Social Sciences Political Science and International Relations

Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

Description

This cluster of papers explores the complex political, social, and economic dynamics in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Thailand and Laos. It delves into topics such as political movements, ethnic identity, democracy, economic development, social resistance, cultural politics, hydropower projects, and borderlands.

Keywords

Thailand; Laos; Political Movements; Ethnic Identity; Democracy; Economic Development; Social Resistance; Cultural Politics; Hydropower Projects; Borderlands

This richly detailed ethnographic work tells the story of a period of deep civil unrest in India . In 1975 Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which gave her … This richly detailed ethnographic work tells the story of a period of deep civil unrest in India . In 1975 Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which gave her the power to silence opposition through arrests and censorship and to introduce a new program of reform which included the draconian campaigns of slum clearance and family planning. In the capital city of Delhi access to basic civic amenities became dependent on the production of a sterilization certificate. For many of the city's poorest inhabitants whose homes had been demolished, the choice was between sterilization or homelessness. Unsettling Memories provides a gripping analysis of how state oppression was orchestrated and experienced in Delhi during the Emergency. Using personal narratives and previously unstudied archival material, it traces the process by which policies were subverted at the local level through a combination of violence, trickery and market forces. It fills a significant gap in the recent political history of India, shedding light on a period many would rather forget. Its documentation and analysis of the relationship between state archives and lived experience is methodologically innovative, charting new ground for anthropologists and political scientists concerned with the role of the state in everyday life.
A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content. A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
A classic and highly influential ethnography, which explores political leadership among Swat Pathans - and which emphasizes the importance of individual decision-making for wider social processes. A classic and highly influential ethnography, which explores political leadership among Swat Pathans - and which emphasizes the importance of individual decision-making for wider social processes.
F.G. Bailey's classic political-anthropology text is reissued here with a Postscript that comments critically on the book's scope, its reception, and its uses. First published in 1969, Stratagems and Spoils … F.G. Bailey's classic political-anthropology text is reissued here with a Postscript that comments critically on the book's scope, its reception, and its uses. First published in 1969, Stratagems and Spoils captured the imagination of scholars and students with a revealing examination of principles of political competition that operate alike in ?exotic? and ?developed? societies. In Bailey's analysis, Swat Pathan chiefs, cosa nostra gangsters, General de Gaulle, and the Untouchables in a rural Indian village (for example) are shown employing similar strategies, both effective and ineffective, to win and hold followers while eroding the support of their opponents. Provocative and insightful, Stratagems and Spoils provides a conceptual toolkit for analyzing, in any culture, the rules that regulate political contests and determine who will win and who will lose.
The basic social relations of peasant life are directly related to an environment characterized by extreme scarcity. The major factor of productive wealth in agriculture is land, to which the … The basic social relations of peasant life are directly related to an environment characterized by extreme scarcity. The major factor of productive wealth in agriculture is land, to which the peasant has little or no free access. Labor—his own, and that of his family members—is available to the peasant, but this relatively unproductive factor must be applied to land in order to generate wealth. Few other outlets for productive labor employment are available to him. When the peasant is able to combine land and labor in a wealth-generating endeavor, his productivity is likely to be extremely low, due to limiting factors such as technology, capital, marketing information, and credit. All of these life aspects combine to hold down the peasant's income and preclude savings. He is, in a word, poor. Furthermore, the peasant is powerless against many threats which abound in his environment. There are disease, accident, and death, among the natural threats. There are violence, exploitation, and injustice at the hands of the powerful, among the human threats. The peasant knows that this environmental constellation is dangerous. He also knows that there is relatively little he can do about his situation, and, accordingly, his culture often features themes of vulnerability, calamity, and misfortune. As George Foster has neatly summarized if, the outlook this situation engenders in the peasant is the “Image of the Limited Good.”
Origins Perceptions of built forms: Indigenous and colonial The inter-relation of built forms Technology and symbolism Cosmologies The living house Kinship and house societies Space and the shaping of social … Origins Perceptions of built forms: Indigenous and colonial The inter-relation of built forms Technology and symbolism Cosmologies The living house Kinship and house societies Space and the shaping of social relations Houses of the dead Migrations.
Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India. By Kanchan Chandra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 368p. $80.00.In the post-9/11 world where the “clash of civilizations” has … Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India. By Kanchan Chandra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 368p. $80.00.In the post-9/11 world where the “clash of civilizations” has moved beyond classroom debates to the public realm, it is refreshing, and challenging, to see a study that does not give ethnicity an easy ride. The title of this book is slightly misleading, though, because even while it concedes that appeals for political support on the basis of ethnic categories based on “race, caste, tribe or religion” (p. 2) are frequently made, sometimes with considerable success, it asserts that such tactics do not always succeed. When they do, it is not necessarily because of their putative appeal to sentiments but, instead, because both ethnic candidates and their supporters, rather than being swayed by appeals to their nonrational selves, are actually driven by sophisticated calculations of expected gain. Their utility calculus takes the size of the ultimate prize as well as the probability of winning it into account when they choose to align themselves with one set of politicians as opposed to another. Kanchan Chandra's parsimonious and general model explains why ethic parties in India, riding on Hindu or, for that matter, Tamil nationalism, succeed in some contexts but not in others.
Thailand, unique among the nations of Southeast Asia, has no colonial history. The Thai government, unlike those of neighboring counties, has not evolved under imposed foreign systems. While counties all … Thailand, unique among the nations of Southeast Asia, has no colonial history. The Thai government, unlike those of neighboring counties, has not evolved under imposed foreign systems. While counties all around her were experiencing domination by foreign governments, Thailand, free of such domination, was developing its own bureaucratic form of government. The incendiary conditions surrounding the Indo-chinese section of the world, especially Viet-Nam, Laos, and Thailand, make mandatory an attempt to understand the baffling political milieu in which these conditions occur. The author carefully traces the processes of change that have taken place in Thai politics and administration from the mid-nineteenth to the mid twentieth century, then takes a close look at contemporary Thai government as a bureaucratic polity. The final chapters are devoted to a more microscopic view of the bureaucratic life in Thailand. Taking the administration of the rice program as a focus, the author probes and dissects the cultural and social changes now taking place.
The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia . Tom Boellstorff. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005. 282 pp. The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia . Tom Boellstorff. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005. 282 pp.
An analytical construct of social capital is presented, followed by a case study from Sri Lanka. There, farmer organizations were established in the Gal Oya irrigation scheme in the early … An analytical construct of social capital is presented, followed by a case study from Sri Lanka. There, farmer organizations were established in the Gal Oya irrigation scheme in the early 1980s with a combination of roles, rules, norms and values that supported mutually beneficial collective action. This produced measurable improvements in system performance and efficiency. In the 1997 dry season, after farmers were told there was not enough water in the reservoir to grow a rice crop, they achieved through their organizations a better-than-average harvest from 65,000 acres by efficient and equitable distribution. Ethnic cooperation was demonstrated by upstream Sinhalese farmers sharing water with downstream Tamil farmers.
