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GENERAL

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SOUTH

ASIA

SOUTHEAST

Kattaikkuttu theatre is traditionally performed by professional male actors and musicians in the northern parts o f Tam il Nadu, South India, but barriers were broken in a unique performance on the occasion o f the Eighth Annual Kattaikkuttu Festival. For the first tim e both men and women played together on a Kattaikkuttu stage. To top it all the sexes played each other’s roles. Gender bending at its most subversive, hilarious, and pointed, standing every cliche on its head.

(P'ié)

CENTRAL

ASIA

The titu la r languages o f Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan were proclaimed the official languages o f their respective republics in 1989- 1990. Central Asians now face the problem o f language policy. B irgit N. Schlyter asserts that the degree o f the public’s language reform awareness is dependent on the socio-political importance o f linguistic matters, (p.iz)

S . W.

ASI A

Pink Pcyes

The presence in the Zambezi basin in east Africa o f peoples w ith legends and funerary rites which appear to be o f Indonesian origin, and which also exist in Madagascar, suggests that the proto-Malagasy, probably being Barito navigators, touched the coast o f East Africa before settling permanently in Madagascar. Stephen Ellis and Solofo Randrianja pursue to resolve where the first Malagasy came from, (p.21)

Forum Luso-Asiatico promotes and organizes public events to deepen the awareness o f the Portuguese public opinion about Asia singularities. Its principal aim is to create academic connections w ith in Europe and to encourage the exchange o f inform ation on economic, political, social, cultural, and linguistic aspects o f Asian countries, (p.6) Edward Said, a Palestinian by birth, has been deeply involved in Palestine’s confrontation w ith Zionism and Israel. His work on Orientalism has profoundly affected the w ritin g o f Indian history, but he feels his work on the question o f Palestine has not been as deeply understood in the Arab world as it has been elsewhere. An interview by Damayanti Datta. (p.p)

INSULAR

Kashmir has remained the most contentious issue between India and Pakistan. The dispute has lasted for a half-century w ithout there being a definitive approach to resolution. Now Pakistan and India are consolidating their nuclear programmes, attempts to remove a probable conflict catalyst are urgent. Brian Cloughley argues that it is time for Pakistan to acknowledge that ‘Jammu and Kashmir' is now, whether legally or not, a part o f India. (p.18)

ASI A

Cambodia is a white spot on the social science map. After the success o f the general elections in Cambodia an independent Social Science Institute was founded, a tall order in a country which never experienced a social science tradition. However, a flourishing agency now does exist and aims to fill in the white spots. John Vijghen reports, (p.22)

HAS

NE WS

Research traditions met at the International Convention o f Asia Scholars. The AAS and the HAS look back on a successful experiment. 41

■ o

An overview o f the activities o f the Qiaoxiang Ties Programme. Cen Huang and Leo Douw report. The political changes o f 1965, when the Orde Baru o f President Soeharto was established, opened up new directions in the field o f art. The Indonesian government promoted an art in which the ‘Indonesian character’ should be clearly pronounced. Helena Spanjaard distinguishes four phases in modern Indonesian painting, (p.37)

KITLV

NE WS

New publications by the KITLV. 46

AGENDA The International Conference Agenda. 47

CLARA

NE WS

The 1IAS-1ISG research programme Changing Labour Relations reports about four seminars.

Behrend and Pudjiastuti’s major achievement consists o f two volumes o f catalogues o f the University o f Indonesia. They described manuscripts in various languages o f the Indonesian archipelago in detail and added elegant illustrations, detailed indexes and references to make them easily accessible, (p.25)

ESF A S I A C O M M I T T E E An update on activities o f the ESF Asia Committee. 50 H ighlights o f current and forthcoming exhibitions o f Asian Art. (p.38)

SEALG The Southeast Asia Library Group held their Annual Conference. 52

36 Although the diversity w ith in the Yi is tremendous, the designation o f Yi nationality seems to have been accepted by the Yi population. They are aware o f the advantages o f form ing a larger nationality in political and economic bargaining w ith the state. Thomas Heberer reports about a conference on Yi nationality, (p.27)

38 The European Institute for Asian Studies views the Asian Financial Crisis.

#54

NEWSLETTERS Newsletters on Asia in Europe. 56

INDEX 12

EDITORI AL

(International co-operation

E ditorial m By

PAUL VAN DER VELDE

Ed i t or - i n- c h i e f f ^ u t e f or

-r t is not without some feelings of sadness that I am

HAS

TS1S17 December 1998 56 pa^es NEWSLETTER

E D I T O R I A L OF F I CE

Visiting address: N onnensteeg 1-3, Leiden Mailing address: HAS, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 ra l e id e n . The N etherlands Telephone: +31-71-527 22 27 Telefax: +31-71-52741 61 E-Mail: 1iASNews@RULLET.Leida1Univ.Nl WWW Homepage: http://iias.leidenuniv.nl E D I T O R I A L STAFF

Editor-in-CfiieJ- Paul van det Velde Managing Editor - ELzeline van der Hoek South Asia Editor - Netty Bonouvrié Southeast Asia Editor - Dick van der Meij East Asia Editor (China) - Ingrid d ’Hooghe East Asia Editor (Japan) - Margarita Winkel East Asia Editor (Korea) - Koen De Ceuster Insular Southwest Asia Editor - Sandra Evers Central Asia Editor - Ingrid Nooijens Asian Culture Editor - The Gate Foundation English editor - Rosemary Robson CORRESPONDENTS

Ann Beard (AAS, Ann Arbor) Victor A. van Bijlert (Bengal Studies) Leo Douw (Qiaoxiang Programme) Marieke te Booij (ESF Asia Committee) Leo Schmit(EU, Brussels) Mario Rutten (CASA, Amsterdam) Rama Saptari (Changing Labour Relations in Asia, CLARA) Willem Vogelsang (Research School CNWS, Leiden) CONTRI BUTORS

Maarten Bavinck, Anna Beerens, Wolfgang Behr, Peter Boomgaard, Jan Brouwer, Ian Brown, Thomas de Btuijn, Stephan Peter Bumbacher, Brian Cloughly, Matthew Cohen, Katarzyna J. C w iertb, Dai Yifeng, Damayanti Dana, Stephen Ellis, Leila FemandezStembridge, Keith Forster, André Gunder Frank, Willem van der Geest, Amaldo Gonsalves, Thomas Heberer, Donald Hellmann, Jan van Heugten, Lolo J.G. Houbein, Cen Huang, Olivier Immig, Manjiri Kamat, Anatoly M. Khazanov, Martijn Kielstra, Marijke Klokke, Karenina KollmarPaulenz, M. Kuleshiv, Chi-kong Lai, Gerhard Leinss, B.J. Mansvelr Beck, Amri Marzali, Abdul Majid Mattoo, Alex McKay, Jan de Meyer, Jean Michaud, Evelyne Micollier, Achim Minag, Amalendu Misra, Goenawan Mohamad, Otto van den Muizenberg, Romualdas Neimantas, Sungjong Paik, Johan Pijnappel, Pat Raff, Martin Ramstedt, Solofo Randrianja, Anthony Reid, Gareth Api Richards, Rosemary Robson-McKillop, Rotislav B. Rybakov, Birgit N. Schlyter, Angela Schottenhammer, Jyh Wee Sew, Gie Siauw, David Snellgrove, Helena Spanjaard, Max Sparreboom, N. Standaert, Alexander A. Stolyarov, Sun Wen-Bin, Mina Swaminathan, Paul Swanson. Barend Jan Terwiel, Eugenia Vanina, Dimitry D. Vasilyev, Cathelijne Veenkamp, Eduard B. Vermeer, John Vijghen, Boudewijn C.A. Walraven, Kenneth M. Wells, T. Wignesan, Yogendra P. Yadava ADVE RT I S E ME NTS

Contact M arianne Langehenkel at the I1AS office DE S I GN

De Kreeft, Amsterdam PRI NTI NG

Dijkman, Am sterdam MSN

0929-8738 CI RCULATI ON

20,350 C O M I N G I SSUE

Deadline: December 15,1998 Released: February 15,1999 THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR FACTS AND O PIN IO N S EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION RESTS EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE AUTHORS AND THEIR INTERPRETATIONS DO NO T NECESSARILY REFLECT

I writing this (my seventeenth and last) editorial for

A. the HAS Newsletter, which over the past years has been described as a thump on the doormat, an elephant, and since the addition of the Pink Pages as the Pink Ele phant. I am writing this on 13 October, the same day this HAS Newsletter was baptized five years ago. I will take this oppor tunity to look back on a period of five years of the HAS Newsletter set against the backdrop of devel opments in the field of Asian Studies which have frequently been dealt with on this editorial page. A couple of internal and ex ternal developments clearly stand out: the identification of Asianists as a group; increasing co-op eration at all levels and the inter nationalization following in its wake and the rise of the Internet. I will also take the liberty to ex trapolate some of these develop ments into the future. These are personal interpretations and do not necessarily represent IIAS points of view.

Scientific Tabloid? When I first suggested that our Newsletter should be a profes Paul van sionally produced job in the for mat of a tabloid, the general reac tion was to frown at such boldness. Five years ago it was not evident that a fair budget should be devoted to chan nelling the information generated by academic endea vour. The notion that although indubitably dissemina tion of knowledge is important, the dissemination of in formation about that knowledge (where to get it, how to achieve it, and to whom to relate it) was taken with a pinch of salt. With begrudging permission I could go ahead. Fortunately the first Newsletter received a warm welcome, although the electronic version was greeted with some incomprehension and (a matter everybody would laugh about later) was deemed superfluous. The rise of the Internet and the increased opportunities it offers for communication (and also dys communication), had a strong impact on how we conceived the Newslet ter. At first the electronic ver sion simply served an archival function but now this ver sion has been almost com pletely overhauled and made into a very interac tive millennium-proof newsletter. The HAS Newsletter has also served as a means of identification for Asianists as a group. In the past five years a rich tapestry of Asian Studies has unfolded in the col umns of this newsletter which, with its growing print run now at twenty thousand copies, is reaching an ever expanding readership. This has undoubtedly facilitated contacts among Asianists. Although we did not monitor this pro cess we caught glances of it when contributors informed us of the multiple reactions received to his or her article. In the spring of 1996 we organized the first ever meeting of editors of newsletters on Asia in Europe. I remember it being a very fruitful exchange of ideas which boiled down to the conclusion that by 2000 most of the newslet ters would be made available electronically. For a while we acted as host for more than ten newsletters which by now have their own sites. Two newsletters also now form an integral part of this newsletter.

TH E VIEWS OF TH E IN STITUTE OR ITS SUPPORTERS. THE HAS NEWSLETTER (IIASN) IS PUBLISHED BY HAS AND IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE.

Photo under: Ilse (left) and H elga Lasschuijt D urvrrv WIM \a/ im v PHOTO: VREEBURG

•

has n ew sletter

14917 • D e cem b er 1998

P AGE

This meeting mirrored the process of increasing co-op eration at the European level which is best demonstrated by the foundation of the ESF Asia Committee (European seminars and European fellowship scheme) in 1994 and the IIAS-NIAS Strategic alliance in 1997. While this Euro pean co-operation still depends heavily on inputs from the Nordic countries and the Netherlands there are signs that other countries might join in. At the national levels there are also signs of increased co-operation between in stitutes, universities, and organizations. In the Nether lands we saw the birth of the Dutch Association for Asian and Pacific studies; in Spain twenty-odd organizations are gradually coming together; and in Germany the Gesellschaft fur Asienkunde has been reinvigorat ed. At the global level co-operation between the Association for Asian Studies and the HAS has led to the intensification of the transatlantic dialogue of American and Europe an Asianists. Out of this process the idea of the International Con vention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) was bom in which the AAS, the HAS, the ESF Asia Committee, and the six major European Asian Studies associations participated. It was the first time that these latter or ganizations had co-operated in one forum which will hopefully be the beginning of the intensifi cation of this bottom up European co-operation which can counter balance the more top-down forms 5 of co-operation. Fortunately the ICAS has also attracted a great deal of attention from Asianists in Asia der Velde so that it has emerged as a forum of European, North American, and Asian scholars. In this mixing of scholars and research traditions lies the greatest value of the ICAS. The participants at the ICAS gave clear signals that there should be a second ICAS. Therefore an ICAS Steering Committee is in the process of being formed which will have its first meeting during the AAS Annual Meeting in Boston in March next year.

There is a rapture on the lonely shore People come and people go. Dr Hein Steinhauer has been appointed the first special HAS Chairholder at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. He will be teaching ethnolinguistics with a focus on Southeast Asia for a three-year term. More HAS chairs are anticipated in fu ture. From the above readers may con clude that there have been some changes in the IIAS staff Helga Lasschuijt, who organized the highly successful ICAS, has left the institute to pursue her academic career in Art History. Secondly, I resig ned my position as editorin-chief of the HAS, as 1 have been appointed Exec utive Director of the Insti tute for Comparative Eco nomic and Political Institu tions (ICPEI) of the University of Amsterdam. News of the activ ities of that institute, which will have a strong Asian orientation, can be read in future issues of this newsletter. But that is not all. Since 15 September Elzeline van der Hoek has succeeded Ilse Lasschuijt as managing editor. Use has been working for the newsletter since 1994. She has taken up a new job with the Foster Parents Plan organiza tion. The shape of this newsletter in recent years can to a large extent be accredited to her. Also on her behalf I would like to thank the Board, the Academic Committee, the staff of the HAS, our editors and correspondents, all our contributors (more than a thou sand), De Kreeft design, Dijkman printers, and certainly not in the last place our readers all of whom who throughout the years have stimulated us to fulfil our at times hectic job. Whenever we were feeling low we turned to our jealously guarded file ‘fan mail’ in which we kept all those encouraging letters we received in past five years. Thanks! ■

MAS The International Institute for Asian Studies is a post-doctoral institute jointly established in 1993 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam (VUA), the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Leiden University (RUL). It is mainly financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences. The main objective of the IIAS is to encourage Asian Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (the alpha and gamma sciences: ranging from linguistics and anthropology to political science, law, environmental and developmental studies) and to promote national and international scientific co operation in these fields. One of the tasks undertaken by the IIAS is to play an active role in the gathering, co ordination and dissemination of information on Asian Studies.The Institute plays a facilitating role by bringing (inter-) national parties together. Situated in a small country of which the political influence is rather limited, the Institute has opted for the flexible role of intermediator on an international level. Furthermore, in keeping with the tradition in the Netherlands of transferring goods and ideas, the IIAS serves as a clearinghouse for knowledge and information. This entails activities such as providing information services; constructing an international network; setting up international co-operative projects and research programmes; and providing facilities for Dutch and foreign scholars to conduct research at the IIAS (and/or at corresponding institutes in the Netherlands and abroad).Through its so-called ‘Schiphol function’ the IIAS establishes contacts between Asianists from all over the world. Research fellows at a post-Ph.D.level are temporarily employed by the Institute, either within the framework of a collaborative research programme, or on an individual basis. The IIAS organizes seminars, workshops and conferences, publishes a newsletter (circulation approximately 20,000 copies) and has established a database which contains information about researchers and current research in the field of Asian Studies within Europe and world-wide. A Guide to Asian Studies in Europe, a printed version of parts of this database was published in 1998.The Institute also has its own server and a Web site on the Internet to which a growing number of institutes related to Asian Studies are linked. Since 1994 the IIAS has been appointed to run the secretariat of the European Science Foundation Asia Committee (Strasbourg).Together with this Committee the IIAS shares the objective of improving the international co-operation in the field of Asian Studies (additional information can be acquired at the IIAS). In 1997 the IIAS-NIAS Strategic Alliance was established: an international co-operation between the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), Copenhagen, and the IIAS. The Alliance is set up to enhance research on (contemporary) Asia and to create networks in Asia and Europe with academic and non-academic institutions and actors. Both the Dutch Minister for Education and the Nordic Council of Ministers have contributed to this new form of co-operation.

GENERAL 7 APRIL

NEWS

1998

MANCHESTER,

GREAT

BRITAIN

Assessing the Asian Crisis The economic crisis in East and Southeast Asia has dominated the news for months. Currencies, stock markets and business es have collapsed. Central banks are hard pressed to come up with foreign exchange needed to cover international debts. Millions o f jobs have disappeared and workers have been dis placed. Governments face crises o f legitimacy. As a result the viability o f the ‘Asian model’ o f economic, political, and social development has been called into question. Candid discus sions between eighty participants at the University o f Man chester’s international conference on ‘Assessing the Asian Cri sis’ provided an opportunity to get beyond the headlines and to elaborate critical understandings o f the national, regional, and global causes and implications o f the crisis. By G A R E T H API R I C H A R D S

he framework for debate was estab lished in two keynote papers. Paul Cammack (University of Manchester) located the significance of the Asian crisis with in the broader structures underlying world order and global capitalism. The leading global regulatory agen cies tend to promote the further sub sumption of labour to capital, and this is likely to sharpen class strug gles in the region. Walden Bello (University of the Philippines) stated that what is happening is more than the collapse of several Asian econo mies; it is the unravelling of a model of development that brought a cer tain kind of success but also carried within it the seeds of its own down fall. The region may enter a pro-

longed depression, but there are also ways in which the crisis opens up a space to pursue alternative paths of development. Ngai-Ling Sum considered the global-regional-national interac tions in and between the production and financial (dis)orders. The ten dencies towards financial liberaliza tion in the 15190s led to the NICs be coming increasingly dependent on cheap finance capital and specula tively vulnerable to its ‘casino’ na ture. Shaun Breslin examined the ex tent to which China’s trade and in ward investment have been affected by the crisis. What appears at first sight to be a minor shock wave from the rest of the region has exacerbated domestic economic, social and polit ical problems. Three contrasting perspectives were presented on the significance of the crisis for the remaking of inter

ReORIENT: Global Economy in the Asian Age ■ By A N D R É G U N D E R F R A N K

— WÊBBÊÊ

H H he book Re0RII ENT: Global EconJL omy in the Asian A$e outlines and analyz es the global economy and its sectoral and re gional division of labour and cyclical dynamic from t400 to 1800. The evi dence and argument are that within this global economy Asians and par ticularly Chinese were preponder ant, no more ‘traditional’ than Euro peans, and in fact largely far less so. The historical documentation poses an ‘emperor has no clothes’ chal lenge to all received Eurocentric his toriography and social theory from Montesquieu, Marx, and Weber, or Toynbee, and Polanyi, to Rostow, Braudel, and Wallerstein. The books’ global economic analy sis offers a more holistic theoretical alternative. ‘The Rise of the West’ was not due to any ‘European Mira cle exceptionalism’ that allegedly permitted it to pull itself up by its

own bootstraps as Weberians have contended. Nor did Europe build a ‘European world-economy around itself a la Braudel and thereby as per Marx and Wallerstein initiating a European centred ‘Modern Capital ist World-System’ primarily by ex ploiting the wealth of its American and African colonies. Instead, Europe used its American silver to buy itself marginal entry into the long since existing world market in Asia, which was much larger, more productive and competitive, continued to ex pand much faster until 1800, and was able to support a rate of popula tion growth in Asia that was then double that of Europe until 1750. Then changing world economic, demographic, ecological relations and relative factor prices in the com petitive global economy resulted in the temporary ‘Decline of the East’ and the opportunity for the also temporary ‘Rise of the West’. Europe took advantage of this world eco nomic opportunity through import substitution, export promotion and

national relations. Heiner Hanggi emphasized the ways in which the geographical unevenness of globali zation, the new wave of regionalism as well as the rise of East Asia have been the major factors behind the ‘new Triad’ based on the three major economic regions. He speculated on the extent to which the Asian crisis might undermine processes of re gionalization and East and South east Asia’s relations with other re gions of the global political econo my. Franco Algieri identified a lack of consistency at the heart of the Eu ropean Union’s Asia policy, which derives from the ‘coherence dilem ma’ in the EU’s external relations. Reflecting on the EU’s inadequate response to the crisis, it is unlikely that this dilemma will be solved in the near future so that the Asia strat egy of the EU can be no more than a limited framework. Gareth Api Rich ards and Dorothy Guerrero assessed the striking upsurge of oppositional political activity and politics ‘from below’ in East and Southeast Asia. National struggles are slowly taking shape against the crisis and the IMFled strategic response.

