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Displaying results 101 to 110 of 111.

The Islamic Traditions of Cirebon »

Ibadat and Adat Among Javanese Muslims

Authored by: A.G. Muhaimin
Publication date: November 2006
This work deals with the socio-religious traditions of the Javanese Muslims living in Cirebon, a region on the north coast in the eastern part of West Java. It examines a wide range of popular traditional religious beliefs and practices. The diverse manifestations of these traditions are considered in an analysis of the belief system, mythology, cosmology and ritual practices in Cirebon. In addition, particular attention is directed to the formal and informal institutionalised transmission of all these traditions.

Origins, Ancestry and Alliance »

Explorations in Austronesian Ethnography

Publication date: October 2006
This collection of papers, the third in a series of volumes on the work of the Comparative Austronesian Project, explores indigenous Austronesian ideas of origin, ancestry and alliance and considers the comparative significance of these ideas in social practice. The papers examine social practice in a diverse range of societies extending from insular Southeast Asia to the islands of the Pacific.

Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land »

Land and territory in the Austronesian world

Edited by: Thomas Reuter
Publication date: October 2006
This collection of papers is the fifth in a series of volumes on the work of the Comparative Austronesian Project. Reflecting the unique experience of fourteen ethnographers in as many different societies, the papers in this volume explore how people in the Austronesian-speaking societies of the Asia-Pacific have traditionally constructed their relationship to land and specific territories. Focused on the nexus of local and global processes, the volume offers fresh perspectives to current debate in social theory on the conflicting human tendencies of mobility and emplacement.

The Austronesians »

Historical and Comparative Perspectives

Publication date: September 2006
The Austronesian-speaking population of the world are estimated to number more than 270 million people, living in a broad swathe around half the globe, from Madagascar to Easter Island and from Taiwan to New Zealand. The seventeen papers in this volume provide a general survey of these diverse populations focusing on their common origins and historical transformations. The papers examine current ideas on the linguistics, prehistory, anthropology and recorded history of the Austronesians. This volume is a publication of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies’ Comparative Austronesian Project.

Inside Austronesian Houses »

Perspectives on domestic designs for living

Edited by: James J. Fox
Publication date: September 2006
The eight papers in this volume examine the spatial organization of a variety of Austronesian houses and relate the domestic design of these houses to the social and ritual practices of the specific groups who reside within them. The houses considered in this volume range from longhouses in Borneo to the meeting-houses of the Maori of New Zealand and from the magnificent houses of the Minangkabau of Sumatra to the simpler dwellings of the population of Goodenough Island in Papua New Guinea. Together these papers indicate common features of domestic design from island South-East Asia to Melanesia and the Pacific. This volume is a publication of the Research School of Pacific Studies’ Comparative Austronesian Project.

The Poetic Power of Place »

Comparative Perspectives on Austronesian Ideas of Locality

Edited by: James J. Fox
Publication date: September 2006
This collection of papers is the fourth in a series of volumes on the work of the Comparative Austronesian Project. Each paper describes a specific Austronesian locality and offers an ethnographic account of the way in which social knowledge is vested, maintained and transformed in a particular landscape. The intention of the volume is to consider common patterns in the representation of place among Austronesian-speaking populations.

State, Communities and Forests In Contemporary Borneo »

Publication date: July 2006
The name ‘Borneo’ evokes visions of constantly changing landscapes, but with important island-wide continuities. One of the continuities has been the forests, which have for generations been created and modified by the indigenous population, but over the past three decades have been partially replaced by tree crops, grass or scrub. This book, the first in the series of Asia-Pacific Environmental Monographs, looks at the political complexities of forest management across the whole island of Borneo, tackling issues of tenure, land use change and resource competition, ‘tradition’ versus ‘modernity’, disputes within and between communities, between communities and private firms, or between communities and governments. While it focuses on the changes taking place in local political economies and conservation practices, it also makes visible the larger changes taking place in both Indonesia and Malaysia. The common theme of the volume is the need to situate local complexities in the larger institutional context, and the possible gains to be made from such an approach in the search for alternative models of conservation and development.

Asian Socialism and Legal Change »

The dynamics of Vietnamese and Chinese Reform

Edited by: John Gillespie, Pip Nicholson
Publication date: August 2005
Although the immense process of economic and social transformation currently underway in China and Vietnam is well known, less attention has been devoted to the process of Chinese and Vietnamese legal change. Asian Socialism and Legal Change brings together experts to analyse recent developments in the legal sphere, representing the diversity and dynamism of this process. This book is the first systematic analysis of legal change in Asian transitional economies.

The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific »

Edited by: R.J. May, Viberto Selochan
Publication date: March 2004
In The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific, a number of prominent regional specialists take a fresh look at the military’s changing role in selected countries of Asia and the Pacific, particularly with regard to the countries’ performance against criteria of democratic government. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Fiji and Papua New Guinea all fall under the spotlight as the authors examine the role which the military has played in bringing about changes of political regime, and in resisting pressures for change. Under the auspices of The Australian National University’s Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, and within the context of the Regime Change and Regime Maintenance in Asia and the Pacific project, the following contributors compiled The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific: Emajuddin Ahamed, Suchit Bunbongkarn, Stephanie Lawson, R. J. May, Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Viberto Selochan, Josef Silverstein, Michael Vatikiotis and Yung Myung Kim. The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific provides a sequel to Viberto Selochan’s earlier collection, The Military, the State, and Development in Asia and the Pacific (1991).

Viet Nam — a Transition Tiger? »

Authored by: Brian Van Arkadie, Raymond Mallon
Publication date: January 2004
Viet Nam has seen consistent rapid economic growth and impressive declines in poverty since it initiated its Doi Moi economic reforms in the late 1980s. Viet Nam has taken a selective, step-by-step approach to reform—an approach often criticised by proponents of the Washington Consensus. That this approach has been so successful has come as something of a surprise to much of the international community. Analysing closely aspects of Viet Nam’s reform process, enterprise development, income growth and poverty alleviation, Viet Nam: a transition tiger? argues that Viet Nam’s remarkable development is not readily explained by the more orthodox versions of the Washington Consensus. Successful policy is not built on mechanistic replication of some general reform blueprint, but on responding pragmatically to specific national circumstances. Government policy has had an impact on economic performance but economic experience has also guided the formulation of economic policy. Faced with increasingly complex economic conditions, Vietnamese policymakers will need to rely more than ever on their flexibility and pragmatism if Viet Nam’s remarkable economic performance is to be sustained.