Making Gender: Politics and Erotics of Culture. SHERRY B. ORTNER. Boston MA: Beacon Press,19%. 255 pp. Sherry Ortner's essays, written over a span of twenty-five years, rekindled memories of graduate … Making Gender: Politics and Erotics of Culture. SHERRY B. ORTNER. Boston MA: Beacon Press,19%. 255 pp. Sherry Ortner's essays, written over a span of twenty-five years, rekindled memories of graduate school debates. collection brings her earlier writings together with her more distinguished contributions as well as two previously unpublished essays. Well known for her discussions of male and female social status differences, Ortner's early essays reflect this meditation. The Virgin and the State, written while she was still a graduate student at the University of Chicago, explores why notions of female sexual purity and protection are structurally insignificant in non-state societies but are highly significant in state societies. Rank and Gender explores how men and women in Polynesian societies manipulate sexual and kinship rules in their pursuit of power and status. The Problem of 'Women' as an Analytic Category uses the story of the building of a Sherpa Buddhist nunnery to explore how female agents' authority, power, and intentionality are similar and distinct from their male counterparts. These essays, all published prior to 1983, provide a useful summary of the major debates from that era, and of the ways the theories were shaped by emphasis on and categories. It is a little like looking back at feminist theory's disciplinary adolescence and reflecting on how Ortner's contributions helped shape the personality of feminist anthropology in the current era. Perhaps her most memorable essay, Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture? continues to give the reader much intellectual fodder concerning whether superior male social status is universal. In this essay, which is paired with an autocritique entitled So, Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?, Ortner dissects three aspects of the gender relations controversy, notably differences in gendered social status, dominance, and relations of power as levels of analysis. For us to be able to interpret differences of status, power, and dominance is an important further step in elucidating the nature of gender relations, though I question whether it resolves the questions of what causes male dominance or the nearly ubiquitous superior social status of males. Similarly, in the autocritique Ortner puts aside the question of universality of the gender dominance and instead focuses on societies in which patterns of gender equity have been documented. Unwilling to play apologist for theories of universal male dominance, Ortner instead demonstrates that androcentric biases in ethnographic fieldwork and theory-making have blinded us to the realities of matricentric (gynocentric) social institutions and practices. Citing examples from small-scale societies in Southeast Asia and South Asia, Ortner concludes that gendered egalitarianism has been documented and deserves greater attention by anthropologists. There have been numerous theoretical tropes throughout this century. Practice theory, in its fashion, has enabled us to grasp and render, as one of Ortner's mentors aptly put it, the inchoateness of culture. Ortner hooks together the essays using her brand of practice theory, a unique blend of feminist insight and post-structural observations of cultural habit(us). In this set of essays Ortner uses the notion of making culture as a trope which both constructs meaning and enables agents to perform the construction. Ortner's revised practice theory continues to have explanatory power and to provide a much needed trope for the difficulties of grasping nuances of cultural life. In addition, this new form of practice theory is receptive to cultural anomalies, marginalities, and exceptional circumstances. As Ortner describes it, One can do practice analysis as a loop, in which structures construct subjects and practices, but subjects and practices reproduce structures. Or one can ... avoid the loop, ... look for the slippages in reproduction, the erosions of longstanding patterns, the moments of disorder and of outright resistance (p. …
Among social sciences, anthropology relies most fundamentally on fieldwork--the long-term immersion in another way of life as basis for knowledge. In an era when anthropologists are studying topics that resist … Among social sciences, anthropology relies most fundamentally on fieldwork--the long-term immersion in another way of life as basis for knowledge. In an era when anthropologists are studying topics that resist geographical localization, this book initiates a long-overdue discussion of political and epistemological implications of disciplinary commitment to fieldwork. These innovative, stimulating essays--carefully chosen to form a coherent whole--interrogate notion of the field, showing how concept is historically constructed and exploring consequences of its dominance. The essays discuss anthropological work done in places (in refugee camps, on television) or among populations (gays and lesbians, homeless people in United States) that challenge traditional boundaries of the field. The contributors suggest alternative methodologies appropriate for contemporary problems and ultimately propose a reformation of discipline of anthropology.
Neither poststructural nor neoliberal interpretations of development capture the full extent and complexity of rural transformations in the Andes. Poststructural critiques tend to view development as a process of cultural … Neither poststructural nor neoliberal interpretations of development capture the full extent and complexity of rural transformations in the Andes. Poststructural critiques tend to view development as a process of cultural destruction and homogenization, while neoliberal interpretations identify a different development 'failure' that inheres in 'inefficient' patterns of resource use, and the 'nonviability' of large parts of the Andean peasantry. In each case, the state is seen as a problem: as an agent of dominating modernization, or as a brake on market-led transformation. The paper reviews these positions in the light of the transformations in governance, livelihoods, and landscape that have occurred in the regions of Colta, Guamote, and Otavalo, all centers of indigenous Quichua populations in the Ecuadorian Andes. These transformations question the accuracy of arguments about cultural destruction or nonviability. Instead they suggest that people have built economically viable livelihood strategies that, while neither agricultural nor necessarily rural, allow people to sustain a link with rural places, and in turn allow the continued reproduction of these places as distinctively Quichua. The cases also point to the increased indigenous control of political, civil, and economic institutions and the important roles that development interventions, including those of the state, have played in fostering this control. In sum, this suggests the need for more nuanced interpretations of development that emphasize human agency and the room to maneuver that can exist within otherwise constraining institutions and structures. It also suggests the value of placing livelihood and the coproduction of place at the center of any interpretation of the processes and effects of rural development.
