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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > General
Throughout the postwar history of Indonesia, the military have played a key role in the politics of the country and in imposing unity on a fragmentary state. The collapse of the authoritarian New Order government of President Suharto weakened the state and the armed forces briefly lost their grip on control of the archipelago. However, under President Megawati, the military has again begun to assert itself, and re-impose its heavy hand on control of the state, most notably in the fracturing outer provinces. Based on extensive original research, this book examines the role of the military in Indonesian politics. It looks at the role of the military historically, examines the different ways it is involved in politics, and considers how the role of the military might develop in what is still an uncertain future.
The Japanese have long regarded themselves as a homogenous nation, clearly separate from other nations. However, this long-standing view is being undermined by the present international reality of increased global population movement. This has resulted in the establishment both of significant Japanese communities outside Japan, and of large non-Japanese minorities within Japan, and has forced the Japanese to re-conceptualise their nationality in new and more flexible ways. This work provides a comprehensive overview of these issues and examines the context of immigration to and emigration from Japan. It considers the development of important Japanese overseas communities in six major cities worldwide, the experiences of immigrant communities in Japan, as well as assessing the consequences for the Japanese people's view of themselves as a nation.
A focus on memory has come to prominence across a wide range of disciplines. History, literature, philosophy, anthropology, and cultural studies have placed memory at the heart of their interrogations of subjectivity, narrative, time and imagination. At the same time, memory has emerged as a central theme and preoccupation in popular literature, film and television, and the emergence of memory as an academic theme cannot be separated from its prominence in the wider culture. This volume represents, explores and interrogates the current developments, engaging directly with the place of memory in culture, and with memory's meaning's and history. eBook available with sample pages: 0203391535
The Orang Suku Laut consider themselves indigenous Malays. Yet their interaction with others who call themselves Malays is characterised on both sides by fear of harmful magic and witchcraft. The nomadic Orang Suku Laut believe that the Qur'an contains elements of black magic, while the settled Malays consider the nomads dangerous, dirty and backward. At the centre of this study, based on first-hand anthropological data, is the symbolism of money and the powerful influence it has on social relationships within the Riau archipelago. The first major publication on these maritime nomadic communities, the book also adds fresh perspectives on anthropological debates on exchange systems, tribality and hierarchy. It also characterises the different ways of being Malay in the region and challenges the prevailing tendency to equate Malay identity with the Islamic faith.
Virtually every major media, information and telecommunications enterprise in the world is significantly tied to China. This volume provides the most expert, up to date and multidisciplinary analyses on how the contemporary media function in what has rapidly become the world's biggest market. As the West, particularly the United States, tries to integrate China into the global market economy, the book examines how globalizing forces clash with Chinese nationalism to shape China's media discourses and ideology. It also analyses the role of the media as a site of resistance within China to the ruling elite. eBook available with sample pages: 0203402294
Japan's Security Relations with China since 1989 raises the crucial question of whether Japan's political leadership which is still preoccupied with finding a new political constellation and with overcoming a deep economic crisis is able to handle such a complex policy in the face of an increasingly assertive China and a US alliance partner with strong swings between engaging and containing China's power. This study of the highly topical bilateral relationship will be of great interest to students and researchers in Japanese and Chinese Studies, Politics, International Relations and Security Studies.
Japan's Security Relations with China since 1989 raises the crucial
question of whether Japan's political leadership which is still
preoccupied with finding a new political constellation and with
overcoming a deep economic crisis is able to handle such a complex
policy in the face of an increasingly assertive China and a US
alliance partner with strong swings between engaging and containing
China's power. This study of the highly topical bilateral
relationship will be of great interest to students and researchers
in Japanese and Chinese Studies, Politics, International Relations
and Security Studies.