Society Michael Freeman discussed how the idea of universal human rights can be articulated with important Asian cultural traditions, what prob lems this generates, and how these

technological change to become Newly Industrializing Economies after 1800, as is again happening today in East Asia. That region is now regaining its ‘traditional’ domi nance in the global economy, with the Chinese ‘Middle Kingdom’ again at its ‘centre’. ReORIENT may be summarized as follows: It suggests that received his toriography and social theory fall se riously short of what we need. Marx and Weber or Parsons and Rostow and their many disciples are too Eu rocentric, and Braudel and Waller stein also are still not nearly holistic enough. None of them is able, or even willing, to address the global problematique, whose whole is more than the sum or its parts. The book outlines the productive division of labour and the multilateral trade framework, as well as the sectoral and regional inter-connections within the global economy. ReORI ENT signals how American and Japa nese money went around the world circulatory system and provided the lifeblood that made the world go round. It further examines the re sulting world population, produc tive, income, and trade quantities, the related technological qualities and institutional mechanisms, as well as how several regions in Asia maintained and even increased their global preponderance therein. The book proposes a global macrohistory that treats the Decline of the East and the Rise of the West as relat ed and successive processes within

problems might be addressed in the interest both of genuine develop ment for Asian peoples and of a mu tually beneficial dialogue about human rights between Asians and Europeans. According to Evelyn Balais-Serrano a crisis of democracy and human rights in Asia long pre ceded the onset of the current eco nomic crisis. Nonetheless, the costs of the crisis have been borne by vul nerable social groups and unleashed new restrictions of the democratic space. Patricia Ranald outlined the impact of the crisis on employment, living standards, and working con ditions, and initial responses from independent labour organizations in South Korea and the Philippines. Union movements have been among the most powerful voices analysing the crisis and organizing popular re sponses. The potential for union sur vival and development of local and regional alliances exists and these will form a strategic resistance to the extension of the IMF’s ‘conditional’ debt regime. A number of cross-cutting themes stand out from the discussions that concluded the proceedings, i) The uneven impact of the crisis across the region demands a reassessment of the idea of a region-wide model of political-economic development, ii) The crisis was more the immediate result of government initiated fi nancial and industrial deregulation

and its origins can be located in the disjunctures in Asian structures of production and finance, iii) The IMF structural adjustment policies will do nothing to advance Asian eco nomic development since their terms are designed to ensure that the targeted countries open them selves more fully to international business and give priority to earning the foreign exchange necessary to pay international debts, iv) The so cial distribution of costs of recovery and adjustment are falling particu larly on vulnerable social groups. This is likely to lead to severe social dislocation and impoverishment, v) The crisis has had knock-on effects for human rights and democratiza tion and the discourse around ‘Asian values’, vi) There are the beginnings of critical responses to the crisis ‘from below’; at the national level la bour movements and civil society oppose to IMF-led conditionalities, vii) The crisis has long-term implica tions for processes of regionaliza tion, triadization, and governance of the global political economy includ ing Asia’s relations with Europe. The conference analyses suggest that the economic, political, and so cietal causes and implications of the Asian crisis are more complex than has been suggested in most main stream accounts. The discussions laid bare the ways in which explana tions of the crisis need to be located within broader understandings of crises in global capitalism to shed light on who is driving processes of change and for what purpose. This demands that our own thinking should encourage, support, and learn from the debates and struggles currently taking place in Asia. ■

R eO R IE N T : Global Economy in the Asian A/fe

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and generated by the global world economic structure and dynamic. It is studied how Asia’s world econom ic advantage between t4oo and t8oo turned to its disadvantage and to the (temporary) advantage of the West to face the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. World-encompassing macro- and micro-economic analysis is used to account for The Rise of the West in global instead of the received Eurocentric terms. The concluding chapter then builds on the historical evidence and argument of this book to derive theoretical conclusions about how to analyse this global whole. Only a globally holistic anal ysis can permit a better comprehen sion of how the whole world eco nomic structure and dynamic shape, and differentiate its sectoral and re gional parts East and West, North and South. Recourse to a more holis tic global historiography and social theory suggests how Asian, and par-

ticularly Chinese, predominance in the world economy through the eighteenth century presages its re turn to dominance also in the twen ty-first century. Panel discussions of the book are taking place at the annual meetings of the American Historical Associa tion, the American Sociological Asso ciation, the International Studies As sociation and at the Third Pacific Centuries Congress. A three week long e-mail debate in May-June t998 with over a hundred contributions from around the world discussed and contrasted ReORIENT with David Landes' The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations and was carried simulta neously by the nets of H-World, HAsia, Economic History, and World System Network. The complete de bate is still accessible by Internet on some of their electronic archives. ■

Professor André Gunder Frank was a Senior Visiting Fellow at the HAS Amsterdam Branch Office between June and July 1998. During his stay at the HAS, he delivered the 9th Annual CASA W ertheim lecture, and participated in the ICAS Conference with a panel on his latest book:

REORIENT

GLOBAL ECONOMY IN THE ASIAN AGE. Published by the University of California Press, 1998, ISBN 0-S20-2I 129-4 (hb), ISBN 0-520-21474-9 (pb), 416 pp.

December 1998 •

has n e w s l e t t e r

N?t7 • 3

GENERAL

N E WS

On the Temptation of the West it is the world which is invading Europe with all its present and its past, its heap o f offerings o f living and dead forms, its meditations ... This great, troubled drama which is beginning, dear friend, is one o f the temptations o f the West’ (André Malraux)

■ By G O E N A WA N M O H A M A D

Forum

note concerning the title of my speech. Like the text quoted above, it comes from The Temptation o f the West The book was published in its original form in 1926, and is regis tered as André Malraux's first novel. I choose the book to propose, in my rambling manner, an examination of what happens to us when we dis cover cultural differences. The book is a brilliant mix of literary travel writing and an elegant expression of prejudice; it is a kind of adaptation of the famous Kipling’s line, remind ing the eternal depth that separates ‘East’ from ‘West.’

|- z

I believe Malraux’s prose can be a vivid example of the tension be tween ‘vision’ and ‘narrative.’A liter ary work like this puts us back to ‘ex perience’, which immediately brings sensuous particularity against spu rious abstraction. However, my speech is by no means a eulogy for Malraux’s first work of fiction. As I read it, the novel is about two friends writing to each other, from two distant places. One (called ‘Ling’) is a 23-years old Chinese in a visit to Europe. The other (called ‘A.D,’ age 25) is his French friend on his trip to Asia. Arguably it is an unusual novel, since it reads more like a group of short essays (in the form of letters) than a story. Malraux’s piece covers a static body of Orientalist (or essentialist) cliches. The novel opens with an Asian landscape crowded by Tartar roses, caravans that pass the steppes, dirty merchants who lead shaggy camels, and numberless, extravagant temples, studded with trembling

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I choose the book also because in the business of producing knowl edge of the Other - whatever the Other is - one is ethically implicated in a profound and painful way. I think there is a growing consensus on this point, which may explain why Emannuel Levinas’s insistence on coming to terms with ‘the face of the Other’ is drawing a lot of follow ing among students of humanities. I would like to call this perspective ‘the imperative to concretize’. It may I serve as an antidote to the current j theorizing zeal in the academia. Therefore, we need a ‘narrative’ rather than a ‘vision’ in our venture to speak about ‘Asia’. To use Edward Said’s description (in Orientalism, I 1978), ‘vision’ presumes that ‘the whole Orient can bee seen panoptically’, and the result is a ‘static system of ‘synchronic essentialism’. Against it, ‘narrative’ introduces ‘an opposing point of view, perspective, conscious ness to the unitary web of vision’. Narrative violates the ‘serene Apollo nian factions asserted by vision.’ 4 • I

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N? 17 • December 1998

bells. And predictably, there is a mention of the contrast between ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ mind. Not very stimulating, I am afraid. But perhaps I am being unfair. The novel is a product of a European mood of the 1920s, written by a young French intellectual on his way back from Indochina to Paris. As a recent biography of Malraux by Curtis Gate describes it, the intellec tual Zeitgeist of the mid-i920S was represented by a disturbing question whether ‘a dangerously frenetic, in tellectually hyper-active Europe’ had much to learn from ‘the age-old wis dom and spiritual serenity of the Orient’. In 1921, European universi ties gave a rapturous welcome to Ta gore, the visiting Indian poet. But there was a lurking fear, especially among intellectuals of conservative persuasion, of the danger of‘pseudoOriental doctrines’ and o f‘Asiatism’. Whatever they are. It was a period of intense ‘EastWest’ encounter and controversy. The Temptation o f the West was pub

lished as a part of the polemic. Mal raux himself believed that Asia could never offer any teaching to the West. He stated that ‘one of the strongest laws’ of European mental make-up was that ‘vanquished temptations are transformed into knowledge’. On that Malraux’s position is not radically different from most Euro pean Orientalists and adventurers. The novel’s premise is built on an imagined ‘East’ as an enchanting contrast to European ennui. Still, given the novel’s indifference to or dinary things like story line and pro gression, it introduces (in Said’s words again), ‘an opposing point of view, perspective, consciousness’ to ‘the unitary web of vision.’ The prose - elegant, exalted, brilliantly elo quent, and sometimes poetically oracular - stirs, disrupts and upsets its own intent. The centre does not hold. Voices get mixed up. Which one is Ling’s and which one is A.D’s? Increasingly, both characters of the novel become practically inter changeable. The text does not give the readers enough materials to cre ate a describable profile either of Ling or of A.D. There is a trace of ambivalence in all this, of course. Ling is the more forceful interlocutor of the two, yet he is just A.D.’s alter ego. Curiously, the novel ends with A.D writing to Ling, but his letter immediately shifts into a monologue addressed to ‘Europe’. In no time it also becomes a moment of soliloquy, in which A.D makes an aside as if talking to his own image: Europe, great cemetery where only dead conquerors sleep, whose sadness is deepened by the pride taken in their illus trious names - y o u leave me with only a naked horizon and the mirror o f solitu de’s old master, despair. Perhaps he also will die o f his own existence. From the distance, in the port, a siren howls like a dog o ff its leash. Sounds o f vanquished cowardice... I am contemplating my image. I shall never forget it. Unstable image o f m yself I loveyou not at all. Like a deep wound, badly healed, you are my dead glory and my living pain... In a sense, The Temptation o f the West foreruns today’s philosophical trend, especially among European thinkers, to interrogate the solidity, or the status, of the subject. It has become almost like a well-estab lished practice of postmodernist ar guments to say something against the modern conception of subjectego, to challenge it as a sovereign, to talizing entity, constitutive of itself and its world, including the other. When Ling writes to A.D he is like a participant in a debate over a Foucauldian anti-humanist proposition: ‘For you, absolute reality was first God, then Man; but Man is dead, fol lowing God, and you search with an guish for something to which you can entrust his strange heritage. Your minor attempts to construct a moderate nihilism do not seem des tines to long life...’ Of course, Ling is wrong. Even today ‘a moderate nihilism’ main

tains its discreet charm among much of contemporary debates. The fact that Ling believes that it will soon go away is because he is an ‘Occidentalist’ through and through: he believes in the immutable qualities o f‘European.’ And yet the novel ends with a lament about change. ‘Euro pe’ has become a transformed crea ture, very much related to death and dying. We remember A.D.’s meta phor o f ‘cemetery’. Ling also speaks o f‘the long procession of a dead Eu rope’. It is interesting to note that the novel's notion o f‘the temptation of the West’ is related to a ‘great, trou bled drama’ in which the world in vades Europe ‘with all its present and its past, its heap of offerings of living and dead forms, its medita tions.’ It is surprisingly prophetic. Today, even more than before, im migrants, new comers, the exiled, the hybrid are ‘invading’ Europe. The inflow has generated a serious problem for Europe in maintaining its previous position as the holder of the imperial gaze looking at the rest of the world. But this is the ‘tempta tion’ at the end of the 20th century (by the way, the word ‘temptation’ means either ‘trial’ or ‘enticement’), marked by an entirely new demo graphic map of Europe (and of the United States, for that matter). Hence, the fresh emphasis on differ ence. Hence, a growing recognition of the permeability of cultural bor ders. Today, the idea of origin, ethni cally closed or otherwise, has become increasingly untenable. In the process, it will transform the idea o f ‘Europe’ into something continually holding off the defining line of its imagined ‘civilization’. Ling speaks o f‘the soul of Europe’ as ‘an unceasing creation, renewed by action in a world destined to act’, but he hardly foresees the dissolution of the very meaning o f‘the soul of Eu rope’. Whether it will lead to the last stage of the ‘West’ - meaning the ‘West’ becoming something more meaningful than a map shaped by NATO - remains to be seen. But one thing has become clear. At the time when a global capitalism expands triumphantly with no centre, (the present U.S. dollar-pegged suprema cy notwithstanding), the ‘West’ is no longer the sole legitimate site of'the knowing subject.’ Today scholars on Asia from all over the world will readily agree that ‘Eurocentrism’, a special kind of narcissism, is a cardi nal sin. Regrettably, narcissism dies hard. We have noticed how Malraux spe aks of the uniqueness of the Western mind, refusing to agree that the ‘West’ can learn something from the ‘East’. This brand of narcissism ac cepts the Other only as its alter ego, like in the relationship between Ling and A.D. It also requires a constant focus on ‘Me’ as seen in a mirror, meaning having a self-coherence. Needless to say that to attain, and

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GENERAL

Studying "Asia" Internationally

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P *1

■ By A N T H O N Y REID

- r am giving this talk I primarily because the Asian Studies As sociation of Australia (ASAA) was sceptical about the moves towards FICAS (First International Conven tion of Asia Scholars) and then ICAS, and raised some uncomfortable questions about what international izing Asian Studies should mean. The old centres of learning clustered around the Atlantic lie far from us, and the moves of the AAS and the HAS towards ‘internationalizing’ the study of Asia seemed to be a matter more for these Atlantic centres than for Asia itself The organizers of this conference showed commendable courage and openness by inviting me here, and I want to respect that openness by re flecting on the uncomfortable ques tions and how we might set about answering them. By being here, I am already complicit in this enterprise. But its dangerous ambiguities are perhaps particularly pressing to an Asianist from a country denounced by Samuel Huntington for contem plating defecting from the West in favour of Asia, and becoming ‘a per manently torn country’. My task must simply be to remind you of some of the dangers of organizing our profession in this way.

Internationalizing Asian Studies This gathering, at this time and place and with this composition, is a matter of some importance. Exactly 500 years after the first military and intellectual confrontation between an ‘Asia’ and a ‘Europe’ rendered dis tinct by a long sea voyage, a large as semblage of Asianists from many countries have come together by easy flights in a globalized climate that renders all distinctions suspect. There has been ambivalence, reflect ed in the dropping of the ‘First’ from its original title, whether the meet ing should make a claim to special importance of an internationalizing kind. Why have we so gathered? At one level it represents simply an other product of globalization: the communications revolution, the in creasingly widespread use of Eng lish, and cheaper airfares. Increas ingly our networks are global ones, so why not meet on a global basis? Our subject is a particular part of the world, and a part still very con scious of having been dominated militarily, economically, and intel lectually by the West during most of the last zoo years. Our Leiden hosts represent one of the greatest centres of Orientalist scholarship, and we meet exactly 125 years after the real first international conference of Asian Studies - that is the Interna tional Congress of Orientalists, which convened in Paris in 1873.

Were Edward Said standing here he would make us feel more uncom fortable than I propose to do. He would ask whether we should be meeting on such a questionable theme as ‘Asia’. He is here anyway, as part of our mental furniture. We are all uncomfortably aware that our discipline, if that is what it is, devel oped as a means whereby an eco nomically advanced ‘West’ could un derstand a troubling ‘Other’. If the discipline is truly to be internation alized, the object of that under standing must become the subject. A true internationalization finds its ultimate test in whether it wins sup port in Asia, the object of our study. Once we are standing in Asia, as in Australia we begin to think we are, can we continue to be ‘Asianists’? In presiding over the 9th Interna tional Congress of Orientalists, Max Muller defined oriental scholars as ‘scholars who have shown that they are able, at least... to translate a text that has not been translated before’. This fusty insistence on mastering Asian texts does not look so bad as an entry qualification. The grappling by Europeans with their own lin guistic, cultural, and political plu ralisms may have given the old Orientalist Congresses a better basis than ourselves for becoming what they aspired to be: ‘a true republic of Oriental letters which shall be free and open to all enquiry, and in which all schools, scholars, and na tionalities shall be on an equal foot ing’ (Leitner, controversial President of the 1891 London Congress). The first Congress already showed an anxiety to incorporate Asian diversi ty and the Orientalist Congresses moved outside Europe relatively early, starting with Algiers in 1905. The Orientalists’ exclusion of con temporary political issues was aban doned in 1954, partly under Soviet pressure; the name was changed in Paris in 1973 to drop the embarrass ing orientalist label and adopt mod ern acronym-speak, in the form of ICANAS (International Congress of Asian and North African Studies). The ICANAS Congresses remain somewhat stuffy, conscious of tradi tion, of protocol, and of their official status with UNESCO. But they are entitled to continue doing their thing by virtue of having done it for 125 years. They have to adjust to new forces, but despite Said they do not really have to justify why they orga nize on the basis of‘Asian and North African Studies’. We here represent a new step towards internationaliza tion at the end of the Vasco da Gama half-millennium, and we do have to ask that question. ICAS has the con fidence that comes from American social science and its currently strong position in what passes for international or world-dominant scholarship. But it must have more

PHOTO: WIM VREEBURG

than that self-confidence, which can easily become an arrogance. It must be self-conscious and self-critical about what internationalization means.

Asian Studies in Asia Having insisted that the test of whether we have progressed lies in whether our current Asian Studies is credible in Asia, my own Association (ASAA) responded to the ICAS initia tive by extending our network in Asia. Together with the Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn Uni versity we convened to consider what Asian Studies did mean in Asia and how we ought to encourage in ternationalization in that context. Let me frankly confess here that there was no enthusiasm for institu tionalizing ICAS, since ICANAS al ready provided a forum. Nobody took up the suggestion of inviting the next ICAS to meet in Asia. The feeling was that Asian Asianists needed first to establish their own sense of identity and common pur pose, before being confident of host ing a meeting which was genuinely international from an Asian point of view. I believe there will be further progress towards that end, but prob ably more slowly than will serve the needs of an ongoing ICAS. At our Thailand meeting there was agreement that we could useful ly define Asian Studies as an inten sive multidisciplinary study, sensi tive to cultural difference, of a socie ty other than our own. Nobody doubted the extreme importance of this kind of study in the modern world. But differences of perspective abound once one takes one stand in Asia. In most countries of Asia the only modern foreign languages widely studied are those of Europe principally English but also French, German, and Spanish. Australia, Ma laysia and Singapore, are the only countries in the region where the foreign languages widely taught in High School include Asian ones. For Asian education systems, the princi pal ‘other’ tradition by which identi ties are defined is European civiliza tion. It was conceded to be more dif ficult and problematic to perceive ‘Asia’ or ‘Asian Studies’ as a collective whole when standing at some par ticular point within Asia. A recogni

tion of and coping with otherness was suggested as fundamental to all creative analysis, and interdiscipli nary approaches were ever more nec essary as disciplines become more specialized and theoretically impen etrable. Containing half the world’s popu lation, and most of its literary tradi tions and religious scriptures, Asia forms too big and too incoherent a slice of humanity to be contained in any kind of discipline. What Asia nists more usefully share, I suggest, is a commitment to the serious en terprise of understanding a culture and tradition other than our own, through a variety of disciplinary techniques usually including lan guage. This is not very different from the definition of Asian Studies given by the President of the 1983 Japan ICANAS congress, Professor Yamamoto Tatsuro - ‘to develop our understanding by trying to imagine the standpoint which other persons are acting upon or observing’. So de fined, those standing in Asia have no very good reason to exclude Europe an Studies from the enterprise. ‘Eur asian Studies’ might indeed be a more helpful umbrella under which to build a genuinely plural and bal anced discipline of this sort, even though its subdivisions would have to be still more numerous than at present. For the moment, however, ‘Asia’ is the umbrella we are stuck with, practically useful in grouping non-European language and culture studies, and ideologically useful as a challenge to the dominant para digms in the established disciplines.

that phenomenon at work. A com mitment to crossing one boundary must entail a readiness to cross oth ers, to listen to different perspectives in different languages about the par ticular ‘other’ which is the object of our study. The more this happens the healthier area studies is, and the more likely it is to present a pluralist debate. Asian studies in Japan have a de veloped sense of Asia as some kind of whole because of the issue whether, or how, Japan is part of it. The depth and strength of Japanese writing on the rest of Asia most patently re quires outsiders to pay attention. It is one of our responsibilities as inter nationalizing Asianists to tackle this kind of boundary as well. The best Japanese work is now available in English to make this easier than it once was. The problem however re mains - is the task of international izing to transfer as much as possible of the internal dialogues into Eng lish, or to become such polyglots that we can cope adequately with the insights of scholarship in a multi plicity of languages? The first route has no merit except practicality. The fact that more and more Asian schol ars do write perceptively about other Asian countries in English makes in ternationalization not just an aspi ration but a process. There remain appalling inequalities of access to what we tend too glibly to call ‘inter national’ discourse, and of power within it. But this discourse, in Asian Studies more obviously and necessarily than in any other disci pline, is at least plural, and must ever strive to be more so.

Studying the other The internationalization of this enterprise is not just a trendy reflec tion of the globalization of our times. It is an essential aspect of our calling as brokers or boundarycrossers. Deep bilateral relations can give rise to cross-cultural research of the highest order, but are frequently weighted with so much inherited in equality and distrust as to produce a dialogue of the deaf. The effort to understand another culture and so ciety from our own perspective must bring us closer to others seeking to understand the same culture from a different perspective. This Confer ence will show many examples of

A fu tu re fo r ‘Asian Studies? I should conclude by returning to the challenge of globalization. Is ‘Asian Studies’ caught in its own trap, endorsing by meetings such as this the stereotype that ought to be consigned to an Orientalist past? Is the world converging in communi cations terms so swiftly that our structures are becoming part of the problem - a relic of a colonial and pa rochial past, which ought to be ban ished?