Abstract Abstract This article offers a new taxonomy of how actors may change ethnic boundaries. I distinguish between five main strategies: to redraw a boundary by either expanding or limiting … Abstract Abstract This article offers a new taxonomy of how actors may change ethnic boundaries. I distinguish between five main strategies: to redraw a boundary by either expanding or limiting the domain of people included in one's own ethnic category; to modify existing boundaries by challenging the hierarchical ordering of ethnic categories, or by changing one's own position within a boundary system, or by emphasizing other, non-ethnic forms of belonging. The taxonomy claims to be exhaustive and accommodates a considerable number of historical and contemporary cases both from the developed and the developing world. It aims at overcoming the fragmentation of the literature along disciplinary and sub-disciplinary lines and prepares the ground for an agency-based comparative model of ethnic boundary making. Keywords: Ethnic boundariesblurringassimilationnation-buildingethnogenesisconstructivism Notes 1. The title of this article is inspired by Claude Lévi-Strauss’ ‘Les structures élémentaires de la parenté’. Another formalist project is pursued by Fiske (1992 Fiske, Alan Page. 1992. ‘The four elementary forms of solidarity: framework for a unified theory of social relations’. Psychological Review, 99(4): 689–723. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 2. For a critique of the post-ethnic cosmopolitanism literature, see Calhoun (2002 Calhoun , Craig 2002 ‘The class consciousness of frequent travellers: towards a critique of actually existing cosmopolitanism’ , in Steven Vertovec and Ronald Cohen Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context, and Practice , Oxford : Oxford University Press [Google Scholar]) and Favell (2005 Favell, Adrian. 2005. ‘Nowhere men: cosmopolitanism's lost moment’. Innovation, 18(1): 99–103. [Google Scholar]). A powerful critique of the notion that ‘race’ and ethnicity are the outcome of entirely different social processes is offered by Loveman (1997 Loveman, Mara. 1997. ‘Is “race” essential?’. American Sociological Review, 64(4): 891–8. [Google Scholar]). 3. See Wallman (1986 Wallman Sandra 1986 ‘Ethnicity and the boundary making process in context’ , in John Rex Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations , Cambridge : Cambridge University Press [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Loveman (1997 Loveman, Mara. 1997. ‘Is “race” essential?’. American Sociological Review, 64(4): 891–8. [Google Scholar]), Wacquant (1997 Wacquant , Loic 1997 ‘Towards an analytic of racial domination’ , in Diane E. Davis Political Power and Social Theory , vol. 11 , Greenwich, CT : JAI Press , pp. 221 – 34 [Google Scholar]), Zolberg and Woon (1999 Zolberg, Astride and Woon, Long Litt. 1999. ‘Why Islam is like Spanish: cultural incorporation in Europe and the United States’. Politics and Society, 27(1): 5–38. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Lamont (2000 Lamont, Michèle. 2000. The Dignity of Working Man: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Tilly (2004 Tilly, Charles. 2004. ‘Social boundary mechanisms’. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 34(2): 211–36. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Alba (2005 Alba , Richard D 2005 ‘Bright vs. blurred boundaries: second generation assimilation and exclusion in France, Germany, and the United States’ , Ethnic and Racial Studies , vol. 28 , no. 1 , pp. 20 – 49 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 4. An excellent recent contribution is Elman (2005 Elman , Colin 2005 ‘Explanatory typologies in qualitative studies of international politics’ , International Organization , vol. 59 , no. 2 , pp. 293 – 326 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 5. For such an encompassing view of ethnicity, see Weber (1978 Weber , Max 1978 Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich Berkeley, CA : University of California Press [Google Scholar], pp. 385–87) and many others who follow in his footsteps. For the reasons discussed in Horowitz (1971 Horowitz, Donald. 1971. ‘Three dimensions of ethnic politics’. World Politics, 23(2): 232–44. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), this view is less accepted in the United States than elsewhere. 6. For the purposes of this typology, distinguishing between individual and corporate actors (such as social movements, institutions, corporate communities and the like) is not necessary. All the strategies that I review can be pursued by either type of actor, with the exception of individual border crossing which by definition is decided upon by individuals, even if the consequences might affect the entire group, as we will see further below. 7. Moerman (1965 Moerman, Michael. 1965. ‘Ethnic identification in a complex civilization: who are the Lue?’. American Anthropologist, 67(5): 1215–30. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Keyes (1976 Keyes, Charles. 1976. ‘Towards a new formulation of the concept of ethnic group’. Ethnicity, 3(3): 202–13. [Google Scholar]), Galaty (1982 Galaty, John G. 1982. ‘Being “Maasai”; being “people-of-cattle”: ethnic shifters in East Africa’. American Ethnologist, 9(1): 1–20. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Jenkins (1997 Jenkins, Richard. 1997. Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and Explorations, London: Sage. [Google Scholar]). 8. Okamura (1981 Okamura, Jonathan. 1981. ‘Situational ethnicity’. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 4(4): 452–65. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Burgess (1983 Burgess , M. Elaine 1983 ‘Ethnic scale and intensity: the Zimbabwean experience’ , Social Forces , vol. 59 , no. 3 , pp. 601 – 26 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Waters (1990 Waters, Mary C. 1990. Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 52–8), Okamoto (2003 Okamoto, Dina G. 2003. ‘Toward a theory of panethnicity: explaining Asian American collective action’. American Sociological Review, 68(6): 811–42. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Brubaker (2004, ch. 2). 9. Similarly, the definition of who is white was expanded in Puerto Rico after the First World War in such a way that children of ‘mixed’ marriages were now incorporated into the group of ‘whites’ (Loveman and Muniz 2006 Loveman, Mara and Muniz, Jeronimo. 2006. ‘How Puerto Rico became white: boundary dynamics and inter-census racial classification’. American Sociological Review, 72(6): 915–39. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 10. Creole nationalism in the Caribbean (Patterson 1975 PATTERSON , ORLANDO 1975 ‘Context and choice in ethnic allegiance: A theoretical framework and Caribbean case study’ , in Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Ethnicity: Theory and Experience , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University press , pp. 305 – 49 [Google Scholar]) or Brazil's ‘racial democracy’, canonized by sociologist Gilberto Freire, are other examples of nation-building through a strategy of amalgamation (Skidmore 1993 Skidmore, Thomas E. 1993 [1974]. Black into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] [1974]). 11. For a summary of recent debates on the millet question, see Grillo (1998 Grillo, Ralph. 1998. Pluralism and the Politics of Difference: State, Culture, and Ethnicity in Comparative Perspective, Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 86–93). 12. In Rhodesia, missionaries amalgamated local Shona units into six language groups each subsequently endowed with bibles and schools and administered in separate provinces by the white settler state – the Koreko, Zezuru, Manyika, Ndau, Karanga and Kalanga that later appear as important categories in the political arena of independent Zimbabwe (Posner 2005 Posner, Daniel. 2005. Institutions and Ethnic Politics in Africa, New York: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 13. Cohen (1978 Cohen , Ronald 1978 ‘Ethnicity: problem and focus in anthropology’ , Annual Review of Anthropology , vol. 7 , pp. 397 – 403 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 396f.), Lanoue (1992 Lanoue, Guy. 1992. Brothers: The Politics of Violence among the Sekani of Northern British Columbia, Oxford: Berg. [Google Scholar]) and Macmillan (1989 Macmillan, Hugh. 1989. “‘A nation divided? The Swazi in Swaziland and the Transvaal 1865–1986’”. In The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa, Edited by: Vail, Leroy. London: James Currey. [Google Scholar]). 14. Many more African examples are discussed in Horowitz (1975 Horowitz Donald 1975 ‘Ethnic identity’ , in Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Ethnicity. Theory and Experience , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press , pp. 111 – 40 [Google Scholar]). 