This volume offers a multidisciplinary approach to the combinatory tradition that dominated premodern and early modern Japanese religion, known as honji suijaku (originals and their traces). It questions received, simplified accounts of the interactions between Shinto and Japanese Buddhism, and presents a more dynamic and variegated religious world, one in which the deities' Buddhist originals and local traces did not constitute one-to-one associations, but complex combinations of multiple deities based on semiotic operations, doctrines, myths, and legends. The book's essays, all based on specific case studies, discuss the honji suijaku paradigm from a number of different perspectives, always integrating historical and doctrinal analysis with interpretive insights. eBook available with sample pages: 0203220250
Japan and Okinawa provides an up-to-date, coherent and theoretically informed examination of Okinawa from the perspective of political economy and society. It combines a focus on structure and subjectivity as a way to analyze Okinawa, Okinawans and their relationship with global, regional and national structures. The book draws on a range of disciplines to provide new insights into both the contemporary and historical place of Okinawa and the Okinawans. The first half of the book examines Okinawa as part of the global, regional and national structures which impose constraints as well as offer opportunities to Okinawa. Leading specialists examine in detail topics such as Okinawa as a frontier region, Okinawa's Free Trade Zones and response to globalization, and Okinawa as part of the Japanese 'construction state', being particularly concerned with how Okinawa can chart its own course. The second half focuses on questions of identity and subjectivity, examining the multitude of vibrant cultural practices that breathe life into the meaning of being Okinawan and inform their social and political responses to structural constraints. The originality of this book can be found in its elucidation of how the structural constraints of Okinawa's precarious position in the world, the region and as part of Japan impact on subjectivity. For many Okinawans, in the past as now, acceptance and rationalization of their dependency has made them collaborators in their own subordination. At the same time, however, they have demonstrated a capacity to give voice to a separate identity, inscribing cultural practices marking them as different from mainland Japanese. eBook available with sample pages: 0203222695
This is a comparative study of small capitalists and rural industrialists in three Asian countries. Studies on the entrepreneurial class in South Asia tend to focus on the structural aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour, while studies on this class in Southeast Asia tend to focus on cultural aspects of their behaviour. In fact, this book points to striking similarities between Indian, overseas Chinese and Muslim businessmen in Asia, similarities usually hidden under variations in analytical approaches. Although this study emphasizes similarities within Asia, it does not support the view of a specific Asian business pattern different to the rise of non-Asian, especially European, entrepreneurs. The findings are of major interest not just within the fields of anthropology and entrepreneurship, but to all scholars working on South or Southeast Asia, who will find much of interest in the author's observations of variable research results between the two regions.
This is a comparative study of small capitalists and rural industrialists in three Asian countries. Studies on the entrepreneurial class in South Asia tend to focus on the structural aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour, while studies on this class in Southeast Asia tend to focus on cultural aspects of their behaviour. In fact, this book points to striking similarities between Indian, overseas Chinese and Muslim businessmen in Asia, similarities usually hidden under variations in analytical approaches. Although this study emphasizes similarities within Asia, it does not support the view of a specific Asian business pattern different to the rise of non-Asian, especially European, entrepreneurs. The findings are of major interest not just within the fields of anthropology and entrepreneurship, but to all scholars working on South or Southeast Asia, who will find much of interest in the author's observations of variable research results between the two regions.
This book examines the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the states of the Persian Gulf from 1979 to 1998. It covers perceptions Iranians and Arabs have of each other, Islamic revolutionary ideology, the Iran/Iraq war, the Gulf crisis, the election of President Khatami and finally the role of external powers, such as the United States. The author argues that over the twenty-year period, the policy has moved from being ideological to pragmatic; and that by tracing its history, we can better anticipate its future relationship. eBook available with sample pages: 0203417925
In the decades following the introduction of Communist Party rule in Shanghai in 1949, the city's economy, infrastructure and links with the world all atrophied. However, the past decade has seen far-reaching economic reforms implemented to recreate Shanghai as a cosmopolitan, world financial and trade centre. This book focuses on the lives of local residents and their perceptions of their changing city, and presents an evocative series of ethnographic perspectives of the city's shifting sociological landscape in this period of transition.
During the 1980s and 1990s Asian 'developmental states' attracted much attention in political science and economics literature, but the role of law in the economic development was neglected. It was only after the Asian crisis of 1997 that many analysts began to focus on a lack of regulation and transparency as a major factor triggering the crisis. The crucial questions now are how successful the current reforms will be, and which features of the Asian approach to commercial law will be resistant to reform pressures. This book examines the prospects for commercial law reform in Asia, giving particular attention to Japan and Singapore, as frequently cited role models for Asian developmentalism, and also examining development related business laws in countries such as China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Frankfurt/M., Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien.
