This series offers a comprehensive view of Asian and Indo-Pacific anthropology and cultural history. It carries studies from China, Japan, South-East Asia, South Asia, and the entire Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand. Focusing mainly on detailed ethnographic studies, the series further incorporates pressing thematic work on issues of cross-regional impact, gender and globalization, precarity, refugees, and asylum-seekers, and alternative medical and wellness-seeking practices. The series aims to link anthropological theory with history and religious studies, with discussions of ritual, politics, religious change, and economics. Studies of adaptation and conflict in small-scale situations enmeshed in wider scale processes of transformation form a particular thematic focus. The series aims to reach a core audience of specialists in Asian and Pacific studies, but also to be accessible and valuable to a broader multidisciplinary readership.
If you are interested in proposing a book for the series please contact: strather@pitt.edu / pamjan@pitt.edu
Focusing on the era of "first encounters" in Polynesia, this book provides a fresh look at some of the early contacts between indigenous people and the captains and crew of European ships. The case studies chosen enable comparison of New Zealand Māori–European transactions with similar Pacific ones…
Hardback – 2019-04-05
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Examining the multifaceted nature of Christianity in Fiji, My God, My Land reveals the deeply complex and often paradoxical dynamics and tensions between processes of change and continuity as they unfold in representations and practices of Christianity and tradition in people's everyday lives. The…
Paperback – 2017-12-20
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
This intriguing anthropological study investigates how the boatmen of Banaras have repositioned themselves within the traditional social organization and used their privileged position on the river to contest upper-caste and state domination. Assa Doron examines the evolution of the boatmen…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Collective Creativity offers an analysis of the explosion of artistic creativity currently taking place on the South Pacific island of Rarotonga. By exploring the construction of this art-world through the ways in which creativity and innovation are linked to social structures and social networks,…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
A rich and fascinating ethnography of domestic architecture and activities among the high caste Chhetris of Kholagaun in Nepal, this book focuses on the spatial organization, everyday activities and ritual performances that generate and display Chhetri houses as 'mandalas', sacred diagrams that are…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Drawing on ethnography of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia, Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia focuses on the current ways in which indigenous people confront and manage various aspects of death. The contributors employ their…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
This is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between marriage, violence and sorcery in an Australian Aboriginal Community, drawing on David McKnight’s extensive research on Mornington Island. The case studies, which occurred both before and after a Presbyterian Mission was established on…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Authored by well-established and respected scholars, this work examines the kinds of efforts that have been made to adopt Western modernity in Melanesia and explores the reasons for their varied outcomes. The contributors take the work of Professor Marshall Sahlins as a starting point, assessing…
Paperback – 2017-12-18
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
This ethnographically-based exploration draws on sociological, historical and demographic data to provide a comprehensive analysis of family, gender and kinship in Australia, which informs modern kinship and gender at large. Allon Uhlmann charts the cultural basis that underlies kinship practices…
Paperback – 2017-03-31
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
The belief held by Aboriginal people that their art is ultimately related to their identity, and to the continued existence of their culture, has made the protection of indigenous peoples' art a pressing matter in many postcolonial countries. The issue has prompted calls for stronger copyright…
Paperback – 2017-02-27
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Drawing together distinguished international scholars, this volume offers a unique insight into the social and cultural hybridity of the Uyghurs. It bridges a gap in our understanding of this group, an officially recognized minority mainly inhabiting the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the…
Paperback – 2016-11-28
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Aboriginal Family and the State examines the contemporary relations and history of Indigenous families in Australia, specifically referencing issues of government control and recent official recognition of Aboriginal 'traditional owners'. Drawing on detailed empirical research, it develops a…
Paperback – 2016-11-16
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
The Anthropology of Morality in Melanesia and Beyond examines how Melanesians experience and deal with moral dilemmas and challenges. Taking Kenelm Burridge’s seminal work as their starting point, the contributors focus upon public situations and types of people that exemplify key ethical…
Paperback – 2016-11-15
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Migrating Genders presents a sustained description of male-to-female transgendered identities, explaining how the fa'afafine fit within the wider gender system of Samoa, and examining both the impact of Westernization on fa'afafine identities and lives, and the experiences of fa'afafine who have…
Hardback – 2010-06-16
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
This empirically grounded work explores the emerging aspects of cultural politics in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. It engages with complex issues of cultural translation, localization and globalization from various perspectives through analyzing a diverse range of cultural forms,…
Hardback – 2009-09-14
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Focusing on cultural change and the socio-political movements in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, this book uses both anthropological and historical analysis to examine the way the relationship between gender and Christianity has shaped processes of social change. Based on extensive research…
Hardback – 2007-12-28
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
This collection of essays, edited by leading scholars in the field, focuses on how expressive genres such as music, dance and poetry are of enduring significance to social organization. Research from New Guinea, Indonesia and Taiwan is used to assess how historical changes modify these forms of…
Hardback – 2005-06-23
Routledge
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific