The Making of Anthropology in East and Southeast Asia

Because of the hegemony of institutions in North America and Europe in the international academic system, scholars from these regions often overlook the contributions of scholars in other regions to the development of their discipline. This seems to be especially true in the case of anthropology in Asia where the contributions of local scholars are often ignored by the wider academic community, especially if they are written in languages other than English.In order to help bridge the communications gap and to make the distinctive Asian contribution to the discipline better known, this path-breaking book presents a series of essays on the development of anthropological research in Asia, including contributions on Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Major issues discussed include: the nature of the anthropological "world system" of scholarship: the development of anthropology within the context of colonialism, whether British, American or Japanese; the impact on postwar anthropology of political change and rapid economic growth; and the position of ethnic and cultural minorities confronting states with their own nationalist agendas. It also considers the current state of the discipline in the region against the background of growing globalization and the flows of people, capital and information across national and regional boundaries.

David Askew is Associate Professor (Legal Studies), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan. He also teaches at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Joseph Bosco is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong Sidney C.H. Cheung is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong J.S. Eades is Professor of Asia Pacific Studies and Director of the Media Resource Center, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan, and Senior Honorary Research Fellow, University of Kent, Canterbury UK Kwang-ok Kim is Professor of Anthropology, Seoul National University, Korea Takami Kuwayama is Professor of Cultural Anthropology, University of Hokkaido, Sapporo, Japan Xin Liu is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Center for Chinese Studies, University of California at Berkeley Alicia P. Magos is Professor of the Social Sciences Division of the University of the Philippines Visayas in Miagao, Iloilo, the Philippines Gordon Matthews is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong A.B. Shamsul is Professor of Social Anthropology and Director of the Institute of the Malay World & Civilization (ATMA), and the Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia Tan Chee-Beng is Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong David Y.H. Wu was Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong Shinji Yamashita is Professor of Cultural Anthropology, The University of Tokyo Zhuang Kongshao is Director, Institute of Anthropology, Renmin University of China, Beijing