December 1998 •

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GENERAL

N E WS

The EurAsian Orientalists’ Server as a Tool to Maintain National Cultural Heritage One o f the main goals o f the Institute o f Oriental Studies o f the Russian Academy o f Sciences (IOS/RAS) is to establish fruitful co-operation and confidence between different scientific insti tutions, centres, and research teams working in the field o f Oriental Studies both in Russia and in other CIS republics. ■ By R O S T I S L A V B. R Y B A K O V , A L E X A N D E R A. S T O L Y A R O V & D I M I T R Y D. V A S I L Y E V

I—

ince mid-1997 IOS/RAS has had Internet access through j the EurAsian Orientalist Server (EAOS) http:// www.orient.ru. IOS/RAS is using the EAOS to develop the AllRussian Information Space (RuslnfoSpace) in the field of Oriental Stud ies. This is a complex task and the EAOS is only one of the tools for im plementing it. Another one is the newly established Association of Orientalist Information Centers. The work on computerizing the Oriental sources started in 1985 in various sci entific centres of the USSR. It began with bibliographical description, ab stracts of books and articles pub lished both in Russia and abroad. At the end of 1991 scholars of the IOS/RAS, in collaboration with their colleagues working in Russian and CIS Oriental Studies institutions and centres launched the Program for Computerized Researches on the mediaeval history of Eurasia. The Program envisaged the creation of a complex computerized information

system including the creation of some databases which would encom pass the contents of archive deposito ries and museums, and collections of manuscripts. The main feature of the system was the use of multi-lan guage texts, graphic illustrations, and photo and video documents within a single database. The basic department of the Institute designed for the realization of the Program was that of the History of the Orient. Intermediate results of these activi ties were presented at the Interna tional Conference ‘Monuments of Spiritual, Material, and Written Cul ture of the Peoples of Ancient and Mediaeval Orient (Databases Crea tion)’ in Moscow, 1995. In the same year scholars working on the Pro gram of Computerized Researches began to display some of the results of their work on-line.

Present situation There is a great discrepancy be tween the amount of cultural mat ters studied in Russia and the degree of their technological and financial support. This is due to deficit financ ing of Russian science and culture, the main reason why Russian Orien

tal Studies have not been integrated into the global information network, but have instead fallen apart into local research groups. Now that Internet reaches out over the world, opportunities have arisen for spreading up-to-date Orientalist information through networks avail able to scholars working in different regions. The EAOS is seen as one ef fective tool for maintaining this pro cess. It is a multifunctional tool for assembling and spreading informa tion on Oriental Studies. The EAOS is also an educational and consulting centre which holds training workshops, helps colleagues to master hardware, and to create their own sites and place them on the Internet. Thirdly, the EAOS is a stan dardization centre, which helps to adopt standard methods and soft ware for working out electronic edi tions, catalogues, and libraries. Final ly, the centre spreads information on new developments, publications and events, and on new software which can be applied in scholarly research. In order to increase the process of maintaining the spirit of co-opera tion and confidence between differ ent scientific institutions, centres and research teams, the International Association of Oriental Information Centers (IAOIC) has recently been es tablished. The IAOIC is supposed to tie together all Information Centres working in the field of Oriental Stud ies. In its initial stage it linked about

fifteen Orientalist centres (institu tions, museums, libraries, etc.) in Russia as well as in CIS republics, such as Georgia and Tadjikistan. These centres are supposed to be sup plied with appropriate equipment, technologies, and education so that the specialists working in them can create an integrated set of catalogues, electronic libraries, and databases for different historical sources and re search materials. They are also sup posed to be interlinked by Internet, email, web-sites, teleconferences, re gional conferences, and workshops. Within the IAOIC some sections are laid down in different fields of Orien tal Studies such as: Turkic Studies, Is lamic Studies, Middle Eastern Stud ies, Chinese Studies, South Asian Studies, Buddhist Studies, Central Asian Studies, etc., which will have their own teleconferences and home pages on the EAOS. One of the first steps taken by the Association has been working on the electronic catalogue ‘Two Hundred Years of Russian Oriental Studies’ containing information on scientific organizations and groups, their his tory, work priorities, descriptions of holdings, bibliographies, personalia and so on.

tended to spread information and know-how among scientific teams and individual colleagues. It is also necessary to link the EAOS with as many Russian and international serv ers and sites with information on Asian Studies as possible. The EAOS ‘Resources’ division is specially destined to be filled with electronic editions of monographs prepared by the scientific staff of the IOS/RAS.The annual number of pub lications exceeds two hundred. Plac ing each electronic edition on the EAOS implies creating special sites. This listing of the prospects for de veloping integration, co-operation, and dissemination processes is purely provisional. We have the material, the scientific resources, specialists and to some extent - the know-how, but the present state of our activities can not be given a high assessment rating because of deficit financing. The bud get does not support Internet activi ties: they are too expensive. We have some support from the Russian Foun dation for Basic Research but this is entirely Russia-oriented. It is difficult for us to develop international pro jects even with our CIS partners. ■

Prospects and problems One of the most essential tasks now is to support all these activities by a printed and on-line periodical ‘Eur Asian Internet Journal’ which is in

A lexander Stolyarov can be reached at astol@glasnet.ru.

Research Centre Forum Luso-Asiatico for Linguistic Typology mmm T s! L Luso-Asian Forum (FLA) is a Portuguese private and non-profit association formed in February 1997, and located in Lisbon, for the purpose o f promoting and organizing different public events which will deepen the awareness o f the Portuguese pub lic opinion about Asia singularities. Its principal aim is to cre ate academic and scientific connections within Europe and re inforce the spirit o f understanding co-operation, and friend ship between Portugal and Asia, In all related fields.

he Research Cen tre for Linguistic I jl . Typology is an Ujyil autonomous unit withh 44 in the Department of Linguistics in the Facul ty of Arts at the Australian National University. The main business of the Centre consists in putting forward inductive generalizations about human language.The Centre orgamzes international workshops on topics in typological theory. The first (18-23 August 1997) was on ‘Valency changing derivations’, looking at passives, antipassives, causatives, and applicatives in cross-linguistic perspective. The Centre has a permanent staff of Director, Associate Director, and Administrator. It also has a number of fixed-term positions, which are advertised as they become available. Each year there are also a number of Visiting Fellows. In 1997 these were

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Dr Joseph Tsonope from Botswana and Professor Lyle Campbell from New Zealand. Visiting Fellows in fu ture years will include scholars from the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, and the USA. Scholars from other universities (or from other parts of the ANU) who under take research on typological issues are encouraged to consider spending their sabbatical at the Centre. ■

Further information: Research Centre for Linguistic Typology The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia E-mail: Linguistic.Typology@anu.edu.au

N? 17 • December 1998

By A R N A L D O G O N S A L V E S

uso-Asian Forum proposes to orga nize seminars, con ferences, and workshops 1*01 about the economic, po litical, social, cultural, and linguistic aspects of the countries that compose the Asian continent, namely those with whom Portugal has maintained historical relations, like China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. FLA intends to get financial support for the research projects of young na tional and foreign researchers who want to develop studies centred in the relations between Portugal and South and Southeast Asia. Another objective is to create deep links of co-operation with similar entities in other coun tries, serving as a means to integrate Portugal into the cultural and scien tific network of co-operation, under

standing, and interchange of infor mation of Europe with Asian coun tries. FLA encourages mutual initia tives, exchanges of information and linking to Internet sites of other relat ed academic, scientific, and cultural institutions of Oriental Studies. Since February 1997, the Luso-Asian Forum has organized several semi nars in Lisbon and Macao, still a Por tuguese dependent territory, to de bate Asian political actualities, name ly the issue of‘The transition of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China’ and a Seminar about ‘Globali zation and Relations between Portu gal and Japan’. Beginning in March this year the FLA has been organizing a Cycle of Dinners-Debate with retired Portu guese Governors of Macao, under the title Macao 1999, the end of the Em pire. Its guests have already included General Garcia Leandro and Admiral Almeida Costa, the first two Govern

ors of the Portuguese territory, after the 25 April Revolution. The cycle is to be continued next October and De cember with General Melo Egrdio and Professor Pinto Machado and will be closed in the eve of the transfer of Macao sovereignty to PRC, later 1999, With General Rocha Vieira, the pre sent and last governor of Macao. An International Seminar called ‘The Asian-Pacific Region on the threshold of the 21st Century’ is also planned in Macao, this year. The Sem inar will gather various Portuguese and foreign experts in international relations, economics, geopolitics and international security issues and will debate the most up-dated events con cerning Asia bilateral and multilater al security and threats that will arise in the turn of the 21st Century. The Luso-Asian Forum edits a bi monthly newsletter that has now re ached its sixth issue and can be or dered through the address below. ■ Arnaldo Goncalves. Professor o f International Politics, is chairman o f the Luso Asian-Forum. For further information, please contact FLA at Rua Alfredo Roque Gameiro, 18-1 Esq, 16 0 0 Lisbon, Portugal, fax: +351-1322 7734, e-mail:Arnaldo A. Goncalves@ctt.pt, http://www.terravista.pt/ilhadomel/2320.

GENERAL

NEWS

Regionalism and Global 14th IUAES Congress Affairs in the Post-Cold Legal Pluralism War Era and Folk Law

JULY 1 9 9 8 WILLIAMSBURG,

VA,

USA

■ By D O N A L D H E L L MA NN

The five-yearly congress o f the International Union o f Anthro pological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), which took place during the last week o f July 1998 in Williamsburg, Virginia, bore an immoderate title: ‘The 21st Century: The Century o f Anthropology’. No less than eleven hundred social scientists converged on the campus o f the College o f William and Mary. Surprisingly, a full ten percent o f the panels was organized by scholars from India, a conspicuous element indeed. By MA A R T E N BAVI NCK

he Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism is one of eighteen commis sions recognized by IUAES. Members of this commission organized a symposium consisting of six well-attended topical sessions during the Williamsburg congress, and it is on this section of the mega-event that this article con centrates. The Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism had its origin in 1980 in a group of scholars congregated around Gerard van Steenhoven of the Department of Law, University of Nij megen, The Netherlands. Their pur pose was to construct an intellectual platform for legal scholars and social scientists, as well as for practitioners in the field of legal pluralism. To this end the commission organizes ses sions at every IUAES congress, as well as its own conferences, at an interval of an average of two years. It deliber ately strives to convene in various ge ographic settings, as this facilitates the involvement of local scholars and activists, and stimulates the discus sion of a heterogeneity oflegal and so cial situations. The 1997 conference thus took place in Moscow, and the following conferences will be staged in Chile and in Nepal. The commis sion currently has approximately 350 members. In accordance with the tradition of devoting attention to the locality, the commission’s sessions in Williams burg highlighted the situation of na tive Americans in the United States and in Canada. The themes were of a general nature, however, and paper presentations dealt with a range of places and topics. Asia was represent ed by papers on India, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Central Asian states. For the third time in its conference history, the commission in Williams burg devoted special sessions to the topic of natural resources and proper ty. The organizer, Melanie Wiber, mo tivating this initiative, pointed out the rich landscape of rights to natural resources, which exists in society. She argued this is an area in which inter national law, national law, and sets of local regulations interact in complex and scarcely undocumented ways. Moreover, it is a field in which impor tant shifts are currently taking place. It was striking to note that many of

the papers in these sessions related to common pool resource activities such as fisheries, forestry, and pastoralism, and documented the contestation of property rights from different angles. Others emphasized the importance of property rights for the livelihood of substantial numbers of people.

Dispute resolution A second set of sessions focused on the position of so-called ‘first na tions’, or indigenous peoples, in vari ous parts of the world. One panel ad dressed the native American situa tion, taking up contemporary issues from Canada and the United States. Several authors addressed the hot topic of land rights. Another session concentrated on South Africa where, parallel to the drastic remodelling of the social and political structure, the relationship between customary and constitutional law has become a mat ter of urgent concern. Dispute resolution is one of legal pluralism’s traditional concerns. Many scholars have investigated the ways in which people address and re solve social problems outside the offi cial court circuit, and the interactions that take place between state and folk law. The papers presented during the session on this topic reflected this in terest. A final set of papers in the sympo sium described specific non-state legal systems or plural configura tions.

Conclusions Looking back on the symposium, participants expressed their satisfac tion. Not only had the programme been topically diverse and well at tended, it had also presented a new opportunity for intellectual exchange between social scientists, lawyers, and social activists from many countries. The wide interest in legal pluralism was actually quite striking. Paper pre senters in the symposium originated from no less than thirteen countries and six continents. However, Asia is still relatively feebly represented. For this reason, the commission plans to hold a following conference in South Asia. This hopefully will make it easi er for persons from the region to par ticipate. ■

M aarten Bavinck is attached to the University o f Amsterdam. E-mail: bavinck@isg.frw.uva.nl

Conference on ‘Regionalism and _ _ Global Affairs in ,^1 the Post-Cold War Era: The European Union, APEC, and New Interna tional Political Economy’ was held in Brussels on March 16 and 27 under the joint sponsorship of the HAS, the University of Washington APEC Study Center, and the National Bu reau for Asian Research in Seattle, Washington. The conference focused on the economic crisis in East Asia, which was discussed both as a prob lem in economic management and as part of a historical pattern of eco nomic development. This has led to a transformation of the region under a societally rooted process of economic and political change, differing from the democratic capitalist model in the Western world.

The participants involved were an array of senior scholars from East Asia, Europe, and the United States. In addition, a number of ambassa dors from the APEC region and repre sentatives from several major Euro pean companies attended and were active in the lively discussion of this timely topic. The opening session in volved a heated debate concerning the current global political economy. Was it really an interdependent but nonconvergent world in which the Asian region stood apart? Or was the current crisis essentially a problem that would be solved by bringing Asia into line with the market-driven Western economic model? This set the tone for the next two days, during which a wide range of views on this subject was articulated. There were three major themes: (1) the lack of and need for clearer leadership to manage the global political economy - especially from the United States;

(2) the need for new international in stitutions to replace those left over from the Cold War era to address more effectively contemporary politi cal-economic realities - most notably the current economic crisis; and (3) the need to address the challenge of Asian power and the Asian develop mental model from a historical and cultural perspective, not as a purely economic and short-term crisis. A publication and a follow-up con ference in Asia will be the result of this conference, which succeeded in broadening the boundaries of debate over a still unfolding upheaval that will cast a shadow over the interna tional relations of East Asia for the first years of the new millennium. ■

Professor Donald Hellmann is the director o f the APEC Study Center in Seattle, Washington.

EU Project a t Chulalongkorn U n iversity, Bangkok, Thailand

European Studies Program he European Stud ies Program (ESP) is a project of the Eu ropean Union of which the aim is to promote ac ademic teaching about the various aspects of the European Integration process, its legal and his torical foundations, its institutions, its policy orientations, and external relations, in Thailand. To achieve this the ESP intends to develop a welltrained core faculty and a curriculum in European Studies at Chulalong korn University, Bangkok, covering fields as community law, economics, history and political science. Further more the Project will attempt to stimulate research in Thailand and Southeast Asia on matters concerning the European Union and EU-ASEAN relations and to encourage co-opera tion between researchers in the four disciplines. The plan is to institution alize the Program as a permanent Center for European Studies in Southeast Asia. In a general sense, the Program in tends to foster a better understand ing of the EU among academics, public opinion, political and busi ness decision makers, as well as to contribute to the development of

mutual advantageous economic co operation between Thailand and the EU. Established in November 1992, the European Studies Program can look back on more than five years of expe rience with Asian-European academ ic co-operation and intends to build on this experience in the future.

Research Grants: jointly or individually conducted projects to stimulate research on EU and ASEAN-related topics for Thai and European researchers; Conference Participation Grants: invitations to Thai academics to participate in European conferences focusing on EU issues;

The Project Activities include; - European Chairs: two-week visiting professorships for European specialists at Thai universities. Specialists from all fifteen European member states have already been recruited; - Faculty Fellowships: intensive preparation stays (two to four months) of Thai faculty members at academic or research institutes throughout Europe with the aim of acquiring expertise, up-to-date factual knowledge, documentation, and contacts; - Ph.D.-Grants: long-term stays at European universities by Thai post-graduate students;

Annual international conferences in Thailand; Seminars and lectures in Thailand on EU topics, primarily addressing the Thai academic community, but also a larger public and the private sector. ■

Project Co-ordinator o f the ESP is Professor Franz Knipping. Tubingen University, Wilhelmstr. 42, D-72074 Tubingen, Germany,

- Junior Ph.D.-Grants: short-term stays at European universities by Thai students;

tel.:+49-7071-2977367, fax:+49-7071-551S26, e-mail: esp@uni-tuebingen.de.

December 1998 • has n e w s l e t t e r W 1 7 • 7

GENERAL

Hmong and Miao Studies The First International Workshop on the Hmong/Miao in Asia was successfully held in Aix-en-Provence, from n to 13, Sep tember 1998, supported by the Asia Committee o f the Europe an Science Foundation. Convened by Dr Jean Michaud (Uni versity o f Hull) and Dr Christian Culas (CNRS), the workshop brought together for the first time a group o f international scholars who are specialists on the Hmong and the Miao mi norities o f Mainland Southeast Asia. ■ By J EAN M I C H A U D

r p he Hmong in I Southeast Asia J - and their relatives in China, the Miao, from whom they sprang, number nearly ten mil lion people. Despite a relatively long period of intensive observation of the group in the field, Hmong/Miao re search has never been consolidated, and even today, it is still being per formed by a handful of mostly nonAsian researchers in dispersed insti tutional situations. The study of spe cific topics among Hmong refugees in the West has resulted in gather ings and two collective publications, whereas the study of the Hmong/Miao in Asia, where more than ninety per cent of them live, has led chiefly

>•

APRIL

INSTITUTE

to individual publications on a wide variety of topics. The main purposes of the Workshop were therefore: 1) to take stock of the scholarly research on the group in every relevant discipline in the Social Sciences and the Hu manities (anthropology, sociology, linguistics, history, and human geog raphy); 2) to highlight the strengths and weaknesses in our knowledge of Hmong/Miao culture(s), favouring cross-disciplinary exchanges; and 3) to create the conditions and set an agenda for long-term academic col laboration. The need to launch such a scholarly co-operation is urgent. The re-open ing of formerly closed communist States in Asia is forcing a renewal of the negotiations in the relationship between the national minorities and

NEWS

the central powers, and it also chang es the research conditions dramati cally. Foreign scholars are gaining ac cess to isolated communities in Gui zhou, Yunnan, northern Vietnam, and Laos. Local archives are being opened up for national and interna tional consultation. A growing num ber of young researchers from both inside and outside Asia have found an interest in the Hmong/Miao. The in terest shown in particular by numer ous Laotian Hmong from the diaspo ra in their Asian origins brings them back from the USA, France, and Aus tralia to conduct research on their own original society. To meet the growing demand for fundamental knowledge, an assessment of the cur rent state of the study is needed, and the Hmong/Miao scholars scattered throughout the world are now in the position to provide it.

The workshop Amongst other themes, the work shop focused on ‘Identity, Identifica tion, and History’. The historical de scription of the Hmong/Miao encod ed in the Chinese, Vietnamese, Lao, and Thai languages has given rise to a situation where, today, identifying each group with precision is a deli cate issue. Closer collaboration be tween historians, linguists, and an thropologists, combined with ethnohistorical and ethnolinguistic works based on first hand data, should help to lay the foundation for a scientific distinction of the different Hmong and Miao groups.

Another theme was ‘Religion, Be liefs and Cosmology’. Both shaman ism, a powerful dimension of ritual expression, and messianism, a key feature in Hmong culture, provide fertile ground for research. Mytholo gy and funeral rituals are now better described - especially owing to in particular to Western missionary ac tivity - but many seasonal practices are still unknown. Religious varia tions between Hmong/Miao sub groups in different countries should be paid specific attention. On the topic o f ‘Transnationality, Social Change and Adaptation’, it be came clear that the relationship be tween the States and the Hmong/Miao minorities is a sensitive issue. For several decades now, Hmong/Miao communities have had to adapt to national frames. The Hmong/Miao societies in different countries have followed various directions. Connect ing and articulating Western and Asian expertise, including scholars of Hmong/Miao origin, can contribute to identifying patterns of cultural re silience, of social and spatial organi zation, and structures of adaptation, in particular regarding health issues. This work is a prerequisite before get ting any further in the understand ing of Hmong patterns of adaptation in Asia and the West.

STUDIES,

In the plenary session, the over whelming feeling was that the meet ing had been a success and should be

BEIJING

Labour Mobility and Migration in China and Asia The International Conference on ‘Labour Mobility and Migra tion in China and Asia’ was held in Beijing, 17-18 April 1998. It was organized by the Institute o f Asian-Pacific Studies, Chi nese Academy o f Social Sciences o f the People’s Republic o f China, in collaboration with the International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden) and the Institute o f Social Studies (The Hague) o f the Netherlands. ■ By L EI L A F E R N A N D E Z ST EMBRI DGE

urrounded by blossoming trees stirred by a breeze, the historical building was the perfect setting for the discussions on one of today’s hottest topics in the Social Sciences: the origins and implica tions of labour mobility and migra tion both in China and the rest of Asia. The Conference was divided into four sessions, which were all linked: the industrialization and ur banization process in Asian coun tries; the effects on the labour struc ture; the importance of governmen tal and non-governmental policies; and finally the problems and effects of labour migration. If we want to understand how mi gration flows evolve in the Asian context, it is fundamental to consid er the case of China as an essential case of study reflecting the tenden

•

has n e w s l e t t e r

cies in labour migration, the role played by migrant workers, and the response offered by governmental authorities. Needless to say, it is also necessary to understand migration in the rest of Asia in order to create a more coherent framework for the Chinese case. After all, the globaliza tion of a more developed system of transportation and communication has eased and increased the frequen cy of human movements. This im plies therefore a necessary compari son at the Asian regional level. Now, the question is whether the progres sive marketization of all Asian coun tries has eased labour mobility or has it rather been impeded by gov ernmental intervention, and has therefore created obstacles to a real economic and social integration of migrants in their respective places of destination. Thus, the process ofjobhunting may be motivated by eco nomic interests, but may also be nec essarily dependent on the govern ment political interests, as govern

NS 17 • December 199&

ments tend to explicitly advocate further freedom of mobility, but in fact provoke barriers that impede migrant workers to achieve their ob jectives. During the conference the linkage between Chinese characteristics and Asian features often surfaced as a key for further debate. In addition, com parative studies between India and China or between Vietnam and China proved both the parallelisms and differences in the rapid process of urbanization and modernization of the three countries. This implied an important academic exchange that could be seriously considered for future projects of discussion.

