During the dramatic economic and social transformation of late twentieth-century Indonesia, theatre performances in Central Java featured a familiar cast of rulers, nobles, clown servants and ordinary people. However, these presentations were not a repetition of age-old cultural 'traditions'. Instead, by stretching the framework of Javanese ......
The nature of community in urban Java changed dramatically during the economic and political transition that followed the fall of the Soeharto regime in Indonesia, although the community continues to provide a rallying point for urban low-income residents in the off-street neighbourhoods (kampong) in Yogyakarta and in other cities of Java. Under ......
An investigation into the complex forces that shape Balinese identity. Over the past one hundred years, the Balinese have been challenged by colonial occupation, political turbulence, and, most recently, tourism. In response, they have come to rely on the idea of "Kebalian," or Balinese-ness. Kebalian is likened to a tree whose roots are ......
Arguably Southeast Asia's most spectacular city, Kuala Lumpur - widely known as 'KL' - has celebrated 50 years as the national capital of Malaysia. But KL now has a very different twin in Putrajaya, the country's new administrative capital. Where KL is a diverse, cosmopolitan, multi-racial metropolis, Putrajaya fulfils an elitist vision of a ......
Prahus, Timber and Illegality on the Margins of the Indonesian State
The Madurese are one of the great maritime and trading peoples of the Indonesian Archipelago. This remarkable study takes readers into the coastal villages of Madura, where the distinctive traditional vessels were powered by sail until the late twentieth century. It examines informal-sector economic niches, notably the cattle, salt and timber ......
Faith, Love and the Politics of Belonging in Japanese-Filipino Families
How do faith, family, and migration intersect in the intimate lives of transnational couples? This ethnography examines Japanese-Filipino marriages in contemporary Japan to reveal how gendered Catholic practices, cultural negotiation, and the politics of belonging shape everyday life. Set in Northern Kyushu, this ethnography explores the often ......
Malaysiakini was founded in 1999 by Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran, two young Malaysians who met as overseas students in Australia. One of the many online portals that sprung up in the wake of Reformasi, a movement sparked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's 1998 firing of his deputy Anwar Ibrahim, there was no reason to think that Malaysiakini ......
The term 'national economy' lacks clarity in modern Chinese history. China's modernization is often treated as a feature of the central government's economic policy, but regional and local economic activity and the involvement of foreign powers were integral to the process. Takeshi Hamashita approaches this issue by examining the country's coastal ......
Are political parties the weak link in Indonesia's young democracy? More pointedly, do they form a giant cartel to suck patronage resources from the state? Indonesian commentators almost invariably brand the country's parties as corrupt, self-absorbed, and elitist, while most scholars argue that they are poorly institutionalised. This book tests ......
