Description
Book SynopsisThe usefulness and political implications of Area Studies programs are currently debated within the Academy and the Administration, where they are often treated as one homogenous and stagnant domain of scholarship. The essays in this volume document the various fields' distinctive character and internal heterogeneity as well as the dynamism resulting from their evolving engagements with funders, US and international politics, and domestic constituencies. The authors were chosen for their long-standing interest in the intellectual evolution of their fields. They describe the origins and histories of US-based Area Studies programs, highlighting their complex, generative, and sometimes contentious relationships with the social science and humanities disciplines and their diverse contributions to the regions of the world with which they are concerned.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Origin, Nature, and Challenges of Area Studies in the United States, David L. Szanton Latin American Studies: Theory and Practice, Paul W. Drake and Lisa Hilbink The Middle East in the Past and Future of Social Science, Timothy Mitchell Area Studies in Search of Africa, Pearl T. Robinson Japanese Studies: The Intangible Act of Translation, Alan Tansman Soviet and Post-Soviet Area Studies, Victoria E. Bonnell and George W. Breslauer Eastern Europe or Central Europe? Exploring a Distinct Regional Identity, Ellen Comisso and Brad Gutierrez The Transformation of Contemporary China Studies, 1977--2002, Andrew G. Walder South Asian Studies: Futures Past, Nicholas B. Dirks The Development of Southeast Asian Studies in the UnitedStates, John Bowen
