is an architectural homage to an imagined Middle East.The 'purity' of Putrajaya throws the cosmopolitan diversity of Kuala Lumpur into sharp relief, and the tension between the two places reflects the rifts that run through Malaysian society. The author considers what form of metropolis the Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya region might foreshadow, arguing that signs of this future city are to be sought in the collision points between the utopian dreams of imagined futures and the reality of purposely forgotten pasts.The book includes copious illustrations of the wider Kuala Lumpur metropolitan region. It is directly applicable to studies in architecture, urban planning, urban design, and Malaysian politics and society. It also has relevance to the fields of postcolonial studies, media studies and critical social theory.

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Book SynopsisThe indigenous people of Southern Vietnam, known as the Khmer Krom, occupy territory over which Vietnam and Cambodia have competing claims. Regarded with ambivalence and suspicion by nationalists in both countries, these in-between people have their own claims on the place where they live and a unique perspective on history and sovereignty in their heavily contested homelands. To cope with wars, environmental re-engineering and nation-building, the Khmer Krom have selectively engaged with the outside world in addition to drawing upon local resources and self-help networks. This groundbreaking book reveals the sophisticated ecological repertoire deployed by the Khmer Krom to deal with a complex river delta, and charts their diverse adaptations to a changing environment. In addition, it provides an ethnographically grounded exposition of Khmer mythic thought that shows how the Khmer Krom position themselves within a landscape imbued with life-sustaining potential, magical sovereign power and cosmological significance. Offering a new environmental history of the Mekong River delta this book is the first to explore Southern Vietnam through the eyes of its indigenous Khmer residents.Winner of the inaugural European Association for Southeast Asiean Studies (EuroSEAS) Social Science Book Prize.Shortlisted for the ICAS Book Prize 2015 for Best Study in the Social Sciences

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