15. See the ‘ethnic blocks’ described by Geertz (1963 Geertz, Clifford. 1963. “‘The integrative revolution: primordial sentiments and civil politics in the new states’”. In Old Societies and New States: The Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, Edited by: Geertz, Clifford. 105–57. New York: The Free Press. [Google Scholar]), Horowitz (1975 Horowitz Donald 1975 ‘Ethnic identity’ , in Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Ethnicity. Theory and Experience , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press , pp. 111 – 40 [Google Scholar]), Hannan (1979 Hannan, Michael T. 1979. “‘The dynamics of ethnic boundaries in modern states’”. In National Development and the World System, Edited by: Meyer, John W. and Hannan, Michael T. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar]) and Chai (1996 Chai , Sun-Ki 1996 ‘A theory of ethnic group boundaries’ , Nations and Nationalism , vol. 2 , no. 2 , pp. 281 – 307 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 16. See also work on the Yoruba (Peel 1989 Peel, J. D. Y. 1989. “‘The cultural work of Yoruba ethnogenesis’”. In History and Ethnicity, Edited by: Tonkin, Elizabeth, McDonald, Maryon and Chapman, Malcolm. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. [Google Scholar]), the Tsonga (Harries 1989 Harries, Patrick. 1989. “‘Exclusion, classification and internal colonialism: the emergence of ethnicity among the Tsonga-speakers of South Africa’”. In The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa, Edited by: Vail, Leroy. London: James Currey. [Google Scholar]), the ‘Northerners’ of Uganda (Kasfir 1976 Kasfir, Nelson. 1976. The Shrinking Political Arena: Participation and Ethnicity in African Politics with a Case Study of Uganda, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 98ff.), the Ibo of Nigeria and the Luba-Kasai of Zaire (Chai 1996 Chai , Sun-Ki 1996 ‘A theory of ethnic group boundaries’ , Nations and Nationalism , vol. 2 , no. 2 , pp. 281 – 307 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) or the Fang of Gabon and Cameroon (Fernandez 1966 Fernandez, James W. 1966. “‘Folklore as an agent of nationalism’”. In Social Change and the Colonial Situation, Edited by: Wallerstein, Immanuel. 585–91. New York: Wiley. [Google Scholar]). 17. Compare also first-generation middle-class immigrants to the United States from the Caribbean, who dis-identify with the category ‘black’ and emphasize country-of-origin identities (Waters 1999 Waters Mary C. 1999 Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 18. See Friedlander (1975 Friedlander, Judith. 1975. Being an Indian in Hueyapán: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico, New York: St. Martins Press. [Google Scholar]), Colby and van den Berghe (1969, pp.179f.), Iwanska (1971 Iwanska, Alicja. 1971. Purgatory and Utopia: A Mazahua Indian Village of Mexico, Cambridge: Schenkman. [Google Scholar], pp. 99ff.), Köhler (1990 Köhler, Ulrich. 1990. “‘Kosmologie und Religion’”. In Altamerikanistik: Eine Einführung in die Hochkulturen Mittel- und Südamerikas, Edited by: Köhler, Ulrich. Berlin: Reimer. [Google Scholar], p. 62) and so on. An exception seems to be the Nahuas described by Sandstrom (1991 Sandstrom, Alan R. 1991. Corn is our Blood: Culture and Ethnic Identity in a Contemporary Aztec Indian Village, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 68f.), who group all indigenous groups into the category of masehualmej, a term denoting commoners in the Aztec empire. 19. Compare Hoddie (2002 Hoddie, Mathew. 2002. ‘Preferential policies and the blurring of ethnic boundaries: the case of Aboriginal Australians in the 1980s’. Political Studies, 50(2): 293–312. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) on Australia's aborigines. 20. In the wake of the civil rights movement, Japanese Americans shrugged off the stigma associated with Pearl Harbor and reinterpreted their story as one of redressing the injustice of dispossession and internment (Takezawa 1995 Takezawa, Yasuko. 1995. Breaking the Silence: Redress and Japanese American Ethnicity, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 21. For a case of ‘frame transformation’ in social movement literature terminology, see Snow et al. (1986 Snow, David, Rochford, E. Burke, Worden, Steven K. and Benford, Robert D. 1986. ‘Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation’. American Sociological Review, 51(4): 464–81. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 22. For Colombia, see Wade (1995 Wade, Peter. 1995. Blackness and Race Mixture: The Dynamics of Racial Identity in Colombia, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); for Ecuador, Belote and Belote (1984 Belote , Linda and Belote , Jim 1984 ‘Drain from the bottom: individual ethnic identity change in Southern Ecuador’ , Social Forces , vol. 63 , no. 1 , pp. 24 – 50 [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]); for Brazil, Harris (1964 Harris, Marvin. 1964. ‘Racial identity in Brazil’. Luso-Brazilian Review, 1: 21–8. [Google Scholar]). 23. See also Reina (1966 Reina, R.uben. 1966. The Law of the Saints: A Pocomam Pueblo and its Community Culture, Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill. [Google Scholar], p. 31), Friedlander (1975 Friedlander, Judith. 1975. Being an Indian in Hueyapán: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico, New York: St. Martins Press. [Google Scholar]), Deverre (1980 Deverre , Christian 1980 Indiens ou paysans , Paris : Le Sycomore [Google Scholar]) and O'Connor (1989 O'connor, Mary I. 1989. Descendants of Totoliguoqui: Ethnicity and Economics in the Mayo Valley, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Google Scholar], ch. 7). For crossing into the ‘blanco’ category in Ecuador, see Belote and Belote (1984 Belote , Linda and Belote , Jim 1984 ‘Drain from the bottom: individual ethnic identity change in Southern Ecuador’ , Social Forces , vol. 63 , no. 1 , pp. 24 – 50 [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 24. A contrasting example is described by Driedger (1979 Driedger , Leo 1979 ‘Maintenance of urban ethnic boundaries: the French in St. Boniface’ , The Sociological Quarterly , vol. 20 , no. 1 , pp. 89 – 108 [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). 25. See also Kertzer (1988 Kertzer, D. I. 1988. Ritual, Politics and Power, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 112–13) and Srinivas (1952 Srinivas, M. N. 1952. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India, Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 24–31). 26. The Mexican American middle class, by contrast, has sought to be accepted as ‘white’ but has generally not been successful in having their entire group reclassified (Oboler 1997 Oboler, Suzanne. 1997. “‘“So far from God, so close to the United States”: the roots of Hispanic homogenization’”. In Challenging Fronteras: Structuring Latina and Latino Lives in the U.S, Edited by: Romero, Mary, Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette and Ortiz, Vilma. 31–50. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). Later on, some segments of the educated elite shifted to a civil rights discourse, emphasizing the racial exclusion that they have been subjected to, and pursued a strategy of equalization rather than crossing (Skerry 1995 Skerry, Peter. 1995. Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent Minority, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]). 27. In Eastern Rwanda, Hutu clans were re-classified as Tutsi if they became powerful enough to represent a challenge to the chieftain (Lemarchand 1966 Lemarchand, René. 1966. ‘Power and stratification in Rwanda: a reconsideration’. Cahiers d’études Africaines, 6(4): 602–5. [Google Scholar]). 28. Similarly, on adolescents of Turkish origin in the Netherlands, see Milikowski (2000 Milikowski, Marisca. 2000. ‘Exploring a model of de-ethnicization: the case of Turkish television in the Netherlands’. European Journal of Communication, 15(4): 443–68. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 29. Compare Pacini Hernández (2003 Pacini Hernández, Deborah. 2003. “‘Amalgamating musics: popular music and cultural hybridity in the Americas’”. In Musical Migrations: Transnationalism and Cultural Hybridity in Latin/o America, Edited by: Aparicio, Frances R. and Frances Jáquez, Cándida. 13–32. Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan. [Google Scholar]); the commercial aspects of Latino pan-ethnicity are emphasized by Dávila (2001 Dávila , Arlene M . 2001 Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People , Berkeley, CA : University of California Press [Google Scholar]). 30. A borderline case is the distinction between nation-building and ethno-genesis. It refers to different relationships to the modern state rather than to existing boundaries. Still, both sub-types refer to the formal characteristics of this relationship, rather than its content, as would be the case if one were to follow mainstream literature and distinguish, for example, between ethnic and civil nationalisms. Additional informationNotes on contributorsAndreas WimmerANDREAS WIMMER is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles
