Essays in this volume focus on Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China as sites rife with discursive complexity. From small to large, young to old, former colony to former colonial power, these six examples do well to represent situated voices and cultural values meted out in a larger "global" space.

This daring collaborative effort showcases dialogues between international scholars engaged with the United States from abroad. The writers investigate the analytic methods and choices that label certain talk, images, behaviors, and allusions as "American" and how to read the data on such material. The editors present the essays in pairs that overlap in theme or region. Each author subsequently comments on the other's work. A third scholar or team of scholars from a different discipline or geographic location then provides another level of analysis. Contributors: Andrzej Antoszek, Sophia Balakian, Zsofia Ban, Sabine Broeck, Ian Condry, Kate Delaney, Jane C. Desmond, Virginia R. Dominguez, Ira Dworkin, Richard Ellis, Guillermo Ibarra, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Giorgio Mariani, Ana Mauad, Loes Nas, Edward Schatz, Manar Shorbagy, Kristin Solli, Amy Spellacy, and Michael Titlestad.

A profound study of the nebulous Creoles. . . . Dominguez's use of original sources . . . is scholarship at its best. . . . Her study is fascinating, thought-provoking, controversial, and without a doubt, one of the most objective analyses of Creole Louisiana. Her emphasis on social stratification and her excellent integration of ethnic and racial classification of Creoles with legal and social dynamics and individual choice of ethnic identity elucidates strikingly the continuing controversy of who and what is a Louisiana Creole.--Journal of American Ethnic History ""Dominguez's most important contribution lies in her conceptualization of the problem of identity. She treats ethnic identity as something that can change over time, warning us against imposing current meanings on the past and requiring us to consider evidence of how terms were actually used in the past. . . . It is hard to imagine a frame of reference more ideally suited to historical analysis.""--Louisiana History ""A valuable interdisciplinary examination of the processes of racial definition in Louisiana's history. Her study combines the anthropologist's sensitivity to language and self definition within a community with a skillful exploitation of historical sources.""--Law and Society ""I highly recommend this book to all persons interested in social stratification.""--Alvin L. Bertrand, Contemporary Sociology ""A vivid and insightful reading of the historical circumstances that have shaped definitions of Creoles within Louisiana law and society.""--Journal of Southern History ""A profound study of the nebulous Creoles. . . . Dominguez's use of original sources . . . is scholarship at its best. . . . Her study is fascinating, thought-provoking, controversial, and without a doubt, one of the most objective analyses of Creole Louisiana. Her emphasis on social stratification and her excellent integration of ethnic and racial classification of Creoles with legal and social dynamics and individual choice of ethnic identity elucidates strikingly the continuing controversy of who and what is a Louisiana Creole.""--Journal of American Ethnic History ""Dominguez's most important contribution lies in her conceptualization of the problem of identity. She treats ethnic identity as something that can change over time, warning us against imposing current meanings on the past and requiring us to consider evidence of how terms were actually used in the past. . . . It is hard to imagine a frame of reference more ideally suited to historical analysis.""--Louisiana History ""A valuable interdisciplinary examination of the processes of racial definition in Louisiana's history. Her study combines the anthropologist's sensitivity to language and self definition within a community with a skillful exploitation of historical sources.""--Law and Society ""I highly recommend this book to all persons interested in social stratification.""--Alvin L. Bertrand, Contemporary Sociology ""A vivid and insightful reading of the historical circumstances that have shaped definitions of Creoles within Louisiana law and society.""--Journal of Southern History

The contributors to this book trace how "culture" functions in debates about national integration and identity, socioeconomic development and underdevelopment, tradition and modernity. Each contributor seeks to denaturalize discourses of culture and cultural policy, and through this, represent culture as a social discourse and shared social practice. Essays in this volume focus on Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China, as locations particularly rife with discursive complexity in terms of cultural policy and national identity. The intention is that these are examples which represent situated voices and cultural values to be found in the rest of the world.