D ifferent Perspectives , Sim ilar Results? Despite the hot debates raised on the economic, social, and political challenges caused by the rapid eco nomic development of China in par ticular and Asia in general, only few of the participants challenged the classical and theoretical concepts of migration originating from the Todaro Model. Instead, the majority raised questions about the crude re ality migrant workers are generally forced to face. On the other hand, the globaliza tion effects of migration were seri

A book will be prepared for publi cation putting together most of the papers presented at the Workshop. C. Culas, G.Y. Lee, J. Michaud, and N. Tapp were appointed on the editorial committee. ■

or more information, please contact: DR JEAN M IC H A U D C entre for South-East Asian StudiesUniversity of Hull,Hull, HU6 7RX, GB, fax: + 44.1482.46S.758 e-mail:

The Future o f H m ong and M iao Studies

1998 ASIAN-PACIFIC

repeated. The issue of whether it would be appropriate and financially viable to set up a permanent associa tion of scholars working on the Hmong and the Miao was also rai sed. Participants agreed, as a first step in the right direction, to start with preparing a second meeting in two years time, and Chiang Mai (Thailand) has been mentioned as its probable venue. Concurrently, C. Corlin from Sweden ha.s set up an electronic mailbox (HmongL@sant.gu.se) where participants and others can continue to exchange ideas on topics related to Hmong and Miao studies and the future creation of an association. To regis ter to the discussion group, one should contact first Dr Corlin him self at claes.corlin@sant.gu.se.

ously considered in the context of to day’s growing Asian economies, and the phenomenon of expanding mar kets became a target within the cau sal relationship between capital and labour. In that sense, it was conclud ed that both factors of production, capital and labour, are doubtfully correlated, which makes more dubi ous what can be expected or wished to be a high level of labour mobility.

Some Shortcom ings and Some

Suggestions As usually happens in seminars or conferences dealing with a wide range of countries or topics, two days were simply not enotigh. Interesting aspects such as informality, regional disparities, migration policies, or network and mobility, were consid ered on a general basis but lacked a more in-depth insight of what their implications on labour mobility could have been. If two days were the established limit for whatever rea sons, strategic or economic, then it would probably have been more use ful to have divided the topics into discussion groups, rather than solely relying on plenary sessions. That way, scholars with common inter ests would have had a higher prob ability of finding consistent solu tions for at least some of the prob-

j.michaud@pol-as.hull.ac.uk o r Dr Christian Culas, IRSEA - CNRS, 389, Ave du Club Hippique, 13034 Aix en Provence, Cedex 2, France, e-mail: irsea@romarin.univ-aix.fr.

lems that were raised, and a loss of focus that inevitably emerged on several occasions would have been avoided.

Conclusion Initially, the Conference was meant to be comparative. Neverthe less, each subject of discussion pro ved to be somewhat unique, taking into account the political and eco nomic differences in each of the cases involved. It is encouraging to think that countries that are considered to be geographically associated are, however, different in essence and in evitably create different opportuni ties for migrant workers that have no other option but to change their working and living conditions. In that sense, and despite the in conveniences mentioned above, it was overall a positive idea to join scholars from different back grounds. The conclusions resulting from the discussions in April will be reflected in a book that is likely to be published by the end of the present year, both by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in PR China, and the Institute of Asian Studies in The Netherlands, and will hopefully allow all those who are interested in and working on migration and la bour issues to have an illustrative in strument of reference. ■

Leila Fernandez-Stem bridge is a Research Fellow at the Centre for East Asian Studies, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.

GENERAL

NEWS

Edward W. Said:

Scholar and Activist You cannot put a label on Edward W. Said. This University Professor o f English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, US, is also a historian o f ideas whose dazzlingly original interpretations on Orientalism have given history writing a new stimulus. But that’s not all. Said is a political ac tivist as well. A Palestinian by birth, he has been deeply in volved in Palestine’s confrontation with Zionism and Israel. A gifted musician, at present Said is working on a new interpre tation o f Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. All these have made it difficult to understand the man. He has been marginalized by the American mainstream, dubbed the ‘professor o f terror’ by some, and at the same time lionized as ‘the defender o f Islam’ by others. But how does Said see himselft ‘As a teacher,’ he says. Excerpts o f an interview. By D A M A Y A N T I DA T TA

: You may have always been a teacher, but you also a prolific writer and an activist. How do you reconcile all these identities? In which role do y o u fe d most comfortable? A: I think the role of a teacher. I’ve been teaching now for almost forty years. And I’ve always learnt during the actual class. There’s something that eludes me when I read and think without the presence of stu dents. So I’ve always thought of my classes not as a routine to go th rough but rather an experience of investigation and discovery. And I depend very heavily on reactions from my students. In the early days when I started teaching, I used to overprepare - plan every minute of a class. Later, because I had such bright students at Columbia I began to find out that the students’ comments would stimulate lines of thought and discussion that I hadn’t expected before. And very often that found its way into my writing.

‘1 never had the feeling

of speaking into the void ’

Q: You’ve always focused on the prob lems o f the Arab world, especially Pales tine. But as an exile in America do y o u ever fe el that you are orating into a void? How interested are, say,your stu dents in the issues that engage you most? A: In the beginning I certainly felt that I was only addressing my stu dents. Later, as I began to write po litically, I was conscious of a larger audience. Not my students. I have never used my classes to talk about my political activism. The class room is sacrosanct to a certain de

gree. But the more I wrote the more I discovered that by writing one could get an audience, especially on the question of Palestine. Since there was a dearth of voices, I was able to create, in a certain sense, a kind of constituency for what I was saying and it became quite large. The latest phase is that, since the early nineties I’ve been writing two columns a month for an Arabic newspaper. For the first time now I have a regular Arab readership, which has been very important for me. My work is so often translated into many different languages and I go to countries and places where the terms of debate and understanding of what I’ve written are so different that I’m constantly surprised. But I’ve never had the feeling of speak ing into the void. I think the audi ences I get in universities and aca demic associations, professional groups and activists are very stimu lating and I love the debate.

thing that didn’t correspond be tween what I felt to be myself and that kind of education. I’ve always felt that two educations were going on - the conventional education at the school and the self-education in order to satisfy the other part. That almost always produced rebellion of one sort or the other. I was always known in school as too clever or too smart to be thrown out but too un orthodox to be considered one of the prize students. In the end I was th rown out at the age of t5 for my po litical involvements. So, I was sent to very elite schools in America. There it began all over again. Dur ing my 11 years as a student there I never developed close relationships. Q: Whenyou write, fo r whom do y o u write? For yo u rself fo r other intellectu als, fo r policy makers, fo r activists, fo r whom? A: I write most o f the time for an occasion rather than for a person. I certainly don’t address policy mak ers. My readers tend to be people on the left, who are outside the consen sus and looking for alternatives to the prevailing world view. For Arab readers, I try to reach out as widely as possible, for there I feel that I’m trying to change opinion. But, I also write for myself. For instance, the memoir I’m writing now is really a search for a lost time and those on music satisfy my own long-stand ing interest in these issues.

Edward W. Said

ture or history, involves sifting through evidence and in the end ar riving at interpretations. I would find it very surprising and even per verse, if I was understood as derail ing the study of history. ■

This interview was given during Edward Said’s first visit to India at the end o f December 1997 I beginning ofJanuary 1998. © 1 9 9 7 by The Telegraph, Calcutta, ABP Ltd Co. Reprinted by permission. D. D a tta was an affiliated fellow at the HAS from 5 April - 2 May 1997. She was a guest lecturer o f history at Jadavpur University

Q: Your work on Orientalism has profo u n d ly affected the writing o f Indian histoiy. But has your work affected the historians o f the Arab world? A: In the Arab world, sadly, my work has really not been as deeply understood as I think it has been elsewhere. There I am read as a kind of defender of Islam against the evils of the West. Which, I think, is a caricature. The theoretical side is missing there. In the Arab world there is not much interest in mate rial that isn’t directly about them. A new historical consciousness, how ever, is slowly emerging and most of them are affected by the kind of criticism I’ve done. In Beirut last July there was a conference - 1 think the first of its kind in the Arab world - devoted to my work. It was called ‘Towards a critical culture’. But that’s a tiny sample. Arab intel lectual life is in a state of torpor, po litical asphyxiation, and indiffer ence. So it is really among the younger Arab intellectuals in the Diaspora where I think the change will come. Q: You’ve been educated in orthodox and elite institutions. How d id y o u de velop into an anti-establishment intellectual/rom such a background? A: You see, my background was al ways conflicted. Before I left for the US, I had a colonial education and I felt out of place. There was some

‘The theoretical side is missing in

(Calcutta) and the assistant editor at The Telegraph, Calcutta.

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the Arab world’

C H A R B O ’S ANTIQUARIAAT Q: Some people allege that because o f your influence, Indian histoiy writing has been derailed. Too much attention is being paid to literary and aesthetic rep resentations o f colonial rule than, say, to social, political, or economic domina tion. How wouldyou respond to that? A: I hope not. I’m nothing if not historically based. I’ve always said that the study of literature is basi cally a historical discipline, no use in separating one from the other. There’s a constant tension between the world of aesthetic and the world of historical action, which I am in terested in explaining. I’ve always had an aversion to theoretical web spinning, but one can’t neglect the theoretical and the aesthetic - as important components of human experience. My views are more in clusive than exclusive. I don’t think of the study of literature or of histo ry as separate or competing: they support each other. The whole pro cess of writing, whether of litera

Specialising in antiquarian and old books on: history ethnography topography travel maritime history colonial history culture and art Our up-to-date catalogue of books on ASIA can be consulted on IN T E R N E T : http://iias.leidenuniv.nl/books/charbo

C H A R B O ’S ANTIQUARIAAT Koninginneweg 79 NL-1075 C] Amsterdam

The Netherlands Telephone: +31-20-676 12 29 Telefax: +31-20-676 17 26

D e cem b er 1998 • h a s n e w s l e t t e r W 17 •

GENERAL

N E WS

Asia Urbs is Becoming Effective The Asia Urbs Programme is now in its operational phase after the setting up o f the Asia Urbs Secretariat in March 1998. 500,000 ECU. The remainder - at least thirty-five per cent of the total cost in cash or in kind - will be supported by the partners. Besides enhancing co-operation be tween Europe and Asia, the objective of the Asia Urbs Programme is to im prove quality of life of the citizens in their cities in assisting local govern ments to strengthen their efforts to wards sound urban management. The Programme will consider activi ties aimed at reinforcing networks of local governments and close partner ships in the following areas: urban management, including institutional development and urban design poli cies and techniques; socio-economic development including participation of women in the cities and urban pov erty alleviation; urban environment, conservation and rehabilitation, management of water and waste; and urban social infrastructure including methodologies and feasibility studies. Priority will be given to: project de sign and pilot projects where the sub stance and the proposed form of par

By GIE S I AUW

nitiated by the Euro pean Commission, the Asia Urbs Pro gramme is a new frame work for decentralized co operation between Eu rope and Asia. It will enhance and strengthen links based on urban de velopment co-operation between local governments in South and Southeast Asia and Europe. The Pro gramme is designed to move urban development planning closer to the beneficiaries focusing on citizen par ticipation and capacity building. It will encourage the delivery of techni cal and financial support to pilot pro jects. The total budget allocated for the projects is twenty-six million ECU for a three-year period, while the devel opment projects should normally last two years at a maximum. A Call for Proposals will be launched and each selected project will be co-financed by the European Commission up to

►

LEIDEN,

JUNE THE

ticipatory implementation has de monstrative values; projects aimed at improving the quality of life of dwell ers through adequate provision of urban services; sound proposals for carrying out the activities and the dis semination of results. In terms of eli gibility, European and Asian local governments with a legal status in their respective countries are the ap propriate bodies to prepare project proposals, make financial requests and implement the related activities. Each project will be based on a part nership involving at least two local governments from two different Eu ropean Union member states and at least one of the following eligible Asian countries: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Demo cratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singa pore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam. ■ For more information please contact Asia Urbs Secretariat Avenue Marie José 44b, 1200 Brussels, Belgium, tel:+32-2-732 87 94, fax: +32-2-732 8 7 0 7, e-mail:secretariat asia-urbs.com, www.asia-urbs.com

•

Visiting Arts: Asia-Europe Newsletter n September 1998, this new, informal quarterly was laun ched with a view to en couraging and facilitat ing creative collabora tion between Asia and Europe and keeping artists and arts practitioners from both regions fully apprised of the latest developments in Asia-Eu rope cultural exchange. With the emphasis firmly on practicality and ease of distribution, the Newsletter will be distributed by fax and e-mail to key individuals and organiza tions, backed up by a printed version for distribution to those without fax or e-mail facilities. Regular features in the Newsletter will include information on Asian arts networks, databases, web-sites; information regarding festivals, seminars, conferences and other major events at which Asian arts and culture are showcased; news about cross-cultural collaborations includ ing proposed Asia-Europe projects

BOOKS

1999

•

seeking partners; case-studies of art ist-led exchange programmes where the emphasis is on process rather than product; examples of good practice in the contextualization of traditional Asian art forms; special features on contemporary Asian arts; news about Asian diaspora commu nities in Europe and their cultural activities; and information about key sources of funding. ■

We welcome all contributions. If you have information regarding planned or forthcoming exchange programmes with the Asia-Pacific region for inclusion in the newsletter, please forward this to:

Tim Doling Visiting Arts 11 Portland Place London W I N 4EJ England, GB, tel:+ 44-171-3893019, fax:+ 44-171-3893016, e-mail:TimDoling@compuserve.com.

RECEIVED

NETHERLANDS

Fourth conference o f the European Societyfor Oceanists

Josiane Cauquelin, Paul Lim and Birgit Mayer-König

ASIAN VALUES: ENCOUNTER WITH DIVERSITY' Surrey: Curzon Press, 1998, 207 pp. ISBN 0-7007-1096-5

Susan Legêne

Asia in the Pacific he purpose of the biannual confer ence of the Euro pean Society for Ocea nists (EsfO) is to ex change research results and to create closer links amongst European Oceanists, and among Eu ropean scholars and their colleagues from other parts of the world. As a rule, its main theme is designed to accommodate the diversity of the problems faced by the scholars and disciplines concerned. The first conference of the ESfO was held in Nijmegen (in 1992), the second in Basel (1994), and the third in Copenhagen (1996). The fourth one, in 1999, will be held in Leiden, jointly organized by the Centre for Pacific Studies (CPS) in Nijmegen, and the Irian Jaya Studies Project (ISIR) in Leiden. The conference will start on Friday evening, 25 June 1999, and end on Sunday evening, 27 June 1999. The main theme of the 1999 ESfO conference will be ‘Asia in the Paci fic’. This theme has been selected in the light of the cultural, linguistic, political, and economic influences of Asia in the Pacific - and of the Pacific in Asia - in the past and at present IO •

has n e w s l e t t e r

and will be addressed in particular in de keynotes and in some work shops. Although the organizers would like to see many papers dis cussing aspects of this main theme, it should be emphasized that the participants of the conference are also free to choose a subject outside the scope of this general theme for their papers. This non-exclusive and broad perspective conforms to the many disciplines united in the ESfO (anthropology, history, linguistics, museology, etc.) and is evident in the thirteen working sessions proposed for the 1999 conference: 1. Movements and Migrations of Ritual Practices; 2. Tourism and Cultural Identities; 3. Impact of Foreign Occupation and Migration on Local Cultures and/or Individual Life Histories; 4. Conversion and Missions; 5. The Trader’s Dilemma in Asia and the Pacific; 6. Consumption and Identity; 7. Mythemes; 8. Local and Global Identities Con fronted with Universality; 9. Feelings and Forces of Displace ment; 10. Languages and Other Semiotic Systems;

17 • December 1998

'DE BAGAGE VAN BLOMHOFF EN VAN BREUGEL. JAPAN, JAVA, TRIPOLI EN SURINAME IN DE NEGENTIENDE-EEUWSE NEDERLANDS CULTUUR VAN HET IMPERIALISME'.

xi. Resource Exploitation; 12. Knowledge and Knowing; 13. Fertility and the Foundation of Social and Cosmic Order in the Pacific.

C all f o r papers Papers on any of these thirteen proposed sub-themes are invited. If you intend to present a paper, please indicate your first choice and a sec ond choice for a working session. Or ganizational considerations may oblige us to regroup papers in differ ent sessions. A short abstract of your paper (no longer than 150 words in cluding the title) is requested by 1 March 1999. We will charge a conference fee of Dfl. X50 for members with full-time jobs and Dfl. 50 for unemployed members and members with parttime jobs. Both fees include cof fee/tea, and a programme book with abstracts, but do not include din ners). ■

Amsterdam: KIT Press, 1998,468 pp. ISBN 90-6832-277-X

Harm Stevens

DE VOC IN BEDRIJF (1602-1799): DE VERSCHILLENDE GEZICHTEN VAN EEN VROEGE MULTINATIONAL Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1998,96 pp. ISBN 90-5730-007-9

ADVERTISE!

IN THE MAS NEWSLETTER

Mailing address: ESfO Organizing Committee, ISIR, Nonnensteeg 1 -3 ,2 3 11 VJ Leiden, The Netherlands; fax: 31-715272632; e-mail: isiresfo@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

See p a g e 13

GENERAL 20

L E ID E N ,

FEBRUARY THE

1998

NETHERLANDS

NEWS

the Japanese society - urbanization, the growing middle-class member ship, and the emphasis on domestic ity - has manifested itself at the table, or rather at the three different forms of table which were used in Japan throughout the twentieth century. Merry White (Boston Uni versity) explained how young women in contemporary Japan dem onstrate both the power of market ing and their own agency as they consume food trends and engage in been transformed from a nutritional behaviour increasingly antithetical necessity to a business opportunity to the culturally approved model of on the one hand, and to a hobby on nurturance, service, self-abnegation, the other. and domesticity. Pat Caplan (Univer After lunch, three papers ad sity of London) elaborated on the dressed the issue of national and cul issue of new patterns of shopping tural identity expressed and ‘con emerging among the affluent mid structed’ through food. Emiko Ohdle classes in Madras, as a result of nuki-Tierney (University of Wiscon economic liberalization and the ex sin) discussed the changing identi pansion of manufactured food im ties of the Japanese by examining the ports after 1994. position of rice and meat in the Japa Theodore Bestor’s (Cornell Univer nese diet. Boude wijn Walraven (Leid sity) paper dealt explicitly with the en University) discussed the contro spread of Asian food beyond Asia in versial topic of eating dog-meat in the era of globalization. Bestor fo Korea, concentrating on how it is cused the attributions of cultural perceived by the non-Korean acti categories in the global trade on the vists fighting for animal rights, and example of seafood trade at the Tsuhow this in turn affects the Korean kiji wholesale market in Tokyo. An attitude. James Watson (Harvard neke van Otterloo (University of Am University, US) dealt with another sterdam) taking the example of the example o f ‘constructing’ one’s cul Netherlands, explained how globali tural identity with the help of food, zation affects Western food habits, by discussing the spread of the habit o f‘basin dining’ (puhn-choi) - part of by concentrating on the expansion of interest in Chinese and Indone the New Territories rural tradition sian food in this country as a result among the urban residents of Hong of the migration of the peoples from Kong after its repatriation in 1997. the former colonies to Holland. The paper by Isao Kumakura (Na Helen Bush (University of Glasgow) tional Museum of Ethnology, Japan), examined the issue of cultural iden initiated a new theme, - Asian food tity expressed through food, from a in the domestic setting. Kumakura showed how the modernization of different perspective. On the basis of

Asian Food Culture in the Twentieth Century ■ By B O U D E W I J N C. A. W AL R AV EN & K A T A R Z Y N A J. C W I E R T K A

he goal of this workshop was an examination of the Asian-European en counter as seen in the context of food culture. The participants chose a variety of foci from their diverse disciplines and fieldwork experiences. The Asian-European encounter given shape, and meaning (and taste) in several settings included food-relat ed practices and historical changes in consumption through contact and influence throughout the twen tieth century. In the first half of the twentieth century the influence of the West on Asia was stronger. Since the mid-twentieth century, Asian ways of food have gradually gained recognition and popularity else where and not only due to the feed back from colonial experiences. Robert Pemberton (US Depart ment of Agriculture) for instance, looked at the gathering of wild foods in contemporary South Korea as a window, which reveals social trans formations in the country. On the one hand, keeping pace with the ur banization of the population, and the development of market econo my, the gathering of wild foods has

The^atherm^

of wild foods transformed from a nutritional necessity to a business opportunity’

a survey conducted among South Asian women residing in Scotland, she demonstrated that the tradition al family hospitality meals play an important part in the life of migrant South Asians, and are still preserved as the symbol of their cultural iden tity. The paper by Katarzyna Cwiertka (Leiden University), examining the post-World War II expansion of Asian food in Europe from the his torical perspective of colonialism, concluded the workshop. The workshop was supported fi nancially by the Japan Foundation, the International Institute for Asian Studies (HAS), and the School of Asian, African and Amerindian Stud ies (CNWS) of Leiden University. ■

Lithuania: The Medieval Ten Thousand Years History Journal between East and West — rp he Medieval History Journal makes it J L appearance at a time when the historical periodization of a given society’s past is being re defined the world over. Timeframes that have been frozen for many dec ades have been questioned in recent years and the boundaries of the ‘me dieval’ have been expanded. Medie valists no longer sever the sacred form the mundane, the classical from the vernacular, while literature and the arts are no longer outside the purview of history. The Medieval History Journal is designed as a forum for these trends and for accommodating questions, critiques, and debates. It expresses spatial and temporal flexibility in defining the ‘medieval’ in order to capture its expansive thematic do main. Overall, the journal seeks to transcend the narrow boundaries of a single discipline and encompass the related fields of literature, the arts, archaeology, anthropology, so ciology, and human geography. A refereed journal, it explores problematics relating to all aspects of societies from all over the world in the medieval universe. Articles

|j||S§8||g

which are comparative and interdis ciplinary and those with a broad canvas find particular favour with the journal. Frequent special issues are also planned. The Medieval History Journal is published biannually in April and October. ■

Lithuania lies at the crossroads between East and West. Lithu anian national culture is the result o f the synthesis o f different cultures. Oriental cultures especially have had a profound in fluence on the local setting. The interest in the East has re mained and culminated in the founding o f a Centre o f Orien tal Studies. ■ By R O M U A L D A S NEIMANTAS

he Lithuanians have lived near __ the Baltic Sea for" P about ten thousand years. One hypothesis is that Lithuanians origi nally came from India as the Lithua nian language is closely related to Sanskrit. Another is that Indo-Euro peans moved through Asia and the Balkan Peninsula before settling in Lithuania. The first people in the territory that is now Lithuania were probably hunters from the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea. Later Indo-European tribes from the south invaded the territory. As time passed the original inhabitants began assimilating this new Orien tal culture.

