{"product_id":"siege-of-the-spirits-community-and-polity-in-bangkok-emersion-emergent-village-resources-for-communities-of-faith-9780226331584","title":"Siege of the Spirits  Community and Polity in","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat happens when three hundred alleged squatters go head-to-head with an enormous city government looking to develop the place where they live? As anthropologist Michael Herzfeld shows in this book, the answer can be surprising. He tells the story of Pom Mahakan, a tiny enclave in the heart of old Bangkok whose residents have resisted authorities' demands to vacate their homes for a quarter of a century. It's a story of community versus government, of old versus new, and of political will versus the law.     Herzfeld argues that even though the residents of Pom Mahakan have lost every legal battle the city government has dragged them into, they have won every public relations contest, highlighting their struggle as one against bureaucrats who do not respect the age-old values of Thai\/Siamese social and cultural order. Such values include compassion for the poor and an understanding of urban space as deeply embedded in social and ritual relations. In a gripping account of their standof","brand":"The University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51036524609879,"sku":"9780226331584","price":999.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780226331584.jpg?v=1750932278","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/siege-of-the-spirits-community-and-polity-in-bangkok-emersion-emergent-village-resources-for-communities-of-faith-9780226331584","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}