Kulturwissenschaftliche Werbeforschung. Bd. 3 Herausgegeben von
Hartmut Schroder
This book is the first comprehensive account of the changing role of men and the construction of masculinity in contemporary Japan. The book moves beyond the stereotype of the Japanese white-collar businessman to explore the diversity of identities and experiences that may be found among men in contemporary Japan, including those versions of masculinity which are marginalized and subversive. The book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of contemporary Japanese society and identity.
Men and Masculinities in Contemporary Japan provides the first comprehensive account of the changing role of men and the construction of masculinity in contemporary Japan. The book moves beyond the stereotype of the Japanese white collar businessman to explore the diversity of identities and experiences found among Japanese men, including those versions of masculinity that are marginalized and subversive. By examining this diversity, the book also helps to bring the notion of 'masculinity' itself into question. It includes discussion of transgendering men, working class men, body aesthetics, transnational marriages, domestic violence, AIDS, representations of homosexuality, fatherhood and struggles for masculine meaning in life beyond work.
Why did people in North India from the 5th century BC choose to leave the world and join the sect of the Buddha? This is the first book to apply the insights of social psychology in order to understand the religious motivation of the people who constituted the early Buddhist community. It also addresses the more general and theoretically controversial question of how world religions come into being, by focusing on the conversion process of the individual believer.
Why did people in North India from the 5th century BC choose to leave the world and join the sect of the Buddha? This is the first book to apply the insights of social psychology in order to understand the religious motivation of the people who constituted the early Buddhist community. It also addresses the more general and theoretically controversial question of how world religions come into being, by focusing on the conversion process of the individual believer.
This book draws upon the disciplines of politics, sociology, history and philosophy to provide a critical analysis of power relations throughout the world of sport, while offering important new case-studies from such diverse sporting contexts as the Olympics, world football, boxing, cricket, tennis and windsurfing. Power Games can be used as a complete introduction to the study of sport and society, and will be essential reading for any serious student of sport. At the same time, it is a provocative book that by argument and example challenges those who research and write about sport to make their work relevant to social and political reform.
Critical and radical perspectives have been central to the emergence of the sociology of sport as a discipline in its own right. This ground-breaking new book is the first to offer a comprehensive theory and method for a critical sociology of sport. It argues that class, political economy, hegemony and other concepts central to the radical tradition are essential for framing, understanding and changing social and political relations within sport and between sport and society. The book draws upon the disciplines of politics, sociology, history and philosophy to provide a critical analysis of power relations throughout the world of sport, while offering important new case studies from such diverse sporting contexts as the Olympics, world football, boxing, cricket, tennis and windsurfing. In the process, it addresses key topics such as: * nations and nationalism * globalisation * race * gender * political economy. Power Games can be used as a complete introduction to the study of sport and society. And will be essential reading for any serious student of sport. At the same time, it is a provocative book that by argument and example challenges those who research and write about sport to make their work relevant to social and political reform.
Globalization, modernity and identity are fundamental issues in contemporary Islam and Islamic Studies. This collection of essays reflects the wide diversity that characterises contemporary Islamic Studies. The case studies cover regions stretching from China and Southeast Asia to diaspora communities in the Caribbean and Tajikistan. There is significant participation of intellectual voices from all areas concerned, providing a real contribution to the academic exchange between the Muslim and the Euro-American worlds.
This is the first book to comprehensively examine the context, development and results of Japanese city planning Japan is one of the world's most urbanized countries with its own traditions of urban management that are remarkably little known in the rest of the world. Japan's distinctiveness makes it an important case-study of urbanization and its management, and highlights the major urban and regional planning issues faced by other developed countries, particularly in the Asian context. This book includes up-to-date, original material not otherwise available in English.
By considering the practice of globalisation, these essays describe
changes, variations and innovations to Chinese food in many parts
of the world. The book reviews and broadens classic theories about
ethnic and social identity formation through the examination of
Chinese food, providing a powerful testimony to the impact of late
20th century globalisation.
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