Short hlews

Editor:

HARBANS M U K H I A

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Sage Publications Post Box 4 2 15 New Delhi I 10048 India 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks CA 91320, USA 6 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4PU, United Kingdom.

In the eleventh century the tribes united into the state, which soon will celebrate its first millennium. Through the establishment of Chris tianity in the fourteenth century, Western European cultural features were introduced. Eastern cultural characteristics have remained, as Oriental peoples, such as Jews, Tar tars, and Karaims, have lived in the territory for hundreds of years. Con temporary Lithuanian national cul ture is the result of the synthesis of these different cultures. Throughout the ages Lithuanian travellers, missionaries, and collec tors travelled widely not only in Eu rope but also in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. They returned with knowl edge of peoples in other countries and wrote about this. They also brought back art from ancient Egypt, India, and Japan that are now displayed in the museums. To this

day artists, writers, and scientists have taken interest in the cultures of the West and of the East. Since Lithuanian independence in 1990, the inhabitants gained access to information and the exchange of ideas with scientists abroad. This has greatly enhanced scientific research work and knowledge of other coun tries. A Centre of Oriental Studies was founded. It is in private hands since there are no governmental pro visions for such an institute. The aim is to provide information and bring people together who share an interest in intercultural connec tions. ■

Those who are interested are invited to write to:

DR ROMUALDAS NEI MANTAS

Private Centre of Oriental Studies V. Kzèvès pr. 27-88, Kaunas - 3042 Lithuania.

Ro m u a l d a s

N e i m a n t a s publishes on

cultural connections o f Lithuania with the Orient He has composed a bibliography on this subject consisting o f a million entries.

December 1998 • has n e w s l e t t e r ■NE17 •

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REGI ONAL

N E WS

Central Asia

AFGHANISTAN KYRGYZSTAN TAJIKISTAN

• KAZAKHSTAN • MONGOLIA

• TI BET

TURKMENISTAN

• UZBEKISTAN

XINJIANG-UYGUR

Language Policies & Movements in Present-Day Central Asia In 1989-1990, when the Soviet U nion still existed, the titular languages o f Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, and Turkm enistan were proclaim ed the official languages o f their respective republics. This was no surprise to anyone. It was part o f a general trend am ong the Soviet republics. Similar developm ents could be w itnessed in other parts o f the union. Furthermore, it was generally believed, or expected, that this was but a natural course o f events, and a part o f the endea vours made by groups o f people, possibly the majority, to gain autonom y, or even independence. ■ By BIRGIT N. SCHLYTER

r p I

his expectation was reinforced JL not least among linguists in the West by the final collapse of Soviet socialism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The symbolic impact of language is generally recognized; it easily moulded into a feature of identity or an index of cultural belonging of one sort or the other. In Western think ing it has been provided with a sig nificant political dimension by being included in definitions of eth nicity and ‘nation’, the latter term being placed in direct correspon dence to the notion of‘state’. In 1991, as the Soviet Union was split up and new states emerged in the aftermath, the idea o f ‘one state one nation’, strengthened. Every body started talking about nationbuilding, one important ingredient of which was language. For seven decades the inhabitants of the newly independent Central Asian states had experienced nation-building as members of the Soviet state. Having never experienced it as a sovereign people left them with the responsi bility of singling out the features of nationality for themselves, which was to put it mildly, a pretty tall order. Another conceptual problem that the Central Asians are now facing is that of language policy. Their legacy here is, quite naturally, Soviet lan guage policy, which during the So viet era was highly centralized, de signed and controlled as it was by Moscow, and which was character ized first and foremost by the domi nance and influence of the Russian language. Consequently, presentday Central Asian language policies, if there are any, are centralized rath er than decentralized, though this time at the local level instead of at a broad all-union level - and the lan guages to which present-day lan guage policies in former Soviet Union are to be applied are, to vary ing degrees, former standardized So 1 2 ■ has

newsletter

viet languages and as such more or less russified languages. Definitions of language policy vary, but in my research on the lan guage situation in Uzbekistan, I stick to a rather narrow definition: ‘that which an authority, for exam ple, the government of a country, both allows and stipulates as far as language practice is concerned'. Lan guage reform - another notion - is promoted both by laws and regula tions, i.e. language policy, and lan guage planning and language plan implementation.

Language reform awareness The notions of language policy and language reform are often treated as if their principle concern is language or languages. In fact, they are not. They concentrate on language prac tice, or more precisely, on the lan guage users, and part of the imple mentation work consists of arguing as convincingly as possible for the proper justification and advantages of the language reform envisaged. A possible model in this context would be to depict language reform and language community as two separate entities interrelated by features of the latter, such as socio-demographic structure, language habits, changes in language habits, language atti tudes etc. - and also something that I call language reform awareness, a no tion referring to the fact that people must be informed and kept aware of the language reform process and somehow be. convinced of its right ness in order to make the language reform catch on and take effect. The degree of the public’s ‘lan guage reform awareness’ and en gagement is dependent on the gener al socio-political importance of lin guistic matters. The language issue in Uzbekistan is not as politically ‘hot’ today as it was earlier. Uzbek has been established as the state lan guage and is safe in this respect. At the same time there are some signs of fatigue caused by practical intricacies and the slowness to enforce language reform. Despite such set-backs one has to say that an impressive amount

NS 17 • December 1998

of substantial language reform work has already been done in Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks are conducting a fairly broad-scale language policy which includes scrutinizing both alphabet and vocabulary. I would venture to make the statement that at present Uzbekistan is the only Central Asian state with a language policy in the sense of a strategy for a fundamental change of language practice in the country. In other states and nations it would perhaps be better to talk about inclinations in linguistic mat ters rather than fully fledged lan guage policies. The two alphabets that have been proposed so far for Uzbek - one in 1993 and the other in 1995 - have been heavily criticized. From a lin guistic point of view they can hardly be regarded as improvements on the current Cyrillic alphabet; they are more or less just schemes for CyrillicLatin transliteration. The prepara tions for the change-over to Latin script have slowed down in Uzbeki stan. Nevertheless, a detailed plan has been worked out for the imple mentation of the Latin alphabet for Uzbek, at least in Uzbek schools and higher institutes oflearning. One special complication in the case of Uzbekistan is the presence within Uzbek state borders of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakistan with its own autonomous lan guage policy, enshrined in fairly strong terms in the Uzbek state lan guage laws. So far, there have been no definite signs of any independent Karakalpak language policy. Another drawback in the case of Karakalpak, is the uncertainty about the plans to adopt a Latin alphabet for Kazakh. Karakalpak is much clos er to Kazakh than to Uzbek, and if this language is to adjust its script to that of any other language, that should be Kazakh. To my knowledge, no alphabet law has yet been passed by the Kazakh Parliament.

Turkicalphabet Especially in Kazakhstan, but to some extent also in Kirghizistan, the proportions of Russians are much higher than in the other three states, which has inevitably had an impact on language attitudes and the han dling of language issues, not least the Russian language issue. In the latest Kazakh constitution from 1995, Russian was elevated from its status as ‘language of interethnic communication’ to the status o f‘of ficial language’, while Kazakh re mained the sole ‘state language’. In

Kirghizstan, by an amendment to the constitution in 1996, Russian was de fa cto made into the second of ficial language of the republic. This was in direct contrast to pronounce ments in the Kirghiz 1989 state lan guage law, according to which Rus sian should be phased out as a lan guage of official government work by 1999The first Central Asian republic to make its national language the state language of the republic was Tajiki stan. Tajikistan has a large Uzbek population, and concessions were made in the Tajik language law of 1989 to the practice and teaching of Uzbek, in the same manner as con cessions were made for the use of the ‘international’ Russian language as well as Russian-Tajik bilingualism in the republic. Provisions were also to be made for the preservation and use of minority languages in Gorno Badakhshan. The Tajik language law came into effect on 1 January, 1990. Subsequent language laws in the other Central Asian republics were provided with timetables giving dif ferent deadlines for different articles or sets of articles. Generally speak ing, transition periods of around ten years for the complete implementa tion of all articles of the language laws were envisaged. This decade is now coming to an end, and a great deal still has to be done. I have not heard of any official de cision or concrete proposals about Tajik alphabet revisions, although Arabic script has made a stronger comeback in this republic than in the others. However, the Latin script has its proponents even among the Tajiks. Some hold the opinion that there should be co-operation and co ordination on the alphabet issue be tween Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, since the Uzbek and Tajik languages and literatures are so closely inter twined they ought to employ the same type of script - not a very easy task. The last republic to proclaim its state language was Turkmenistan. According to Charles Carlson Turk menistan was the only Central Asian republic to put its national language on a par with Russian as an interna tional language. With these developments of new Central Asian Turkic alphabets, the attempts to create a basic, or general, Turkic-Latin alphabet seem to have been seriously hampered. At the be ginning of the 1990s, Turkey played an active role on this issue. The basic Turkic alphabet adopted at a confer ence at the Marmara University in

Istanbul in November 1991 has ap peared from time to time in publica tions where it is presented as the still valid new Turkic-Latin alphabet. However, not only Uzbekistan, in cluding Karakalpakistan, but also Turkmenistan and Kazakstan have introduced alternative alphabets that are not just modifications of the basic Turkic alphabet but alphabets which differ on certain fundamental points. Turkey seems to have become quite disencouraged by this develop ment, but this country is still inter ested in its Central Asian brethren and is now approaching them in other ways, through small business es and through education, in which not only a Turkic-Turkish alphabet but the Turkish language itself is being launched. With this in mind, what will be the most favoured for eign language in future Central Asia - one might ask - English or Turkish. Probably English, because Turkish is after all no foreign language in Tur kic-speaking Central Asia, as a panTurkic Turkish teacher once put it.

Bureaucracy When a nation becomes a state, bureaucracy makes its entrance into the organization of this state. The Central Asian language policies are good examples of bureaucratic state language policies. In the presence of bureaucracy, dynamism and flexibil ity are easily lost. The republics under consideration belong to a still larger Central Asia, which in most of its parts is in a process of cultural metamorphosis. There are language movements going on in the vicinity of these republics - language move ments that are not necessarily sup ported by any state bureaucracy and which may, therefore, have stronger features of spontaneity. At the Stockholm Forum for Cen tral Asian Studies, at present, besides my own research on the linguistic structure of Uzbekistan and lan guage renewal in this country, we have a project on Uighur and other minority languages in Sinkiang. In another project on ‘Cultural Syncre tism in Central Asia’, the phenome non of ‘mixed languages’ will be studied. The current new linguistic and cultural awareness and transfor mation in large parts of the Central Asian region will be ofimmediate fu ture interest to researchers and this large-scale transformation might well add dynamism to linguistic is sues and have an influence on atti tudes towards language and culture even in state bureaucracies. ■

Birgit N. Schlyter is attached to the Forum for Central Asian Studies, Stockholm University. She can be reached at e-mail: F0CAS@0rient.su.se

C E N T R A L ASI A

Tibet in the West & the West in Tibet ~t

It was gratifying to find several informative articles on Tibetan affairs in HAS News letter #16. However, the article ‘Tibet in the West and the West in Tibet’ by Dr Amalendu Misra seems to get only one thing right, namely that Tibet is an endangered species. By the end of column two the name Melvyn Goldstein came irresistibly to my mind. I looked for references to the article and there he was, as the Tashilhunpo’s long-standing con author’s main informant. tact with southern border regimes. The article as a whole appears to assume that ‘the West’ is some ho Tibetans have on the whole taken to modernization with great fascina mogeneous body that has a mandate tion, certainly from the time of the to oversee what needs to be done to Thirteenth Dalai Lama on, though stabilize relationships between large they choose what they find useful countries and their minority peoples and retain their own where they see in revolt. Its tone is colonial in its treatment of a small nation with a fit. What they object to is the price exacted by China in return for com distinct language, culture, and relig munist modernization: their inde ion like Tibet: ‘to make the Tibetans pendence, one million dead, exile, understand’ etc. The Tibetans are cultural and environmental destruc quite capable of maintaining their tion. If ever there was a country culture in exile until the year of four about which we should ask ‘What dots, if they decide to do so. price progress?’ it certainly is Tibet, The author leans predominantly if not China proper itself. on one book for his references, writ There is no recorded consensus ten by an academic who in turn is amongst Tibetans inside and outside extremely selective in choosing his Tibet about returning to a ‘feudal informants. Dr Misra’s article seems theocratic order’, because 1) The Chi to assume that the exoticism ofTibet nese ignored a proposal by the Dalai is the main casualty of the Chinese Lama to hold a referendum on Tibet’s take-over and that most academics future status among all Tibetans, 2) and/or Westerners know little else the Tibetan government-in-exile and but the exotic features of old Tibet. I the Dalai Lama turned their backs on wish to examine some of Dr Misra’s the feudal system years ago and in specific claims and factually untrue stalled democratic elections with re statements in detail. The ‘monochromatic image of gional representatives and political parties in exile with a view to im Tibet’ has been Dr Misra’s preoccu porting that system into Tibet, and 3) pation, not that of ‘the West’, be the Dalai Lama has widespread sup cause the West is not a unified body port from exiled Tibetans about his or voice. In the world of Tibetology role, which is not feudal but some there are many voices, as there are in thing peculiarly Tibetan that few the world of Tibet independence other nations possess. Therefore supporters and Tibet watchers. Western labels ill fit him. Amongst these Melvyn Goldstein The ‘one good thing about Chi stands apart as a scholar who does nese intervention was the dispens not appear to have his long-term re ing of social justice’ says the author. search projects in Tibet frustrated by But it came at the previously men Chinese authorities, who advocates tioned high price paid by Tibetans that Tibet is part of China, and over and didn’t turn out to be justice at looks why virtually no refugees dare all. Schools only taught in Tibetan return to Tibet and 5000 come south over the Himalayas in the dead of for a short while and are back to a Chinese curriculum for language winter every year. His concern for Ti and Tibetan history. Hospitals are bet’s culture appears to cover only avoided especially by Tibetan the purely material, that is, culture women, because of so many having not associated with the Buddhist re ligion Tibet has espoused for 1300 been sterilized without their knowl edge or permission, while undergo years. Yet Tibet identity and Bud ing other treatment or after giving dhism are almost synonymous, cut birth. Chinese attempts at land re ting across class, city-rural and cen distribution has benefited more tral-east or west divisions. The author states that ‘the West’ than six million landless Chinese immigrants, the Tibetans being should make crucial enquiries about transferred or disowned if it suits a) the political situation in Tibet Chinese reform plans. outside Lhasa pre-1950, b] whether Beijing’s ‘rapid economic develop Tibetans inside and outside Tibet distrust modernization, and c) ment strategy’ in Tibet has caused immense damage in a fragile envi whether there is consensus among ronment. Mainly it is concerned Tibetans about returning to a feudal with extracting Tibet’s natural re theocratic order. The author may be sources for a ravenous Chinese econ relieved to hear that all these enquir omy. Hydro-electric schemes in ies have been made long ago, not stalled for industrial purposes have necessarily by Western academics or been disasters of bad workmanship, power-brokers, but by Tibetans like at Yamdrok Tso. The plan to themselves. build 20 dams in Kham rivers to sup Even informed Western tourists port a steel industry will, if it goes have often read beyond Lhasa poli ahead, turn one of the world richest tics, as far as Kham, Chang Tang, and

biodiverse environments into a pol luted cesspool that will poison half of China via its rivers. Already gold and mineral digging is destroying Kham’s riverbanks, while its forests were disappearing at the rate of 465 logging trucks per day in the sum mer I was there. Rapid, yes. But an economic strategy? Vandalism bac ked by the military is closer to the re ality. And the profits are not meant to stay in Tibet. Tibet's independence was not short-lived. In recent centuries Tibet was independent whenever the Chi nese needed their armies at home. Even when infiltrated, Tibetans ruled Tibet. Invading neighbouring countries was the Han pastime whenever they could afford it. The neighbours weren’t much different and China was invaded and ruled at times, wholly or in part by Manchus, Mongols, Tartars, and Tibetans. Does that give these peoples an ancient claim on China proper, that China that contains evidence of Chinese culture and civilization, though the Han were once a conquered people? Does the world community mean to enter the twenty-first century cling ing to barbarian rules of conquest? Conquest confers rights no longer. Only a weak UN and expediently greedy governments keep protecting the spoils of big nations like China, in case they can profit too. Colonial ism is alive and flourishing. ‘The West’s involvement in this [deadlock over Tibet’s status] is abso lutely essential,’ claims the author. ‘First, it has to make the Tibetans understand the futility of their de mands for complete independence,’ he writes. Who is this ‘West’ and which Tibetans are to be so ad dressed: exiles, Tibetan Youth Con gress, the Khambas, Tibetans in Tibet, or the Dalai Lama who has been telling Beijing for years that he wishes to negotiate about 'genuine autonomy’, with China looking after foreign affairs and defence. That message has been taken to Beijing ad nauseam, and not even an acknowl edgement has been forthcoming. ‘Beijing treats Tibet as an autono mous region,’ the author claims. Not so, as anyone who has travelled there acknowledges, except Professor Goldstein. What protection Chinese authorities have lately given to Ti bet’s cultural-religious heritage has been for reasons of impressing tour ists whose dollars are needed, and has not been extended to the Tibetan people themselves, who now observe so many aspects of their religion at the risk of losing their limited liber ty or their lives, that thousands pre fer to flee the country at the risk of death by frostbite. Many have nothing to lose anyway but their lives, and liberty to gain. A bibliography of books Dr Misra could profitably read before next publishing on Tibetan affairs would be many pages long. For he is right when observing that many works are being published in the face ofTibet’s possible extinction. Time is running out for Tibet.

I was glad to find some articles about Tibet in Newsletter #16. Being both a Tibetologist and Mongolist, I expected them to be of a certain standard and was shocked when I read the article ‘Tibet in the West and the West in Tibet’ by Amalendu Misra. I do not expect to read in the IIAS Newsletter that Tibet was ‘ruled by Dalai Lamas from the seventh century onwards’, or ‘The political history of modern Tibet starts from eighteenth century when it was taken under control by the Mongol, Lohabsang Khan, while paying tribute to the Ming emperors of China.’ These are only two exam ples of the grave errors committed by the author of this article. Even in popular magazines I did not find such ridiculously wrong statements about Tibetan political history.

I am distressed to note that Amalendu Misra, the author * of the review article ‘Tibet in the West and the West in Tibet’, should demonstrate such surprising ignorance of the history and culture ofTibet as to write: ‘Though ruled by Dalai Lamas from the seventh centu ry onwards, the actual political stat us of Tibet has always been subject to the political process beyond its fron tiers.’ From the seventh to the mid ninth century Tibet was subject to a line of rulers generally known as the Yarlung Kings from their main basis in the Yarlung Valley. The indepen dence of Tibet in that early period was unquestioned and these kings were frequently at war with China. As for the ‘Dalai Lama’, this title was bestowed upon the third Grand Lama of the dGe-lugs-pa (Yellow Hat] Order by the Mongol chieften Altan Khan about the year 1578. The dGe-lugs-pa Order was found ed by the great reorganizer of relig ious life in Tibet, Tsong-kapa (13571419). It was established as the ruling religious authority in Tibet by the arms of another Mongol chieftain, Gushri Khan, resulting in the final defeat of the King of Tsang in 1640. The first ‘Dalai Lama’ to exercise power in the Tibet was the famous fifth, and thus it can be fairly said that the Dalai Lamas have ruled Tibet from the mid-seventeenth century onwards, first under nomi nal Mongol suzerainty and subse quently under nominal Chinese su zerainty from 1721 onwards, when the Manchu Emperor K’ang Hsi drove Dzungar Mongol forces from Tibet. Chinese claims to suzerainty over Tibet thus date from the early eighteenth century onwards.

