Description
Book SynopsisExamines the many ways in which people living along an international border negotiate their ethnic, cultural, and political identities
Trade Review“Johnson’s careful documentation of local histories is an important contribution and gives unusual time depth to his discussion of contemporary ethnic identification. Consequently, this book is a valuable addition to studies of Thai ethnicities, particularly the complex formations of Thai-ness that take shape on and around the borders of Thailand.
-- Mary Beth Mills * Pacific Affairs: Volume 86 *
"The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah is a captivating narrative of how a marginalized minority inhabiting the complex reality of a borderland area manages its cultural political identity....This book presents the results of a much-needed investigation that further contributes to our understanding of inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia, Thailand's own religious politics, and the legacy of British colonialism in Southeast Asia to mention just a few. More generally it is a welcome addition to the literature on ethno-religious diversity, borderland histories, and identity construction."
-- Chiara Formichi * Southeast Asian Studies *
"This ethnographic consideration of an overlooked borderland is a welcome addition to Southeast Asian Studies. Recommended."
* Choice *
"Original and important. . . . The Buddha on Mecca’s Verandah remains one of the most nuanced and detailed ethnographic studies of a single minority community in Malaysia. The range of sources Johnson employs, the nuance of analysis, and the depth of his arguments make this study an essential one to scholars and graduate students interested in Buddhism, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, and minority identity."
-- Jeffrey Samuels * Journal of Asian Studies *
"An empirically rich, clearly written ethnography. . . . Johnson’s monograph raises descriptive dilemmas and interpretative questions that are worth pursuing more broadly in academic scholarship on modern Asian Buddhism. . . . The overall vision of Ban Bor On as a mobile village of Thai Buddhists struggling with and against their invisible, minority, and peripheral status as Malaysia citizens is illuminating, accessible, and thought-provoking whether one is a general academic reader or a regional or disciplinary specialist."
-- Erick White * H-Buddhism *
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Orthography and Terminology
Introduction
1. Places
2. Gaps
3. Forms
4. Circuits
5. Dreams
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