This article challenges the assumption that the underlying principles of state-endorsed ‘multiculturalism’ stand in tension with neoliberal political-economic policies. Based on ethnographic research in Guatemala, it is argued that neoliberalism's … This article challenges the assumption that the underlying principles of state-endorsed ‘multiculturalism’ stand in tension with neoliberal political-economic policies. Based on ethnographic research in Guatemala, it is argued that neoliberalism's cultural project entails pro-active recognition of a minimal package of cultural rights, and an equally vigorous rejection of the rest. The result is a dichotomy between recognised and recalcitrant indigenous subjects, which confronts the indigenous rights movement as a ‘menace’ even greater than the assimilationist policies of the previous era. It is suggested that the most effective response to this menace is probably not to engage in frontal opposition to neoliberal regimes, but rather to refuse the dichotomy altogether.
The analysis presented here is an effort to elaborate the patron-client model of association, developed largely by anthropologists, and to demonstrate its applicability to political action in Southeast Asia. Inasmuch … The analysis presented here is an effort to elaborate the patron-client model of association, developed largely by anthropologists, and to demonstrate its applicability to political action in Southeast Asia. Inasmuch as patron-client structures are not unique to Southeast Asia but are much in evidence, particularly in Latin America, in Africa, and in less developed portions of Europe, the analysis may possibly have more general value for understanding politics in preindustrial societies. After defining the nature of patron-client ties and distinguishing them from other social ties, the paper discriminates among patron-client ties to establish the most important dimensions of variation, examines both the survival and transformations in patron-client links in Southeast Asia since colonialism and the impact of major social changes such as the growth of markets, the expanded role of the state, and the creation of local regimes. Finally, the paper shows how patron-client bonds interact with electoral politics to create distributive pressures which, in turn, often lead to inflationary fiscal policies and vulnerability of regimes to losses of revenue.
Abstract Crisis is normally conceived of as an isolated period of time in which our lives are shattered. It defines the loss of balance and the inability to control the … Abstract Crisis is normally conceived of as an isolated period of time in which our lives are shattered. It defines the loss of balance and the inability to control the exterior forces influencing our possibilities and choices. The phenomenon is seen as a temporary disorder, a momentary malformation in the flow of things. Yet, for a great many people around the world crisis is endemic rather than episodic and cannot be delineated as an aberrant moment of chaos or a period of decisive change. For the structurally violated, socially marginalised and poor, the world is not characterised by balance, peace or prosperity but by the ever-present possibility of conflict, poverty and disorder. In this introductory article I examine the social and experiential consequences of chronic crisis and investigate how it challenges and furthers our analytic apparatus. Instead of placing crisis in context I argue that we need to see crisis as context – as a terrain of action and meaning – thereby opening up the field to ethnographic investigation.
The Challenge of Ethnic ConflictDemocracy in Divided Societies Donald L. Horowitz (bio) Democratization is a worldwide movement, but it is neither universal nor uniformly successful where it has begun. Some … The Challenge of Ethnic ConflictDemocracy in Divided Societies Donald L. Horowitz (bio) Democratization is a worldwide movement, but it is neither universal nor uniformly successful where it has begun. Some authoritarian or semidemocratic states may be untouched by the democratic movement; others may find ways to thwart the movement at the outset; still others may move along a democratic path, only to have the changes aborted. There are many reasons, of course, why democratization and democracies may fail, among them the resistance of entrenched civilian or military elites, the absence of conducive social or cultural conditions, and inaptly designed institutions. In many countries of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union, a major reason for the failure of democratization is ethnic conflict. Democracy is about inclusion and exclusion, about access to power, about the privileges that go with inclusion and the penalties that accompany exclusion. In severely divided societies, ethnic identity provides clear lines to determine who will be included and who will be excluded. Since the lines appear unalterable, being in and being out may quickly come to look permanent. In ethnic politics, inclusion may affect the distribution of important material and nonmaterial goods, including the prestige of the various ethnic groups and the identity of the state as belonging more to one group than another. Again and again in divided societies, there is a tendency to conflate inclusion in the government with inclusion in the community and exclusion from government with exclusion from the community. [End Page 18] Ethnically divided societies thus have a special version of the usual democratic problem of assuring decent treatment of the opposition. Opposition to government is always susceptible of portrayal as resistance to the popular will. An ethnically differentiated opposition can easily be depicted as consisting of particularly dangerous enemies: historical enemies, enemies who do not accept the current identity of the state, enemies who are plotting to break up the state or to steal it for their own group—as indeed they may be, given the crucial importance of state power and the costs of exclusion from it. Where ethnic relations undergo significant improvements during an authoritarian period, that is very likely to improve the prospects for democracy. Relations between Thais and Chinese in Thailand and between Mainlanders and Taiwanese on Taiwan were hostile and even violent after World War II. Several decades later, those relations were far less prone to conflict, and rates of intermarriage were higher than is typical of deeply divided societies. These changes facilitated democratization in both countries, because they reduced the fear that each group had of the other. At the other extreme, most African countries remain severely divided, and ethnic divisions have proved a major impediment to the attainment of stable democracy all over the continent. Democracy has progressed furthest in those East European countries that have the fewest serious ethnic cleavages (Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland) and progressed more slowly or not at all in those that are deeply divided (Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and of course the former Yugoslavia). It is true that the first group of states was more prosperous, had at least some democratic traditions, and had closer ties to the West. But there is also a direct relationship between ethnic conflict and nondemocratic development in the second group. The use of ethnic hostility by former communists in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia to support ethnically exclusive regimes and authoritarian tendencies is well known. The heavy-handed Slovak regime of former communist Vladimír Mečiar is hardly comparable to the regimes in Croatia and Serbia, but it does have a record of attempting to control the press, pack the Constitutional Court, and limit the language rights of Hungarians in the south of the country. The democratic movement in Romania, which received its strongest impetus in multiethnic Transylvania, was quickly transformed into a narrower Romanian nationalism, occasionally inclined to xenophobia, especially fearful of the Hungarian minority, and conducive to the continued governmental role of former communists. In Bulgaria, an anticommunist parliamentary plurality, attentive to popular fears of the Turkish minority (and of other Muslims), was unable to form a stable government by coalescing with the Turkish party. When the...