Karenina Kollmar-Paulenz

David Snellgrove

Königswinter, Germany

Torre Pellice, Italy

L E T T E R S T 0

THE

E D I T O R

^ ^

Line two of the second paragraph o f‘Tibet in the West and the West in Tibet’ in IIAS Newsletter 16 should read: ‘Though ruled by the Dalai Lamas from the seven teenth (not seventh] century on wards...’ Line 13 of the same para graph should read: 'paying trib ute to the Manchu (not Ming] emperor of China'. The author re grets the mistakes. Amalendu Misra

ADVERTISE IN THE MAS NEWSLETTER Please ask for our advertisement rates for the possibilities (advertorials, enclosures), deadlines, and copy requirements. Contact Marianne Langehenkel at the HAS tel: +31-71-527 22 27 fax: +31-71-52741 62 e-mail: langehenkel@ rullet.leidenuniv.nl.

Lolo J. G. Houbein Strathalbyn, Australia

December 1998 •

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CENTRAL

ASI A

Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir The primary factors for the establishm ent o f the Centre o f Central Asian Studies in the University o f Kashmir, Srinagar, were geographical proxim ity and socio-cultural identities o f the state o f Jammu and Kashmir with Central Asia, boosted by the linkage o f the kingdom throughout the medieval tim es with the Silk Route network. ■ By ABDUL MAJID MATTOO

r r ^ he idea of the esI tablishment of JL an advanced re search institute with a a ■ multi-dimensional and a a a interdisciplinary ap proach was conceived as early as the 1950s by Sheikh Mohammad Abdul lah, then prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir State. The idea did not materialize until he again resumed the reins of the power in 1975. In the year 1976-77, a High Power Commit tee under a leading educationist and retired civil servant, Badar-ud-Din Tuybji, was appointed to ensure that reforms were introduced in the field of higher education, especially in the [ university system. The idea of the inj stitute came up again and in consul tation with Professor S.Nurul-Hasan (minister of education of the govern ment of India] and Professor Rais Ahmad (vice-chancellor of Kashmir

SEPTEMBER

University), the proposal for formal establishment of inter-disciplinary Research Centre was mooted in the apex body of University of Kashmir in 1978. The Centre of Central Asian Studies was founded as a conse quence and Prof S. Maqbool Ahmad was appointed its founding director. Later a specialized Museum of Cen tral Asia was also added. The State Government transferred a huge collection of antiquities and artefacts bearing Central Asian char acteristics from the Tosha Khana (the state-owned treasure house) and State Museum including the world famous Aurel Stein Central Asian collection and antiques from the an cient site of Burzhome. In the year 1979-80, a High Power Committee for Evaluation of the Indian Univer sities recommended the inclusion of the Centre in the Area Study Scheme of the University Grants Commis sion of India, and since then, this In stitute has continued to be an Area

1998

Dear Editor, -r n 'HAS Newsletter’ No.13, Dr

McKay published the book reX. view of my book ‘Russia’s Tibet File’. Thank you and also Dr McKay for paying attention to a very impor tant problem in the history of inter national relations in Central Asia, which are closely connected with the present-day Tibetan issue. I cannot let the review pass unchal lenged and would like to add some notes to it. Dr McKay treats with some caution the claim in my book that there is not a single document in the Russian Foreign Ministry archives which provides evidence of Russian interest in Tibet from an economic, military, or diplomatic point of view. But this is no more than the truth. Not only do Russian archives not provide evidence of this Russian in fluence, the British quoted in books by British authors are equally silent on the matter. Let us rule out old his torical reminiscences of some eight eenth century military expeditions sent by the Russian emperors Peter the First and Paul the First to conquer India, as well as rhetorical exercises in press in the first half of the nine teenth century on the theme of the Russian threat to India. At the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Curzon used such hoary chestnuts to argue that Russian involvement in Tibet posed a serious threat to India and that once again Russia was set to con quer India. Lord Curzon certainly ex

aggerated the ‘Russian threat’ for his own purposes. ‘Russia’s Tibet File’ admits to the use of the threat and accepts Dr Mc Kay’s claim that the ‘British Foreign Office were totally uninterested in Tibet, and horrified by the expansion ist activities of the Indian Govern ment whose concern for Tibet endan gered Anglo-Chinese relations’. We can therefore come to terms and agree that the British archives do not have either document, which could show British interest in Tibet from an eco nomic, military and diplomatic point of view. If this is so, how then should the ‘The Great Game’ be understood? Since neither Russia nor Great Britain had any interest in Tibet, who played ‘The Great Game’? Dr McKay says that ‘The Great Game’ designated ‘the leg endary struggle between British and Russian frontiersmen for control of the Central Asian territory between their two empires’. In contradiction to this, I have to say that the so-called struggle has been attributed by historians not to frontiersmen but to the Great Powers and their policies and politicians. They tried to play fast and loose with Tibet. The image of Tibet as a pawn in the game of the Great Powers has be come trivialized. Many authors have unheedingly repeated the comparison of this country with a pawn in the game of chess, as a country which had

1 4 • has n e w s l e t t e r W17 • December 1998

Study Centre on Central Asia. At the time of its inception, the area of study was determined by con sulting Caucasus experts, and areas stretching from the region of the Caucasus to the Gobi desert and the Siberian Steppes to the northern re gion of the Indian Subcontinent were included in its scope. But the thrust was mainly on Turkistan (both Western and Eastern), the scheme of study was holistic in char acter with a stress on multidimen sional interaction of cultures in the region and its impact on society, re ligion, culture, administration, lit erature, politics, economy, languag es, urbanization, and education was the core area of study. With such a broad canvas addi tional academic staff was appointed to the Centre, supporting infra structural facilities, plus financial support was given for the in-depth study of the Area in socio-historical perspective. The breakup of the USSR and the liquidation of the socialist model of change broke its Super Power Myth. The unipolar world emerged on the scene. A dozen independent coun tries came into being, and Uzbeki stan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgizia, Ka

zakhstan, and Tajikistan in Central Asia also declared independence. Hence, the scope of this Research In stitute was widened yet again. Schol ars began to take a growing interest in the development of the Centre, and some renowned academics are associated with the academic pro grammes of the faculty. Central Asia with its diversified socio-political and economic back ground had been a hub of activities and was rightly termed the cradle of human civilization. The Silk Route network connecting East and West had crisscrossed the entire region and consequently had knitted the countries into a unique civilization for centuries. In the recent past, it was the focus of the two major imperial powers, Great Britain and Russia, and the area was the playground of the Great Game. The socialist annexation after the October 1917 Revolution sealed the future of the countries and they remained in oblivion for 70 years, but now the meshes of the iron cur tain have melted in the wake of USSR breakup and Central Asia is again in focus. This not purely on economic considerations. The social revolution which is shaping the East has a part

no independent role of its own in the historical process. The source of what is doubtless a delusion can be found at the beginning of the twentieth cen tury, when Tibet stepped onto the in ternational scene, and the contempo rary great powers found themselves obliged to formulate their political credo towards this country. At that time the head of the India Office in the British government, Lord Hamil ton, in his letter to the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, wrote 22 August 1901: ‘The Tibetans are but the small est of pawns on the political chess board, but castles, knights and bish ops may all be involved in trying to take that pawn’. The book review says: ‘The Great Game was fought by frontiersmen on both sides, not politicians and bu reaucrats in European capitals. Rus sian frontier officers such as Przevalsky and Grombchevsky were keen to contest control of Tibet as my British officers were.’ However Przevalsky and Grombchevsky have won them selves a niche in world science as trav ellers and researchers. They were not frontier officers. The Russian as well British and American Encyclopaedias refer to Przevalsky only as ‘traveller’ and ‘explorer’. It should be borne in mind that Russia’s frontiers were separated from the border with Tibet by many hun dreds of kilometres of Afganistan as well as by Sinkiang in China and the territoria of British India. These dis tances made it absolutely impossible for the Russian officers to control Tibet. Dr McKay is quite right in saying that politicians and bureaucrats in European capitals did not participate

in the Great Game, this presumption is proved in Russia’s Tibet file. In ad dition to documents, we need only re call that about 75 years ago in London an important official of the Tsarist Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nabokoff) who had taken part in ne gotiations between Lhasa’s emissary, Agvan Dorjiev, and the Russian Min ister of Foreign Affairs, expressed his astonishment about fears engendered by Russian policy towards Tibet. He called these fears a ‘comedy of errors’ based on ‘fancies’ rather than facts. The book review poses a very precise question: ‘Were the British the only team playing the ‘Great Game’? The precise answer is yes, the British were the only team playing the ‘Great Game’. Hitting the nail on the head we can say that this was not London’s cup of tea, but that of Lord Curzon and the British Government in India. In his ‘Buddhism in Russia: the Story of Dorjiev Lhasa’s Emissary to the Tsar’ (London, 1993) J.Snelling wrote that Curzon, a committed imperial ist, was the key figure in this ‘Great Game’, the man who changed British policy towards Tibet from one o f‘pa tient waiting' to an ‘impatient hurry’ (P103). This ‘hurry’ led to the Younghusband mission of 1904, under the pretext of the alarm aroused by Dorjiev’s negotiations in St.Petersburg. Snelling confirms that in spite of Curzon’s alarmist letters to London about Russian shipments of arms, and Cos sacks sent to Tibet, in actual fact no Russian arms or personnel were dis covered by Younghusband during his mission to Lhasa. Russia simply was not playing the Tibetan game. Since ‘Russia’s Tibet File’ and Dr Mckay's book review have revealed

to play. The Asian giants are thrust ing up their heads to determine their genuine place in the nations of the world, a phenomenon which is drawing the attention of scholars, academics, area analysts, and econo mists. The whirlpool is bursting out of its confines. The Afghanistan situ ation, the prolonged transitional pangs in Tajikistan, and the Iranian model on the fringes are other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. Several questions with far-reach ing consequences are emerging. Will Central Asian countries adhere to the greater traditions of Islam, as ad vocated, encouraged, and propagated by the Sufi Schools of Thought? Will Central Asia be forced to realign with Russia? Have the peoples of Central Asia the determination to safeguard and maintain their inde pendence? Being virtually land-loc ked, can they forge independent eco nomic policies? What will be their role in the unipolar world? Will their historical traditions allow them to embrace the reactionary and fanatic model of Islam? Will the Hanafi School of law again emerge as a beacon of light in such pitch dark ness? The list of such questions is long, hence the study of the area with a multidisciplinary approach is essential. ■ For further information, please contact

PROF ABDUL MAJID MATTOO Centre of Central Asian Studies (CCAS) Postbox 1074 G.P.O., Srinagar 190 001, India.

and stated that neither frontiermen nor statesmen fought the Great Game and using Dr McKay’s words ‘the Great Game is one of the most endur ing of the British imperial mytholo gies’; neither Russia, nor Great Britain had economic, military, or diplomatic interests in Tibet, we must stand firm together and declare that there were no Anglo-Russian conflict in Central Asia, and we can collaborate in cor recting a very old historiographical error and eliminate the so-called Anglo-Russian rivalry in Tibet as an instrument when describing interna tional relations in this region of Asia. AA.Kuleshiv Moscow

BOOKS

RECEI VED

Jean-Paul Loubes

ARCHITECTURE ET URBANISME DE TURFAN: UNE OASIS DU TURKESTAN CHINOIS Paris: L'Harmattan, 1998.

Peter Richardus

TIBETAN LIVES: THREE HIMALAYAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES Sussex: Curzon Press, 1998,223 pp. ISBN 0-7007-1023-X

REGIONAL

NE WS

Soutk Asia

BANGLADESH

• BHUTAN

I N D I A • NEPAL P A K I S T A N • SRI

LANKA

NISAS: Studying South Asia One question frequently put to associates o f the Netherlands In stitute o f South Asian Studies (NISAS) is: ‘South Asia, is that Iran, India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam?’ This questions comes from many quarters. Journalists, managers o f internationally operat ing companies, even fellow academics are thoroughly puzzled by the specific territorial content o f that elusive term ‘South Asia’. ■ By OLI VI ER I MM IG & J AN VAN H E U G T E N

uring a visit to Peshawar Uni versity we quite unexpectedly found our selves facing a huge mural map of Central Asia. Specifically included in it was Afghanistan. Others consider Af ghanistan to form part of Southwest Asia, and sometimes even Pakistan is included as well. However, Pakistan is generally considered to form part of South Asia. One reason for a some what confused definitional status of both countries may well be that in colonial times, viewed from Delhi, the tribal areas across the River Indus and in Afghanistan, were always de fined as a transitional area between British India alias South Asia, and the

Middle East. This tribal area was a ceaseless source of anxiety to the Brit ish Raj. Another reason for these diverging territorial definitions may have been the dominant position of India on the Subcontinent. India often equals ‘South Asia’ in the perception of many. This leaves little room for other entities on the South Asian map, thus forcing them to become part of an other regional unit. To be sure, so far nobody has had a last say about the definite demarcation of South Asia, and where another region actually be gins. Suggestions are welcome. How ever, it is important to state categori cally that Afghanistan and Pakistan are indissolubly intertwined. So are Afghanistan and Tadzjikistan, and Pakistan and India. This constitutes the main area studied by associates of the NISAS.

The NISAS was founded as an inde pendent research institute in 1992 to carry out its own research pro grammes and publish its results. It was created by a group of enthusiastic visitors to India and, at one time, Af ghanistan. They were well aware of, if not actually disturbed by, the fact that thorough academic research on contemporary developments in South (West) Asia was indeed a rarity in the Netherlands. Although all tum ultu ous developments in the region, in particular those concerning Afghani stan since the late seventies, have at tracted a huge press coverage, rela tively little academic research has taken place. There was a lack of both specialists and funds. The most important task of the in stitute is to carry out studies on con temporary political, economic, relig ious, and military developments in the region. The results of these stud ies should be made available to spe cialists and the general public alike, thereby broadening the scope of in terest in the region. The NISAS carries out interdisciplinary research com bining the fields of Political Sciences,

History, Religion, (International and Islamic) Law, Social Sciences, Military Science, and Economics. This interdis ciplinary approach seems to be partic ularly well suited to a region where religious strife, regional imbalances, ethnic separatism, uneven economic development, social inequality and injustice, illiteracy, and rampant cor ruption obstruct larger processes like nation-state building and national economic development. Although the NISAS has remained a relatively small institute, nowadays its associates co-operate in radio broadcasts, hold lectures, give coun try-briefings to workers ofcompanies, NGOs, and the Dutch government, and exchange thoughts and views on the Kashmir tangle, recent develop ments in Tadzjikistan and Islamic opinions with both Western and South Asian scholars. Academia and the commercial world are often, literally, worlds apart, in spite of the in troduction of market-economy oriented principles in so many quar ters of research. The NISAS aims at connecting academic analysis to prac tical applications like feasibility stud-

Maharashtrian Culture & Society ‘House and Home in Maharashtra’, edited by Irina Glushkova and Anne Feldhhaus (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998) is the first o f two volumes featuring the proceedings o f the Vlth International Conference on ‘Maharashtra: Culture and Society’ held in May, 1995, in a picturesque vicinity o f Moscow. By E U G E N I A VANI NA

very one of the past seven Maha rashtra conferenc es was distinguished by a particular theme, or a keyword of discussion. For the Moscow convention it was the ‘ghar’, a term which in Marathi and many other Indian languages signi fies the three Hs: House, Home and Hearth. The choice was made because a great variety of notions, relations, socio-historical processes and ethno cultural phenomena are reflected by, centred around or connected with, the ‘ghar’ in all three of its manifesta tions. The volume is divided into four sec tions. The first, ‘House and Home Re constructed’, begins with an article by Tatyana Elizarenkova, who investi gates the Rgveda for the lexical and grammatical implications of the ‘house’ which was perceived as ‘home’ by the Vedic Aryans. Analysing the Prakrit anthologies, Victoria Vertogra

IB E I

dova reconstructs the structural and spatial types of village houses in dif ferent ecological surroundings and correlates these with behavioural pat terns of the village women. Vasudev L. Manjul’s study reveals philosophical and emotional implications of human shelter as reflected in the Jnaneshvari, the celebrated Marathi commentary on the Bhagavadgita. Irina Glushkova discusses the various emotional, value and behavioural aspects of ‘ghar’ using Marathi folk sayings and prov erbs as source. Narendra Dengle de picts the architectural types of the tra ditional Maharashtrian residence, as relevant to different regions and eco logical conditions of the country and pin-points their peculiarities in con nection with the psychological con cepts of extroversion and introversion. Section II embraces papers on ‘Women in their Parents’ Home and their In-laws’ Houses’. This problem, which has such a deep imprint upon the society and culture of India as a whole and Maharashtra in particular, is discussed on the basis of fieldwork

and different types of texts. Anne Feldhaus explores the goddesses of Maharashtra, who are in most cases looked upon as married women thus sharing all social and emotional no tions of a marital home (‘sasar’) and maternal home (‘maher’). The antith esis of the two stations in female life is an integral part of the women’s folk songs either in Maharashtra, or in other parts of India or in the Indian community of Surinam, as shown in the paper by Indira Junghare. The ‘sasar-maher’ opposition was widely used both in directly physical and in spiritual meaning. However Meera Kosambi in her article based upon the XIXth century life narratives of several distinguished women of Maharashtra who demonstrate that neither ‘sasar’ nor ‘maher’ was a woman’s own home, but both were places of oppres sion. Section III, ‘Home and Household’ deals with a wide spectre of relations between an inmate and his/her household. James Laine analyses clas sical and medieval Marathi texts to re construct a figure of a male house holder and denote his social duties, value system, and role within and without his household. This theme is continued by Mahadev L. Apte whose material is contemporary Marathi bi ographical literature, which offers an

insight into the domestic atmosphere and its role in the genesis of a person ality. Philip C. Engblom discusses the difficulties in translating the word ‘ghar’ as used (and sometimes pur posely not used) in different psycho logical, social and cultural meanings by modern Marathi writers. Suman Belwalkar makes a socio-linguistic survey of Marathi language and its di alects as used inside and outside home, in various social surroundings and life situations. Kalyan Kale’s paper on kinship terms in Marathi discloses the intricate web of relationships be tween the inmates of the house. Section IV, ‘Gods and Devotees at Home’ depicts the sphere of religion and devotion inside the house. Mahesh Elkunchwar reflects upon the significance of the ‘devghar’, the Ma harashtrian household shrine, and the diminishing of the house gods’ in tegrative role with the present-day split of the traditional joint family. Tatyana Oranskaya describes the modern religious movement aimed at the reintroduction of the Vedic agnihotra ritual into the modern houses in Maharashtra in order to enforce ec ological and spiritual well-being of the family and its integration. Sadanand More expounds the understand ing of the ‘ghar’, both in ideal and practical implications, as dictated by

ies, country/location reports, and briefings. Recent publications are a book enti tled Pakistan: Een kennismaking met pol itieke ontwikkelingen, islam en cultuur in een jonge natte-staat (Introduction to the New State of Pakistan: Political developments, Islam and culture); De ‘islamitische’ economie van Pakistan (The ‘Islamic’ Economy ofPakistan); and an article entitled Mullahs aan de macht in Kaboel (Mollahs New Rulers in Kabul). The following publications are in preparation: a book with the working title Existence against All Odds: Pakistan atfifty (‘Vijftig jaar Pakistan. Bestaan srecht verzekerd, toekomst ongewis’); a brochure entitled Origins of the Sun nite dictatorship in Kabul (‘Sunnitische dictatuur in Kaboel’) a book on the history of Afghanistan, and a some what more analytical brochure on the Kashmir dispute. We hope we have been able to whet your appetite about the particular ac tivities of a small institute like ours. We consider it most important, how ever, that similar initiatives may take place. ■

Olivier Immig & Jan van Heugten

research associates, NISAS, Reinier Claeszenstraat 46 I, 1056 W N Amsterdam, e-mail: m.jong@tip.nl

the teachings and social values of the Varkari Panth, Maharashtra's most popular ‘bhakti’ tradition, which, al though of medieval origin, still influ ences the life of millions. Cornelia Mallebrein in the paper based upon extensive fieldwork among the Maha rashtrian tribals, describes the house hold deities hidden in the baskets in side the house ‘devghars’ by the Kokna people. As a whole, the book is featured by a variety of themes, but is not a random selection of papers. All contributions are related to the main topic of discus sion and grouped in a logically pro ductive way to present a unified pic ture of the ‘ghar’, its spatial dimen sions, inside relationships, religious and emotional implications. The au thors represent different schools of Indology, specializations and methodo logical approaches which in this or that way compliment each other and produce a welcome example of m ulti disciplinary studies. The second volume, entitled ‘Home, Family and Kinship in Maharashtra’ is now in press with the OUP, Delhi, and is expected to be released by the end of this year. It concentrates mainly upon historical, sociological, and political aspects of the problem. ■

Eugenia Vanina (ivran@glasnet.ru) is the

Head, History & Culture Section,Centre for Indian Studies, Institute o f Oriental Studies, Moscow, Russia. The eighth Maharashtra Conference is to be held in Sydney in 1999.

