|
Showing 1 - 25 of
66 matches in All Departments
This powerful ethnography of a people believed to be the least
violent in the world explores how they maintain peaceful relations
even under the most dire circumstances. Robert Knox Dentan, the
world's foremost scholar of Semai, brings its members vividly to
life. His book includes translations of their poetry, dramatized
accounts of particular events, and extensive quotations from a wide
range of individuals. In a clear, gripping, sometimes novelistic
style, Dentan introduces the reader to tortured Nakhoda; beautiful,
stubborn Kliy; witty, ironic Grcaangsmother; doomed Rmpent; brutal,
alienated Juni; and other memorable Semai. The book opens with the
horrific circumstances that the author argues gave rise to Semai
peaceability, continues by illuminating their adaptation to those
circumstances, and closes by sketching the eventual decline of that
adaptation under the pressures of globalization. Unlike many
behavioral scientists, Dentan argues that the Semai approach to
conflict is a successful Darwinian adaptation. A recurring theme is
the importance of psychological "surrender" to maintaining this
adaptation. Throughout, the author highlights the mechanisms and
costs of peace, underscoring their relevance to everyday life in
all societies. Students and scholars of peace studies, conflict
resolution, ethnography, and Southeast Asia will find this unique
work an invaluable and compelling study. Coda to Chapter 6:
"'Surrender, ' Peacekeeping, and Internal Colonialism: A Neglected
Episode in Malaysian History," by Juli Edo, Anthony Williams-Hunt,
and Robert Knox Dentan (PDF)
This powerful ethnography of a people believed to be the least
violent in the world explores how they maintain peaceful relations
even under the most dire circumstances. Robert Knox Dentan, the
world's foremost scholar of Semai, brings its members vividly to
life. His book includes translations of their poetry, dramatized
accounts of particular events, and extensive quotations from a wide
range of individuals. In a clear, gripping, sometimes novelistic
style, Dentan introduces the reader to tortured Nakhoda; beautiful,
stubborn Kliy; witty, ironic Grcaangsmother; doomed Rmpent; brutal,
alienated Juni; and other memorable Semai. The book opens with the
horrific circumstances that the author argues gave rise to Semai
peaceability, continues by illuminating their adaptation to those
circumstances, and closes by sketching the eventual decline of that
adaptation under the pressures of globalization. Unlike many
behavioral scientists, Dentan argues that the Semai approach to
conflict is a successful Darwinian adaptation. A recurring theme is
the importance of psychological "surrender" to maintaining this
adaptation. Throughout, the author highlights the mechanisms and
costs of peace, underscoring their relevance to everyday life in
all societies. Students and scholars of peace studies, conflict
resolution, ethnography, and Southeast Asia will find this unique
work an invaluable and compelling study. Coda to Chapter 6:
"'Surrender, ' Peacekeeping, and Internal Colonialism: A Neglected
Episode in Malaysian History," by Juli Edo, Anthony Williams-Hunt,
and Robert Knox Dentan (PDF)
|
|