This study of nationhood explores the 19th-century confrontation of ideas that transformed the kingdom of Siam into the modern conception of a nation. Siam Mapped challenges much that has been … This study of nationhood explores the 19th-century confrontation of ideas that transformed the kingdom of Siam into the modern conception of a nation. Siam Mapped challenges much that has been written on Thai history because it demonstrates that the physical and political definition of Thailand on which other works are based is anachronistic.
How have national and state governments the world over come to “own” huge expanses of territory under the rubric of “national forest,” “national parks,” or “wastelands”? The two contradictory statements … How have national and state governments the world over come to “own” huge expanses of territory under the rubric of “national forest,” “national parks,” or “wastelands”? The two contradictory statements in the above epigraph illustrate that not all colonial administrators agreed that forests should be taken away from local people and “protected” by the state. The assumption of state authority over forests is based on a relatively recent convergence of historical circumstances. These circumstances have enabled certain state authorities to supersede the rights, claims, and practices of people resident in what the world now calls “forests.”
▪ Abstract Theories of collective action have undergone a number of paradigm shifts, from “mass behavior” to “resource mobilization,” “political process,” and “new social movements.” Debates have centered on the … ▪ Abstract Theories of collective action have undergone a number of paradigm shifts, from “mass behavior” to “resource mobilization,” “political process,” and “new social movements.” Debates have centered on the applicability of these frameworks in diverse settings, on the periodization of collective action, on the divisive or unifying impact of identity politics, and on the appropriateness of political engagement by researchers. Transnational activist networks are developing new protest repertoires that challenge anthropologists and other scholars to rethink conventional approaches to social movements.
This review traces the development of an anthropology of borderlands. The ideas of early ethnography and applied anthropology about border regions are considered along with contemporary perspectives on reterritorialized communities … This review traces the development of an anthropology of borderlands. The ideas of early ethnography and applied anthropology about border regions are considered along with contemporary perspectives on reterritorialized communities and practices illustrated specifically by Mexican migration and transborder processes. The argument is made that the conceptual parameters of borderlands, borders, and their crossings, stemming from work done on the Mexican-US border, in particular, illustrate the contradiction, paradox, difference, and conflict of power and domination in contemporary global capitalism and the nation-state, especially as manifested in local-level practices. Furthermore, the borderlands genre is a basis upon which to redraw our conceptual frameworks of community and culture area.
Infrastructures are material forms that allow for the possibility of exchange over space. They are the physical networks through which goods, ideas, waste, power, people, and finance are trafficked. In … Infrastructures are material forms that allow for the possibility of exchange over space. They are the physical networks through which goods, ideas, waste, power, people, and finance are trafficked. In this article I trace the range of anthropological ...Read More
Journal Article The Concept of National Cinema Get access Andrew Higson Andrew Higson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Screen, Volume 30, Issue 4, … Journal Article The Concept of National Cinema Get access Andrew Higson Andrew Higson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Screen, Volume 30, Issue 4, Autumn 1989, Pages 36–47, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/30.4.36 Published: 01 October 1989
Journal Article The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia Get access The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. By James … Journal Article The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia Get access The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. By James C. Scott. New Haven, London: Yale University Press. 1976. 246 pp. £10.80. W. Klatt W. Klatt 1St. Antony's College, Oxford Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 53, Issue 3, July 1977, Pages 514–515, https://doi.org/10.2307/2615375 Published: 01 July 1977
Les elements fixes et l'evolution du rituel en general. Exemples de Ceylan et de Thailande. Les elements fixes et l'evolution du rituel en general. Exemples de Ceylan et de Thailande.
The concepts of rents and rent-seeking are central to any discussion of the processes of economic development. Yet conventional models of rent-seeking are unable to explain how it can drive … The concepts of rents and rent-seeking are central to any discussion of the processes of economic development. Yet conventional models of rent-seeking are unable to explain how it can drive decades of rapid growth in some countries, and at other times be associated with spectacular economic crises. This book argues that the rent-seeking framework has to be radically extended by incorporating insights developed by political scientists, institutional economists and political economists if it is to explain the anomalous role played by rent-seeking in Asian countries. It includes detailed analysis of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Indian sub-continent, Indonesia and South Korea. This new critical and multidisciplinary approach has important policy implications for the debates over institutional reform in developing countries. It brings together leading international scholars in economics and political science, and will be of great interest to readers in the social sciences and Asian studies in general.