D ecember 1998 •

has n e w s l e t t e r

W 17 • 1 5

SOUTH

Tradition and

ASI A

Innovation:

The Shifting Boundaries of a Popular South Indian Theatre This report describes a unique theatrical event produced by the members o f the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarcci Munnerra Sangam and performed in three rural towns o f Tamil Nadu in March 1998. It appeared earlier in a slightly different version as a newspaper article in The Hindu o f 31 May 1998 . ■ By MINA S WAMI NAT HAN

companies that such a large group of artists played together - fifty per formers (not including the musi cians and supporting cast) from nearly twenty Kuttu companies, some playing multiple roles, necessi tating an extra large acting space and several dressing rooms. Not merely a logistic and organizational feat, which it surely was, even to get together all the artists, each with a rigorous calendar of engagements; but even more so, the co-operation and team work needed to bring

he Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Ka lai Valarcci Munnerra Sangam is a grass roots association, which promotes the interests of professional Kattaikkuttu actors and musicians in Tamil Nadu in South India. It was established in Kanchipuram in 1990 by a group of seventeen performers. At present it has over two hundred members. Its main activities include (1) training in the Kattaikkuttu theatre of (work ing) children and young people in the rural parts of northern Tamil Nadu, (2) the organization of an an nual Kattaikkuttu Festival, and (3) the production of innovative plays on themes which are relevant to the local society. Kattaikkuttu (also known as Kuttu and Terukkuttu) is a theatre traditionally performed by professional male actors and musi cians in the northern parts of Tamil Nadu. It is characterized by an epic story repertoire, featuring especially the Mahabharata, and a heroic style of acting. The special performance of the Mahabharata by a group of Kattaik kuttu performers on the occasion of the Eighth Annual Kattaikkuttu Fes tival was memorable for the number of firsts - the number of barriers broken and the chance to observe a living tradition in the process of growing by innovation. To begin with: this was the first (and only) time in living memory that an effort about a harmonious and well inte was made to stage the entire Mahab grated performance among so many harata in a single night. For P. Rajag talented but highly individualistic opal, writer and director of the play, performers. this was a special Golden Jubilee of And most unique of all: it was the fering, a tribute from Kuttu artists first time that both men and women to India’s fiftieth year of Indepen played together on a Kattaikkuttu dence. This nine-hour show - no stage! It is well known that this tra Peter Brook copy - has to be seen in ditional theatre is an all-male form; the context of the Kattaikkuttu tra the first performance by women art dition. Theatrical companies per ists was put together by Rajagopal forming in this tradition normally himself in 1997, when an all-women take ten or more nights to perform cast of twelve performers drawn the Mahabharata, and even then from another theatrical genre and only certain major events are pre trained in Kattaikkuttu staged Vilsented in detail, some are summar valaippu or Draupadi’s Wedding. ized, and others left out. Even ten That was daring enough, and drew nights of eight-hour performances, gasps of astonishment not only for it is felt, is not enough to do justice the sight of women performing to the mighty epic. What was unique Kuttu, in full kattai vesham (heroic, here was the attempt to compress usually male role characterized by the entire repertoire of Kuttu, with the characteristic ornamentation all its richness and subtlety, into a and demanding great physical stam one-night show, to recapture the ina), but even more for their im grandeur of the epic’s sweep without mensely polished and brilliant persacrificing the characteristics of the j formance. (Some said they were even form. Another first: it was the first time I better than the regular male per formers!) in the world of professional Kuttu

Mind-boggling But this time, just to make it more complex, bewildering, and delight ful, both men and women played both men’s and women’s roles! It was gender bending at its most sub versive, hilarious, and pointed, standing every cliche on its head, making the audience chortle with glee at times and freeze with emo tion at others. The play begins with two Kattiyakkarans (clowns-cumheralds), one female and the other male, and is carried along by them their earthy humour and ribald jokes become all the more saucy when the audience knows, for exam ple, that ‘she’ is playing a ‘he’ play ing at being a ‘she’. The heroine of the play, Draupadi, is finely por

most hilarious moments. In pairs like the gypsy couple (Kuravan and Kuratti) and the hunter couple (Vetan and Vetatti) genders were in variably reversed - the man playing the wife, the woman the husband. A bevy of seven beauties dancing the kummi turned out, on inspection, to consist of three woman and four men, all sinuously graceful; the Kuttu version of the striptease, in which the performer wears five or seven saris one on top of the other, and skilfully removes them one by one in a dazzling sleight of hand, was enacted by a well-known male actor. And so it went, from one mindboggling act to the next, till one did not know who was who. And the cul

m %

If ig K

The marriage o f Draupadi and Arjuna - Draupadi performed by a well-known male actor and Arjuna by a woman performer. A humorous scene involving the female and male Kattiyakkarans and an oil-vendor.

■

has n e w s l e t t e r

* e t 7 • December 1998

artistically satisfying and acceptable to the audience, that traditions grow, adapt and change; by such small increments and accretions do traditions evolve, responding to the ever-changing needs of the people. And this may be even more true of the folk art forms than of the so-called classical forms. Those who like to believe that the ‘folk arts’ are ‘pure’ forms crystal lized at a certain period and frozen in that perfection for ever after, like museum pieces, for our delectation, and who raise alarms from time to time about their impending death, are only deluding themselves. Folk art forms are constantly evolving, because they are, have to be, always in tune with people s tastes and needs. And who knows what they were like two hundred years ago? Living performers can testify that the Kuttu of today is not what is was fifty years ago. One can constantly observe the relics and survivors of particular historical periods - the songs of the freedom movement, as well as contemporary film songs; the synthetic saris of the Sixties as well as the T-shirts of the Nineties; the heraldic cries (in English) of the Brit ish ‘kutcherries’ as well as those of the ancient Tamil kings; striped pyjamas-suits, tinsel crowns, cricket caps, cane under-skirts, and wooden ornaments, happily co-existing, cheek by jowl. Only the self-styled ‘conservationists’ are uncomfortable at the sight of these anachronisms and contradictions - the bearers of the living tradition know that they are the signs of life and growth, of evolution and adaptation. In art as in biology, a static form is a dead form and by that token, Kuttu is alive and well. Long live Kuttu! ■

trayed by an excellent male player; so also are some other female parts con sidered important in the Kuttu form - Ponnuruvi, the wife of Karna, Hidimbi and Mohini. A variety of other smaller female parts were also play ed, as usual, by skilled male actors. The women were just as good at the impersonation game. Donning the kattai which typically signifies a heroic warrior part, a woman actor (the word ‘actress’ sounds wrong in this context) gave a splendid render ing of the lustful and loud-voiced Kichaka - the bouncing gait, the stride, the chest-thumping boasts alternat ing with pathetic wheedling and pleading - a rendering of Kichaka which perhaps few men could have excelled, and yet somehow she man aged subtly to subvert his lust and turn him into a pitiful figure. Arjuna, in his various aspects, was played by four people at different phases of the story, by a man or woman as re quired. But it was in the comedy scenes that gender switching provided its

mination of that mad, wild whirli gig of seemingly artless gender fun and frolic, concealing a well-orches trated series of well-crafted perfor mances, was the realization of what art is all about - art is the outcome of skill, practice, training, devotion, understanding, what you will - but not gender. That art transcends gen der was the lesson, and the audience loved learning it.

Living tradition Innovation and tradition: from that magical night came yet another painlessly learnt lesson - of how tra ditions are and how they grow and renovate themselves. For these many ‘firsts’ were all the inventions of one man, a very traditional Kuttu per former and (teacher) belonging to a very traditional art form and heir to a very particular family tradition, of which he is justifiably proud. And he is and innovator? Yes, that is why because it’s by such innovations from within, daring in their time, but soon accepted if they are found

THE MAHABHARATA PRODUCTION has been recorded on video. Copies are available from: Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarcci Munnerra Sangam, 3 1,Selva Vinayakar Koil Street, Vedasala Nagar, Sevilimedu Post, Kanchipuram-631 502, India, te l.+ 9 1 41 12 24 517/26 525. Mina Swaminathan is one of the advisors to the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarcci Munnerra Sangam.

SOUTH

ASI A

Labour and Nationalism in Sholapur, Western India, 1918-1939 On 7 and 8 May 1930, in response to Gandhi’s arrest, the indus trial city o f Sholapur w itnessed violent disturbances, which led to a com plete breakdown o f civil order and culm inated in the im p osition o f martial law. The ston in g o f the District M agistrate and the police, follow ed by the g u ttin g o f liquor shops, murders o f policem en, and the burning o f the District Court buildings, sym bolized an open insurrection against the state, and stood in sharp contradiction to the Gandhian m es sage o f offering passive resistance. ■ By MANJIRI KAMAT

~r ~r owever,

these incidents did J_ not necessarily culminate in the promul gation of martial law. Sholapur, throughout the 1920s, had been influenced by Swarajist Congress politicians from Poona who had never quite come to terms with the Gandhian programme since the demise of Lokamanya Tilak in August 15120. Moreover, the NonCo-operation Campaign in Sholapur had been an elitist and lukewarm af fair. It therefore seems paradoxical that the Deccan city of Sholapur should have responded so dramatical ly to Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement. Recently, in a completed doctoral project, I have investigated this puzzle. The Sholapur disturbances have been variously described, for instance as a working class upsurge against the state. We are also led to believe that in reaction to Gandhi’s arrest, the textile workers of Sholapur, the dock labour ers of Karachi, the transport workers of Calcutta, and some mill workers of Madras, acting as a unit, clashed with the government during the move ment. The results of my research have contested these claims, and propose instead that the Sholapur disturbanc es were much more than a ‘reflex ac tion’ in response to Gandhi’s arrest. Indeed, the industrial and communal tensions experienced by the city dur ing the 1920s were redirected towards the state, with the stimulus provided from the outside by Gandhi’s call for Civil Disobedience. It is also important to note that while the textile workers of Sholapur played a predominant part in the riot ing of 7 May, it was the city’s trading classes and the working poor who were worst affected by the trade de pression, who joined in the next day to commit further acts of violence. This brought about a paralysis of the civil administration and culminated in the declaration of martial law. Na tionalist currents had, therefore, come to be locally defined at Sholapur and the responses to them were sha ped by the local political context. In the decade that followed, these re sponses appear to have been con trolled, partly due to the role played by the state in the aftermath of mar tial law and also owing to the trans formations occurring within the Con gress. The attacks on police and police sta tions, a characteristic feature of the Sholapur disturbances, evoke paralI lels with the Chauri Chaura episode of I— I

4 February 1922 when policemen were burnt alive in a police station by peas ants in the Gorakhpur district of the United Provinces, northern India. It has been argued that the peasants’ ideas about Gandhi’s ‘orders’ were at variance with those of the local Congress-Khilafat leadership. In the case of Sholapur, this dichotomy is com pletely indiscernible. Given the un certain local context, the riots were a delayed response to the mixed mes sages imparted by the Sholapur Con gressmen in the months preceding Gandhi’s arrest. While both Chaun Chaura and Sholapur invited instant government repression, in the latter case culminating in martial law, the Congress strategy in May 1930 was markedly different from that in Feb ruary 1922.

Martyrs Following the violence at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi called off the NonCo-operation Campaign and his deci sion was endorsed by the Congress. In 1930, Gandhi’s political strategy was flexible enough to accommodate spo radic instances of violence and he see med unwilling to risk calling off the movement, as he had done on receiv ing news of events in Chauri Chaura. The Sholapur riots were, indeed, con demned by Gandhi, and the Congress expressed regret at the outbreak of ‘mob violence’. However, towards the end of May 1930 there was a distinct shift in the Congress strategy. The Martial Law Regulation banning the Congress flag at Sholapur was magni fied into a question of national hon our and the Congress made it an issue for the launching of a ‘non-violent’ flag satyagyaha. The Congress satyagrahis ritualizing the ban on the flag, by offering passive resistance, were mocking the Sholapur episode. They also illustrated the discrepancy be tween the Congress agenda formulat ed from the outside and the local defi nition which Civil Disobedience had acquired in Sholapur. Another facet my doctoral project dealt with was the nature of the Con gress legacy in Sholapur today. While the riots have been forgotten, the ex cesses of martial law and the ‘martyr dom’ of the four Sholapur prisoners hanged in 1931, forms an important part of popular memory. The bronzecoloured busts of the four ‘martyrs' erected at Balidan Chowk personify the Civil Disobedience movement in Sholapur. The construction of a mon ument at Chauri Chaura to commem orate the nineteen hanged men, it has been suggested, shows the coming to terms of the nation with the violence of t922.

may help to shed light on why dispar ate groups come together in an at tempt to destroy symbols of state power, without any direction from the Congress or any other established locus of power. A study of Sholapur in these critical years also enhances our knowledge of the workings of the co lonial state in moments of exception al crisis, like that of Sholapur in May 1930. Perhaps, the divergent Congress strategies towards Chauri Chaura and Sholapur will illuminate our under standing of the metamorphosis with in the Congress in particular and the nationalist movement in general. My project has also tried to serve another purpose. Sholapur was the third largest centre of the cotton tex tile industry in the Bombay Presiden cy. Yet apart from a single study which focuses on trade union organi zations in the city, the working class es of the Deccan city have been ig nored by historians interested in la bour. A study of Sholapur labour, therefore, contributes to our under standing of the Indian working class es and eases the way for a comparative

analysis between different centres be fore we proceed to make generaliza tions based on a few major case stud ies. My thesis has sought to situate workers’ politics in Sholapur in the local political context and investi gates workers’ responses to the na tionalist movement and the economic changes affecting the Sholapur cotton textile industry between the two world wars. Such an investigation is crucial to an analysis of the 1930 dis turbances and the developments thereafter, in the locality and the na tion. ■

Tabo, A Lamp for the Kingdom

examines its artistic and architectu ral heritage and discusses the emer gence of an artistic style in the re gion. There is additional material concerning many related religious and cultural aspects of the region, in particular an analysis of clothing sty les, a new translation by Steinkellner and Luczanits of an inscription first recorded by Tucci, along with an ex tensive bibliography. This is an important contribution to the field by one of the foremost Himalayan art specialists, very rea sonably priced, which will appeal to all those with an interest in the his tory, religion and culture of the Himalayas. The quality of its photo graphic reproductions also ensures its place on coffee tables as well as li brary shelves. ■

However, while the 1930 incidents at Sholapur are richly documented in bulky governmental files and publi cations, the subject has been largely neglected in existing historical writ ings. Imam Muchale, a press worker who participated in the riots, or Tulshidas Jadhav, the Secretary of the District Congress Committee in 1930, and many others are still alive for his torical probings. My attempt has been to build up a picture of the riot and its dynamics, by putting pieces of a jig saw puzzle together without heavily emphasizing the strengths of any one source. A vital technique in this re gard has been to ask what a particular document or informant was not tell ing me rather than the information I was being offered. History writing on the basis of present-day oral accounts is equally fraught with dangers as is the conventional dependence on the official archive.

Metamorphosis An investigation of this nature into the unusual incidents at Sholapur, which broke with prevalent norms,

Tabo monastery, situated in the Spiti Valley in northern India, was founded in the year AD 996 , and is the oldest continuously fu n ctioning Buddhist structure in the Himalayas. Due to its location on the periphery betw een the Indian and Tibetan cul tural worlds it has functioned as an intermediary betw een the two cultures, m ost particularly during the ten th and eleventh centuries when the second and final transm ission o f Bud dhism from India to Tibet saw a period o f trem endous relig ious vitality in the region. By ALEX MCKAY

n more recent times the great Italian Tibetologist, Giuseppi Tucci, laid the founda tions for a study of Tabo with a brief visit there, and his pioneering work is given due credit here. Tucci’s esteemed pupil, Luciano Petech, has contributed an introduction to the history of west ern Tibet to this volume, an impor tant essay which will be an invalu able basis for future research. Tabo is most renowned for the beauty and variety of its artistic deco ration, being open to influences from Central Asia, western Tibet, Kashmir and even Gujarat. There are numer ous remarkable frescoes and sculp tures surviving there, 234 of which are reproduced in this impressive volume - mostly in colour. These in clude many unique and outstanding works, indicative of the rich cultural heritage of the region. One of the main fascinations - at least for the historian - is that many of the fig ures depicted in the wall-paintings

may be identified as historical char acters, including both religious and secular individuals such as aristo cratic patrons of the monastery. Nor are other sections of the population ignored, with depictions of pilgrims and nomads. The volume describes the physical and historical setting of the monas tery, with a proposed chronology of its first century of existence, includes an interview with the current abbot,

BOOKS

Manjiri Kamat completed her PhD, in History, from the University o f Cambridge in 1997 and is currently a Research Consultant to a Wellcome Trust funded project carried out by the School o f Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University. She can be contacted at 10 Satyabhama Nivas, 369 V. P. Road, Mumbai - 400004, India, tel.:+91-22-38281 77).

Deborah E. Klimburg-Salter

TABO, A LAMP FOR THE KINGDOM: EARLY INDO-TiBETAN BUDDHIST ART IN THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS Thames & Hudson/Skira 1987: ISBN 88 81 18 209 2, 289 pp.

RECEIVED

Pierre Audinet

L'ÉTAT ENTREPRENEUR EN INDE ET AU BRÉSIL. ÉCONOMIE DU SUCRE ET DE L'ETHANOL, Paris: L’Harmattan, 1998, 306 pp. ISBN 2-7384-6385-1

Niaz Ahmed Khan

A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF FOREST RESOURCE USE: CASE STUDIES OF SOCIAL FORESTRY IN BANGLADESH, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, 1998, 368 pp. ISBN 1-84014-5730

December 1998 •

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ASIA

Kashmir and the United Nations N o matter the com plexion o f governm ents in India and Paki stan over the years, the dispute over Kashmir has remained the m ost contentious issue between the countries. Emergence o f a nationalist-oriented coalition governm ent in New D elhi in 1998 served to h igh ligh t the fragility o f m utual confidence. India, introspective, and defiant follow ing condem nation o f its nuclear tests, appears in no m ood to com prom ise or even consider a workable solu tion to the problem o f the territory which is regarded by m ost Indians as an integral part o f the re public. Pakistan, w ith a lack-lustre but idiosyncratic leader o f a high-m ajority governm ent, and ever suspicious o f its larger neighbour, is not inclined to consider Kashmir in the context o f Indian nationalism , and has adopted a robust stance bilat erally and internationally. By B R I A N C L O U G H L E Y

he United Na tions Military I j l Observer Group I in India and Pakistan WÉ } (UNMOGIP) has been stationed in Kashmir since January 1949. There have been suggestions that it be disbanded be cause India contends, concurrently and perhaps confusingly, that Indi an-administered Kashmir is part of a State of the Republic but that discus sions concerning the region should be bilateral between itself and Paki stan, excluding the UN and thus jus tifying the Mission’s elimination. No such proposal has been made for mally, but Indian diplomacy is pitched at claiming that UNMOGIP is moribund. India’s contention that the UN no longer has a part to play in the Kash mir dispute may be defensible in terms of altered circumstances since passage of UN resolutions relevant to the controversy; but it appears there is no premise on the part of the

UN that would satisfy India’s inter pretation of affairs. There is a poten tial problem of induction inherent in the Indian stance, in that funda mental questioning of Article 34 of the UN Charter (that the Security Council ‘may investigate any dis pute...') might give rise to serious complications. Nevertheless, there are reasons to examine the standing of the UN con cerning Kashmir. The dispute has lasted for a half-century without there being a definitive approach to resolution, other than force of arms. It caused two wars; has given rise to an insurrection resulting in over twenty thousand deaths; and exists in a legalistic limbo in which the in habitants are denied a voice in delib erations that might determine their future. The dispute, Alastair Lamb says, began ‘as a contest over rights to a territory, not the struggle to es tablish the wishes of a people.’ Yet it is a determination of the United Na tions that ‘We, the people’ should ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,’ and it is evident that the issue of Kashmir is the most

The Royal Nepal Academy ■ By Y O G E N D R A P. Y A D A V A

t he Royal Nepal

Academy (RNA) is the national institution for the pro motion of Nepalese Studies and art. It is Nepal's oldest non-profit-making autonomous institution, chartered in 1957 by His Majesty’s Govern ment. Since its inception, the Acade my has sought to foster Nepalese languages, literature, art, culture, and social sciences. It now consists of the following departments: 1. Lan guage and Literature, 2. Culture and Social Sciences, 3. Drama and Music, and 4. Art and Craftmanship.

The RNA also aims to translate outstanding works into native and foreign languages, organize talks, seminars and conferences individu ally or in collaboration with other organizations, promote relations be tween the Academy and internation al academic institutions and present

awards to distinguished scholars in the related fields. The Nepal Association of Fine Arts (NAFA), a part of the RNA, has been set up to foster fine arts, paintings, sculpture and the graphic arts. It runs an art gallery. Equipped with a sophisticated off set press, the RNA has so far pub lished about three hundred titles in Nepalese and foreign languages. It regularly brings out a number of journals includingjouma! o f Nepalese Studies in English. The Academy has a well-furnished indoor theatre for the performance of plays, songs and dances as well as for holding meetings. It has a group of eminent artists who stage their performances all over the country and abroad. ■

For details, please contact: THE ROYAL NEPAL ACADEMY, Kamaladi, Kathmandu, Nepal te l:+977-1-2 2 12 4 1 fax:+977-1-221 175.

