Description
Book SynopsisA Sleeping Tiger is a rare book-length treatment of urbanization among Dayaks and also offers a fresh perspective on ethnicity, class, and the context in which they function to the benefit of some and the great detriment of others.
Trade ReviewClare Boulanger's A Sleeping Tiger is a theoretically sophisticated but concisely written account of how the Dayaks, a large ethnic minority in east Malaysia and adjacent parts of Borneo, are struggling to adapt the ethnic language in which Malaysians have argued political issues so that Dayaks too can benefit from the system, which favors the interests of Malays. Boulanger sensitively shows how modernization not only disrupts traditional communities but the sense of self-worth, which she refers to as "dignity," imbedded in the complex personal relationships traditional life requires. The enormous simplifications entailed in being moden, "modern," require recasting of the Dayak vision of themselves. The clarity of Boulanger's language and theoretical approach would make this book useful to upper-level courses on ethnicity, "development," and Southeast Asia, as well as to area specialists. -- Robert Knox Dentan, professor emeritus, SUNY Buffalo; author of Overwhelming Terror: Love, Fear, Peace, and Violence among the Semai of Malaysia
Table of ContentsChapter 1 One. Introduction: Ethnicity, class, and dreams of dignity Chapter 2 Two. The construction of ethnicity in Sarawak—from Brunei to Malaysia Chapter 3 Three. Malaysia and the "race race" to modernity Chapter 4 Four. Malaya and Sarawak—a long, slow pas de deux Chapter 5 Five. Fieldwork in the urban jungles of Borneo Chapter 6 Six. Dayaks—losing the "race race"? Chapter 7 Seven. "Fighting in a different way": In defense of being Dayak Chapter 8 Eight. Conclusion: The impossible dream? Chapter 9 Postscript: The general elections of 2008