Notes on Contributors List of Illustrations Foreword Introduction 1. Southeast Asia: Foundations for an Archaeological History 2. The Origins and Dispersals of Agricultural Communities in Southeast Asia: Commencing In Southern … Notes on Contributors List of Illustrations Foreword Introduction 1. Southeast Asia: Foundations for an Archaeological History 2. The Origins and Dispersals of Agricultural Communities in Southeast Asia: Commencing In Southern China About 8000 Years Ago 3. Mainland Southeast Asia from the Neolithic to the Iron Age 4. The Archaeology of Early Contact with India and the Mediterranean 5. The Archaeology Of Pre-Angkorean And Angkorean Cambodia 6. The Archaeology of the Early Buddhist Kingdoms of Thailand 7. The Archaeology of Burma/Myanmar 8. The Archaeology of Viet Nam 9. The Archaeology of the Indianised States of Champa (Southern Vietnam) 10. The Archaeology of the Hindu-Buddhist Civilisations of Indonesia 11. The Archaeology of the Philippine Islands 12. The Archaeology of the Maritime States of Southeast Asia During the First Millennium AD 13. Indigenous Traditions and Extraneous Influences in the Early History of Peninsular Malaysia 14. Retrospect and Prospect Index
Introduction, by Rosalind C. Morris Part 1 Text the Subaltern revised edition, from the History chapter of Critique of Postcolonial Reason, by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Part 2 Contexts and Trajectories … Introduction, by Rosalind C. Morris Part 1 Text the Subaltern revised edition, from the History chapter of Critique of Postcolonial Reason, by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Part 2 Contexts and Trajectories Reflections on the Subaltern Subaltern Studies after Spivak, by Partha Chatterjee Postcolonial Studies: Now That's History, by Ritu Birla The Ethnical Affirmation of Human Rights: Gayatri Spivak's Intervention, by Drucilla Cornell Part 3 Speaking of (Not) Hearing: Death and the Subaltern Death and the Subaltern, by Rajeswawri Sunder Rajan Between Speaking and Dying: Some Imperatives in the Emergence of the Subaltern in the Context of U.S. Slavery, by Abdul JanMohamed Subalterns at War, by Michele Barrett Part 4 Contemporaneities and Possible Futures: (Not) Speaking and Hearing Biopower and the New International Division of Reproductive Labor, by Pheng Cheah Moving from Subalternity: Indigenous Women in Guatemala and Mexico, by Jean Franco Part 5 In Response In Response: Looking Back, Looking Forward, by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Appendix Can the Subaltern Speak? Bibliography Contributors Index
Bidyut Chakrabarty | Routledge eBooks
Recent conservation research stresses the importance of examining economic growth as an underlyingdriver of biodiversity loss. With exceptions, herpetological research on the causes of amphibian declines, endangerments,and extinction risks tends … Recent conservation research stresses the importance of examining economic growth as an underlyingdriver of biodiversity loss. With exceptions, herpetological research on the causes of amphibian declines, endangerments,and extinction risks tends to focus on proximate rather than underlying drivers. This paper connects proximatecauses of amphibian declines to structural attributes of modern societies, specifically a growth-dependent economic system.Amphibian declines caused by habitat modification, climate change, contaminants, and commercial use are all inpart driven by “the treadmill of production” — capitalism’s systemic need to constantly expand. Recognizing the negativeimpacts of a growth-dependent economy on amphibians has important implications for conservation strategies.
| State University of New York Press eBooks
Richard S. Katz | European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook
Abstract The year 2024 in American politics was dominated by the forthcoming election, with the withdrawal of President Biden and his replacement by Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, and … Abstract The year 2024 in American politics was dominated by the forthcoming election, with the withdrawal of President Biden and his replacement by Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, and the nomination and election of Donald Trump as the next president. The Republicans also achieved majorities in both houses of Congress.
Changes in demographic structures in an aging society have diminished farming employment and incomes of old residents of Talat Mai subdistrict, Angthong Province, Thailand. Under decentralization, the local government assumes … Changes in demographic structures in an aging society have diminished farming employment and incomes of old residents of Talat Mai subdistrict, Angthong Province, Thailand. Under decentralization, the local government assumes primary development responsibility in managing the basic needs of citizens. This case study demonstrates how the local government uses the built environment—Wiset Chai Chan Historical Park Royalty Monument —as an instrument for community development to enhance life quality for old residents. This study examines ways in which the park's construction as a built environment are shaped and consequences due to community development as an aging society. Data was gathered by participatory action research (PAR), including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and artifacts. Local government representatives, geriatric residents, and subdistrict stakeholders were involved. The constructivism paradigm was used to analyze the local government's justifications for the park's construction, and the pathways model examines the park's impacts on community development and the aging society. Results are that the park construction as a landmark craft is mainly a sociopolitical construction, because of local government monarchist motivations and war legends to revive power symbols intertwined with memory politics. This research suggests potential improvements for the wellbeing of old citizens, community involvement, and economic growth.
Mitra Härkönen | Approaching Religion
This article examines the experiences of Thai women living in Finland, addressing a significant gap in research regarding their perspectives on the challenges they face in a new environment, particularly … This article examines the experiences of Thai women living in Finland, addressing a significant gap in research regarding their perspectives on the challenges they face in a new environment, particularly through the lens of Buddhism. In contrast to existing literature, that has often portrayed Thai women in Western countries through a problematic and negative lens, the current research, making use of fieldwork in Thai temples and life-story interviews with thirteen women, explores themes of suffering and coping mechanisms, and the role of lived religion in navigating personal meaning and community. Central to this exploration is the Buddhist concept of dukkha (suffering), which informs the subjects' understanding of life's challenges and their efforts to alleviate suffering through religious practices. By acknowledging the intersections of gender, religion and ethnicity, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted realities of Thai women's lives in Finland.
This article traces the historical trajectory of monastic reforms in Thailand from King Rama I’s coronation (1782) to the 2017 amendments to the Sangha Act. Its aim is to uncover … This article traces the historical trajectory of monastic reforms in Thailand from King Rama I’s coronation (1782) to the 2017 amendments to the Sangha Act. Its aim is to uncover the cyclic interaction among monarchy, Sang-ha, and state, and to show how changing political regimes reshaped monastic autonomy. The study employs a multi-layered methodology: source-critical analysis of royal edicts and Sangha legislation, comparative histori-cal mapping of centralization phases, quantitative assessment of clerical and fiscal trends, and legal herme-neutics of “Buddhist constitutionalism”. Findings reveal a “reactive spiral” in which every regime tightened bu-reaucratic oversight, prompting reformist counter-movements within the Sangha. Today, the key challenge lies in financial transparency and monks’ digital presence. A hybrid decentralization model is proposed as the most sustainable equilibrium between religious autonomy and state patronage.
Dunita Nabila A. Rahimin , Danny Wong Tze Ken | Malaysian Journal of History Politics and Strategic Studies
In late 1978, Vietnam began its invasion in Cambodia, resulted in the overthrowing of the Khmer Rouge regime which was responsible for the Cambodian Genocide. This invasion resulting in the … In late 1978, Vietnam began its invasion in Cambodia, resulted in the overthrowing of the Khmer Rouge regime which was responsible for the Cambodian Genocide. This invasion resulting in the establishment of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, backed by Vietnam, while the Khmer Rouge and other factions continued to resist. Throughout the 1980s, Cambodia remained embroiled in civil war, with factions, including the Khmer Rouge, fighting the Vietnamese-backed government. The invasion also led to border clashes along Thailand’s border, positioning Thailand as a frontline state in the Cambodian Conflict, drawing the attention of neighbouring countries like Malaysia. As the conflict escalated and threatened Thai sovereignty, Malaysia’s stance on the issue began to take shape. This raises two key questions: To what extent did Thailand’s position influence Malaysia’s attitude? What were Malaysia’s attitudes during the conflict? By analysing Malaysia’s responses under Prime Ministers Hussein Onn and Mahathir Mohamad, this article examines Malaysia’s foreign policies towards Indochina, its objectives in seeking a resolution, and how the conflict shaped its attitudes. The study uses qualitative research, drawing from archival documents at The National Archives in Kew and the National Archives of Malaysia, alongside newspapers, books, theses, and journal articles. Under Hussein Onn, Malaysia focused on direct security concerns, particularly regarding Thailand’s position in the conflict. In contrast, Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership recognised the indirect security implications of Thailand’s position, framing them within a broader regional context. Malaysia’s response under Mahathir sought to facilitate ASEAN cooperation to address security challenges while balancing national and regional interests.
Vijoy S Sahay | The Oriental Anthropologist A Bi-annual International Journal of the Science of Man
Pablo Henri Ramírez Didou | Anuario Asia Pacífico el Colegio de México
El año 2024 ha sido un año de cambios para Tailandia. La siempre tensa escena política nacional ha vuelto a tomar protagonismo con la destitución del primer ministro Srettha Thavisin … El año 2024 ha sido un año de cambios para Tailandia. La siempre tensa escena política nacional ha vuelto a tomar protagonismo con la destitución del primer ministro Srettha Thavisin por el Tribunal Constitucional y la llegada de Paetongtarn Shinawatra al poder. El país sigue manejando hábilmente sus relaciones diplomáticas y comerciales con Estados Unidos y China, aunque notamos un acercamiento hacia Beijín. Finalmente, la Ley de Igualdad Matrimonial reconoció el matrimonio igualitario en todo el territorio nacional, y convirtió a Tailandia en el tercer país de Asia en dar los mismos derechos matrimoniales a todos sus ciudadanos.
Tomas Larsson | Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
Since the 1960s, the concept of civil religion has informed a great number of scholarly works exploring the relationship between religion and nationalism in the west — and beyond. It … Since the 1960s, the concept of civil religion has informed a great number of scholarly works exploring the relationship between religion and nationalism in the west — and beyond. It is therefore not surprising that the concept also informed seminal works on Buddhism and politics in Thailand. In recent years, however, the concept appears to have fallen out of fashion within Thai Studies and perhaps Southeast Asian Studies more broadly. This article surveys and critically discusses the widely diverging and confusing ways in which the concept of civil religion has been used in the study of Thai history and politics. It then seeks to demonstrate the continued relevance and analytical utility of civil religion, understood as a particular kind of nationalism, according to which the state should accommodate or actively encourage and support religious pluralism by developing ideological and institutional links with multiple religious communities. In Thailand, the dominant form of civil-religious nationalism is ‘cosmopolitan royalism’, which positions the king as the leading patron and protector of religions (plural). The final section of the article illustrates how this conception of civil religion might inform both the study of Thai intellectual history and the study of contemporary political contestation.
As a world cultural heritage site, the Dacheng Historical Site Park in Thailand not only reflects Thailand's glorious history and religious culture, but also has important significance in the protection … As a world cultural heritage site, the Dacheng Historical Site Park in Thailand not only reflects Thailand's glorious history and religious culture, but also has important significance in the protection and promotion of intangible cultural heritage. This article takes "The Road to Intangible Cultural Heritage" as the core theme, starting from the historical background and cultural value of the Dacheng Site, and analyzes the specific practices and achievements in promoting intangible cultural heritage, including policy support, digital technology application, and international cultural exchange. At the same time, it pointed out issues such as commercialization tendency, insufficient dissemination depth, and discontinuity in intangible cultural heritage inheritance. The article ultimately proposes three strategic directions: building a "cultural ecological chain", "IPization of intangible cultural heritage", and "international cultural window", to promote the Dacheng site as an important node for global intangible cultural heritage dissemination.
Hartley Dean | Routledge eBooks
This study explores how folk-songs from tea plantations of North Bengal and Assam reflected collective identity and resilience of tea workers, shaped by their colonial and migratory diaspora. A shared … This study explores how folk-songs from tea plantations of North Bengal and Assam reflected collective identity and resilience of tea workers, shaped by their colonial and migratory diaspora. A shared narrative of these captive labourers during company rule would be considered to have a historiographical analysis, interpretations and memories of their lived experiences and cultural expressions. Songs that have exposed deceptive recruitment and exploitation tactics by the British enterprise and tea estate owners constitute major section of the present discourse. It tries to shed light on the labor recruitment strategies sanctioned by the colonial planters as mirrored in folk lyrics. Present paper also provides a theoretical viewpoint on the migration-colonialism and exploitation on one hand, folk songs –cultural exhibit and symbolic resistance on the other. This study highlights folk-songs that reveal deceptive recruitment and exploitation by British tea enterprises, reflecting the labour strategies of colonial planters. The paper offers a theoretical perspective on how these songs narrated the lived experiences of tea workers, especially women, serving as historical accounts and contraptions to resilience against systemic oppression. Songs like jhumur portray themes of migration, exploitation, and cultural defiance among tea garden workers. These folkloric expressions serve as collective memoirs and oral histories, denouncing colonial hegemony, forced migration, and the atrocities faced by Adivasi workers under colonial enterprises, preserving their struggles and resilience through generations. Folk-songs and dances in North Bengal’s tea plantations represent a ‘composite culture,’ unique to this region. These cultural expressions, passed down through generations, highlight the active participation of women laborers. They serve as a vital link for the diasporic tea community, preserving their identity and resilience within the broader Bengali society, while reflecting their shared history and lived experiences.
| Yale University Press eBooks
Different communities have begun archiving their own experiences and histories as a way to reclaim narratives and contend with their own identities and belonging. As the types of archives diversify … Different communities have begun archiving their own experiences and histories as a way to reclaim narratives and contend with their own identities and belonging. As the types of archives diversify and the role of digital technologies in archival practices expands, we are increasingly seeing digital community archival efforts. While archives have been key for carrying out research in the social sciences and the humanities, and are periodically found as topics of study in disciplinary subfields concerning themselves with the digital, there is little research on the specific subject of community digital archives. In this essay, I argue that community digital archives are important objects of sociological and historical inquiry. I discuss two community digital archives of the South Asian diaspora – the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) and 1947 Partition Archive. I show that they offer insights into migration histories and notions of belonging and identity of South Asian diaspora not only through the digital records they produce, but also through how they operate using digital connectivity. I demonstrate that an interdisciplinary lens is key for critically engaging with these archives.
| Princeton University Press eBooks
This book features a collection of papers produced in honour of Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Reading. Roger previously taught at UCL’s Institute of … This book features a collection of papers produced in honour of Roger Matthews, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Reading. Roger previously taught at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology (2001–2010), before which he served as the Director of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (BSAI, today BISI) in Baghdad and the British Institute at Ankara (BIA) in the 1980s and 1990s. The volume honours Roger’s legacy by assembling interdisciplinary research by his students, collaborators, and colleagues that maps challenges and new possibilities in the archaeology of Southwest Asia across the interrelated themes that have emerged from his work in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Türkiye.