• has n e w s l e t t e r N S17 • D e cem b er 1998

likely catalyst for conflict in the Sub continent. At a time when Pakistan and India are consolidating their nu clear and missile programs a focus on their major dispute would appear timely, and attempts to remove a probable conflict catalyst desirable and even urgent.

Patience UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949 are clear in their intent that a plebi scite should be held ‘to decide whether the State of Jammu and Kashmir is to accede to India or Paki stan.' This was endorsed by Prime Minister Nehru in that ‘... my Gov ernment, animated by a sincere de sire to promote the cause of peace and thus to uphold the principles and the prestige of the United Na tions, have decided to accept the res olution.’ But the plebiscite arrangement, to which so many dedicated interna tional figures gave their attention at the behest of the Secretary General, at no stage of negotiation by representa tives or rapporteurs appeared likely of adoption by either country, albeit for different reasons. The report by Sir Owen Dixon of Australia is of special note as an admirable exercise in pa tience in addition to being a tour de force. Sir Owen summed up the situa tion in terms as pristine and relevant today as they were in 1950: The State o f Jam m u and Kashmir is not really a unit geographically, demographically or economically. It is an agglomera tion o f territories brought under the politi cal power o f one Maharajah. That is the unity it possesses... The interests o f the peo ple, thejustice as well as the permanence o f the settlement, and the imperative necessi ty o f avoiding another refugee problem all point to the wisdom o f adopting partition as the principle o f settlement and o f aban doning that o f an overall plebiscite. Dixon’s sagacity and commonsense are also plain in his summation that ‘The continued maintenance of two armies facing one another across a cease-fire line is another matter. A danger to peace must exist while this state of things continues,’ which pro ved predictive and perspicacious. The Cease-fire Line (CFL) dividing Kashmir was mandated by the Unit ed Nations in 1949 and renamed but only slightly altered in 1972, follow ing the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, when it was mutually delineated as the ‘Line of Control,’ or LoC. It was con sidered by representatives of both ar mies that there would be no point in defining the LoC in the wastes of the northeast where no troops were in place. Nor was there, for the area is of no economic or strategic importance. But in 1984 Indian troops occupied the Siachen Glacier, which action did not contribute to trust or stability in the Subcontinent and was in viola tion of the Simla Accord which noted that ‘the two countries are resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means...’

Special position The territories are largely repre sentative of the objectives of UN res olutions save in one aspect, and that important and apparently insoluble:

military presence. The countries maintain enormous forces in the disputed region. An early proposal by the UN to as sist in negotiations, if necessary by neutral mediation or by introduc tion of troops to hold ground while the two sides withdrew, was accept ed by Pakistan and rejected by India. Following Pakistan’s offer in Sep tember 1957 to withdraw its troops from the Cease-fire Line, India’s rep resentative Mr Krishna Menon de clared that ‘The Security Council dare not ask us to accept the intro duction of foreign troops on our Sa cred soil,’ which sentiment may ap pear inconsistent with his prime minister’s desire to ‘uphold the principles and the prestige of the United Nations,’ and with India’s own contributions to UN peace keeping missions, but is nonetheless definitive. The Bharatiya Janata Party does not appear to have views on Kashmir that are any more sup ple than those of Mr Menon in 1957. It holds that ‘the root of the problem lies with the Nehru-Mountbatten original sin of granting article 370 and then internationalizing the issue by placing it before the United Nations.’ Article 370 of the Indian Constitu tion was intended ‘to recognize the special position of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and provide for that special position by giving spe cial power to the President to apply the provisions of the Constitution to that State with such exceptions and modifications as the President might by order specify.’ The region is thus given a different status to the States of India proper, and it is the BJP’s stance that such distinction should not apply. The BJP has long ‘been seeking Jammu and Kashmir’s total integration with India.’ It is understandable that the Indi an position concerning bilateral dis cussion of Kashmir is focused on al leged support for Kashmiri separat ists by Pakistan. It is apparent that Pakistan provides such support, but India claims that it is physical and material and thus unlawful, while Pakistan avers that it is moral and political and thus a counter to al leged human rights violations in the Valley of Kashmir concerning which there have been critical re ports by Amnesty International. But the countries appear reluctant to observe the obvious: that political posturing and exchange of insults will not solve the problem.

Independence Elections in ‘Azad’ Kashmir have been in general as fair as elections can be in the volatile Subcontinent. In Indian-administered Kashmir the picture, although similar, has been distorted by the politics of the Cen ter, in that the ruling party in New Delhi, usually the Congress, has in its quest for supremacy tended to corrupt the polity of the region. The Chief Secretary of Indian-adminis tered Kashmir (LAK), Mr Ashok Jaitly, said in February 1998 that ‘democra cy [has] failed Jammu and Kashmir’s eight million people’ and it would be

difficult to find an impartial com mentator to disagree with this con tention. The overriding problem, however, is that years of manipula tion caused a rebellion which has fed upon reaction to it and created an at mosphere in which it will be diffi cult to build confidence. The majori ty Muslims of IAK are despondent concerning their future and have seized on an alternative whose only virtue is that India and Pakistan agree its inadmissibility: indepen dence. So what might be called a ‘stand still agreement’ could serve to defuse tension. To draw the extremists of the guerrilla bands into talks may be much to ask of India, but it worked in the Sikh rebellion in Punjab. An Indian officer said to this writer in 1994 that efforts to crush the insur rection in Kashmir would go on ‘for as long as it takes and as much as it takes,’ which is perhaps a cruder ap proach than desirable and one that might be regarded as somewhat out dated in the field of conflict resolu tion. It appears there is not only a battle to be fought for the hearts and minds of the insurrectionists but for the attitudes of those who combat them. The way ahead will be diffi cult. The ice-breaker, however, could be Pakistan. It is time for Pakistan to acknowledge that ‘Jammu and Kash mir’ is now, whether legally or not, a part of India. Indian-administered Kashmir will never be surrendered by an Indian government, anymore than ‘AK’ would be given up by Pakistan. The population o f ‘LAK’ is ripe for more sophisticated processes of concilia tion to be initiated by New Delhi. But it is Pakistan that could provide the impetus for this. First, it should indicate that Pakistan is prepared to accept the Line of Control as a bor der, provided there is mutual troop withdrawal from the Siachen Glacier area in which there is as senseless a conflict as has ever taken place. This would be supervised by UNMOGIP which would remain in the region. But the declaration of the LoC as a border is not simple. No matter the xenophobic determination of India to refuse mediation, the plain fact is that the two sides of themselves would never agree on detail, which is precisely why India takes the stance it does, and why Pakistan is content for that position to continue. An in dependent arbitrator is essential if the sides are to reach accord. Unfor tunately it is on vanity and intransi gence that the entire peace process could founder, with incalculable consequences for the region. ■

Brian Cloughley (beecluff@aol.com) served as deputy head o f the UN Mission in Kashmir and as Australian defence attache in Islamabad. His book ‘Wars and Insurrections, the story o f the Pakistan Army’, is to be published by OUP in November. He is currently engaged in writing for the Stimson Center on Kashmir.

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Language Endangerment in Nepal Nepal, a small Himalayan state, possesses a striking cultural diversity including linguistic plurality, largely because o f its mountainous setting. This milieu confers on Nepal a unique position on the linguistic map o f the world and makes it one o f the most fascinating areas o f linguistic research. speakers of majority languages relish language shift with a sense of gratifi cation, in that it will increase the o linguistic sur number of people speaking their lan vey has so far guages and reduce language diversity. been carried to In contrast, there is also a group of na identify Nepalese lan tive speakers and social researchers guages precisely. Accord who consider language shift and lan ing to Grimes [1996), how guage death as a great loss to culture ever, there are about one hundred and human civilizalanguages and dia non. lects spoken in This picture of the Nepal. These lan ‘O pportu n ities language situation in guages (except KuNepal appears to be sunda) belong to four grim. It is high time language families: are open only to that the government Indo-Aryan, Tibetoworked out some Burman, Austrospeakers o f vital strategies for Asiatic (Munda] and language mainte Dravidian. nance and imple Of these languag the n ational ment them with im es, Nepali, the lan mediate effect. What guage of the nation is even more impor and the only official language ’ tant is the commit language, is the ma ment of speakers and jority language spok language communi en by fifty per cent of the total population. Quite a few of ty. To quote Prof. Wurm’s in this re gard, ‘what is needed is strong ethnic the minority languages have almost conscience of the native communi dead out. The Tibeto-Burman family, ties, as well as a policy of tolerance and appear to be threatened by extinction. support by the government and on This situation of language endan the part of the national society.’ ■ germent in Nepal can be attributed to a number of circumstances: the lack of sufficient number of speakers, of a Yogendra P.Yadava written literature and official initia (yodava@yp.wlink.com.np) is attached to the tives, demographic conditions like large-scale urban migration and con Royal Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, Kathmandu, Nepal. comitant gradual change of linguistic habits among the younger genera tion, and complex socio-economic conditions like poverty, marriage pat terns, negative attitudes of some na tive and majority language speakers, and so on. Of them, the foremost fac tor is the continual use of the domi nant language as the only medium of education, mass media, administra tion, and employment. Since oppor tunities are open only to the speakers of the national language, it is natural By Y O G E N D R A P. YADAVA for the speakers of minor languages to he Central De shift from their traditional languages partment of Lin to the language of the nation. guistics was set This process of language shift has up at Tribhuvan Univer gradually given rise to a situation, re sity in May 1996. It is ferred to as language endangerment’. long overdue in a coun If the existing situation continues, try like Nepal, which is character the dying languages are on the way to ized by a striking linguistic diversity be replaced by the major languages and cultural richness. This depart (especially Nepali, the official lan ment offers academic programs lead guage) and will eventually cease to be ing to MA and Ph.D. degrees. It aims learned by children in future. This to provide in-depth expertise in lin has already happened to several lan guistics and apply it to meet the re guages which now remain confined quirements for Nepalese context. only to their speakers of old genera The department also organizes talks, tion. short-term training and summer Responses to this crisis have been courses in general and applied lin varied. Some people are indifferent, assuming that ‘death is a natural phe guistics. In addition, the department also nomenon’. Other people, mainly By Y O G E N D R A P. YADAVA

ASI A

27 ► 28 JUNE 1998 U N E SC O, PARIS, FRANCE

(First) International Conference on Hindu Solidarity Several Paris-based Hindu organizations got together on the premises o f the UNESCO in Paris to show a resurgent face and boost their own flagging and splintered morale - following the success o f the Hindu revivalist Bharatha Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Indian polls. For two arduous days, some thirty invited speakers and fifty observers were jolted by a few rous ing speakers who harangued them on the need for unity among Hindus, while every twitch and gesture was channelled live to some 5000 subscribers all over Europe by Radio-Televi sion Asia, a Sri Lankan Tamil enterprise based in Paris. By T. WI G N E S A N

as this the ‘epoch-making’ conference or ‘earth-moving’event that the organizers had wis hed for? It was neither, but it gave the participants a chance to come together in a show of soli darity, in congenial surroundings, in an attempt to examine the plight of Hindus in the diaspora. High on the agenda was the tabling of resolu tions calling for the preservation of Hindu culture and customs, and the outright condemnation of ‘the atrocities perpetrated on Hindus and places of Hindu worship in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and Afghanistan’. Another recurrent bone of conten tion was the use of Tamil, instead of Sanskrit, in worship and rites both in temples and homes. The conference themes of the ‘State of Hindu Temples Today and Remedial Measures for their Protec tion’, and ‘Ethical Dilemma of Inter national Hindu Diaspora and its Fu-

Linguistics in Nepal seeks affiliation with individual lin guists and academic institutions in terested in carrying out research on languages of Nepal and the related issues. For this, they can apply to the Research Division, Tribhuvan Uni versity, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, with their research proposal. ■

In case o f short-term affiliation, they can directly apply to:

HEAD Central D epartm ent of Linguistics Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur Kathmandu, Nepal.

ture' carried both the days. This was by no means an academic confer ence: there was neither debate nor discussion; only one-sided tirades or ethereal eternal verities proferred in Tamil and English (the latter lan guage sailing over the heads of the majority Sri Lankan Tamil audience) from the proscenium of speakers, ac centuating the gulf between the ‘high caste’ of invited speakers and the ‘lower castes’ of unprotesting lis teners. The reason for this is not hard to gauge. Despite the support of six dif ferent Hindu associations, the or ganization of the conference itself fell into two pairs of inexperienced hands: Mr Sivachanemougam, the conference secretary and president of the Ramalinga Mission in Paris, and Mr Pushpalingam, the assistant sec retary, from the Muthumariamman Temple in Paris. Most conference ex penses were covered by the temple’s fund-raising campaign. Given this situation, it soon be came evident why a ‘tug-of-war’ had ensued between the two ‘secretarial’ factions. The papers and speeches, on the one hand, promoted the thoughts of Ramalinga Vallalar, a nineteenth century Tamil pakti poet, and on the other, the plight of the persecuted and victimized Sri Lankan Tamils. The chairman’s warnings on both days that the con ference themes were not being ad hered to went unheeded, and it soon became clear that Hindu solidarity was taking another severe beating to its unitary image.

Sanctity and Politics The key-note address delivered by the philanthropist-industrialist president of the Ramalingar Mis sion, Dr Mahalingam, was based mainly on the works of three Tamil ‘saints’: Thirumoolar, Thayumanavar and Ramalinga Vallalar. It was rife with unsubstantiated claims, such as: ‘Directly or indirectly, it [Hinduism] has influenced the for mative tenets of every religion around the world’, but it failed to re veal Hinduism’s releva,nce to the coming age. In a similarly styled introductory paper by Sivachanemougam, charac teristic historical misreadings and religious misconceptions were

mixed with the usual platitudinous scriptural formulae for support. Even the always affable conference patron, Dr Avvai Natarajan followed suit. His one-page address claimed: ‘The Tamils are widely known as the greatest temple builders renowned for their imposing structure, elegant sculpture, impressive sanctity and inspired divinity’. The odour and splendour of sanc tity was not completely absent from this first-ever solidarity meet in the persons of graceful white-haired swamis, if not in sackcloth, at least in saffron robes and multi-tiered garlands of beads: Santhalinga Ramaswamy Adigalar and Sithantha Sarabam, from Tamil Nadu, Veetamohanada from France, and Pranavananda from Mauritius, making similar calls for peace and prayer and the need to keep the faith burning on other shores through the con stant practice of holy ritual and do mestic religious observance. The presence ofMr Chevada, presi dent o f‘Overseas Friends ofB]P’, Mr Upadyay and Mr Hardas, both of the ‘Vishwa Hindu Parishad’, and Mr Mhasawade of the ‘Hindu Swayamesevak Sangh’ in Britain, and their repeated affirmations of solidarity with Tamil Hindus only served to accentuate the fact that this was after all a get-together of Tamils.

Discussion Only three academics participated with papers. Professor R.K. Seth, an aficionado of Tamil culture from J. Nehru University, delivered an airy version of Hinduism while citing Dr Mahalingam’s claims that the Saiva faith flourished among the Tamils between 30,000 to 500 B.C.[sic] - due, no doubt, to reliance on astrology rather than carbon-dating - and while maintaining that ‘Hinduism approached the subject of means and methods of spiritual realisation in a scientific spirit'. A paper by a Tamil academic in Paris tried to trace and bring together the two opposing forces of Hinduism: the Saiva ascetic and the Brahmanic sacrificial tradi tions, in order to forestall André Malraux’s predictive dilemma that the 21st century would either see a total rejection or a total revival of re ligious fervour. When it was all said and done eve ryone agreed that this was after all a ‘beginning’ and hoped the next con ference to be convened, most prob ably in South Africa, would set right the shaky start. ■

D rT.W ignesan (W ignesh@ aol.com) served with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (C.N.R.S.) at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sodales in Paris.

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6 MARCH

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INDIA

The Centre for Social Studies (CSS] at Surat organized an Inter national Workshop on Understanding Health Care Systems with special focus on Malaria. It was sponsored by the British Government’s Department o f International Development and the British Council Division (New Delhi] and prepared by Dr Lobo (CSS) attached to the Malaria Control and Research Pro ject being conducted in the Surat District. behaviour as well as their conceptu alizations and perceptions have to be included in the baseline for the de sign and implementation of any he alth care policy. Dr Rama Baru QNU, New Delhi) expressed two worries about the report: the emphasis on the dichotomy bio-medical/traditional, and the absence of any in sight into the perceptions of the in terventionist. The discussion re mained inconclusive about the prob lem of validation of traditional cur ing methods and the issue of intel lectual property right of indigenous treatment procedures. The partici pants agreed that a perception study should include the perceptions of all stakeholders. Dr Purendra Among Prasad's con clusions let loose a lively debate. He stated that indigenous health care covers a much wider field than mod ern health care and includes both the individual and the community; the physical and the mental, the so cial and the ritual domains. Whatev er medical system(s) the patient con sults, the traditional healers are al ways included; and there is a con straint relationship between the pa tient and PHC doctors. Dr Brouwer suggested that the structural posi tion of the healer in the local com munity has to be identified prior to any intervention taking place. As the healer serves all people in a locality we should not speak about the poor er sections but about the voiceless sections of society. The participants agreed that the diverse types of healers have to be studied in more detail, looking closely at their relationship to social strata and the natural environment. Qualities such as the transfer of knowledge between healers and their capacity for innovation and ad aptation have to be considered.

he objectives of this workshop were to share the * J findings of a two-year long study by the Centre on community percep tions of malaria and local knowledge systems regarding health; to draw out clear messages for information and education for mobilizing people for health awareness, and the train ing of the health personnel; and to contribute to the development of culturally appropriate health inter ventions. The deliberations were centred on three themes: (a) commu nity health needs, perceptions, and initiatives; (b) the state: health agen da, perspectives, and action; and (c) health care delivery: indigenous healers and private doctors. In Prof Kothari’s keynote address one question stood central: why have the objectives of the National Malar ia Eradication Programme not been achieved after so many years? He be lieves this was because the pro gramme was unilaterally based on providing allopathic health care by outside doctors through infrastruc ture such as the Primary Health Care (PHC) centres. The problem is not so much one of geographical distance between the PHC and the target group, but one of cultural distance. Prof. Kothari praised the sponsors of the project for standing open to the incorporation of the Indigenous Knowledge Component into the Pro ject, so that the ‘cultural gap’ be tween the government provisions and the indigenous healer and that between the beneficiaries and the in terventionists can be narrowed. Sharon Wilkinson (British Council Division, New Delhi) attributed the decline in effectiveness of the Na tional Malaria Eradication Pro gramme to the lack of an integrated In digen ou s know ledge control strategy and the fact that Dr Prasad opened the second day people are still largely ignorant with a presentation on the Ethnog about the mosquito-malaria link. raphy of PHCs. Among his conclu Therefore the medical-technical sions were that (l) the state supports components of the project need to be exclusively the modern system of supplemented by ‘an ethnographic medicine, ignoring the indigenous component covering knowledge, at systems; and (2) although the PHC’s titudes, practices and behaviour in success depends fully on the involve relationship to fever, with a special ment of the local community, the ef focus on malaria’. fective utilization of local (human) resources is still to be operational Dichotomy ized. In a report session Dr Lobo con The participants agreed that the cluded that ‘a genuine understand project should divide its attention ing of the local habitat, culture, and equally between indigenous and values of people at village level is the modern aspects, both horizontally only solution for making any inter and vertically. In this context Dr Mi vention a success.’ Hence people’s chael Elmore-Meegam (Internation 2 0

SEPTEMBER

CHARLES

Understanding Health Care Systems

B y J AN B R O U WE R

►

• has n e w s l e t t e r NS 17 • D ecember 1998

al Community for the Relief of Star vation and Suffering, Kenya) stated that community participation needs to be the epicentre of a new interac tional model in order to achieve the social sustainability of the intended interventions. The concluding session, chaired by Mrs Padma Prakash (EPW, Mumbai), brought three points to the fore. First of all the ethnology of the tar get groups needs to be mapped out; second, the research methodology of the Indigenous Knowledge compo nent needs to be refined on the basis of clearly stated definitions. Thirdly the modern concepts of health etc. and the perceptions of the state need to be detailed in order to promote a sound interface between people’s he alth and governing structures. The organizers should be congrat ulated for having brought together specialists from the medical and so cial sciences as well as representa tives of the bureaucracy in a fairly unique workshop in which ethnog raphy was allowed to take centre stage. ■

Dr Jan Brouwer is the Director o f the Centre for Advanced Research on Indigenous Knowledge (CARIKS), in Mysore, India.

UNIVERSITY,

PRAGUE

15th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies of specific areas of research rather than across the vast expanse of the major, multi-dis field of South Asian studies. cipline conference The Sufism and early Islam panel JL. Jk. like the one held evolved from collaboration with ^ I in Prague is to the partic scholars who work on the medieval ipant like the proverbial and early modern religious literature elephant in a village of in the Indian ‘vernaculars’. In this blind men: everyone touches a part of area the interaction between the pop it and believes it to be the whole. After ular Sufi centers and Indian religious a joint opening session by professors traditions has been a dominant fea Elizarenkova (Moscow) and Rotherture which forced Indologists to cross mund (Heidelberg), the conference over into the study of Islamic tradi diverged into a delta of numerous tions in India, and vice-versa attracted panels covering a range of historical, Islamologists to the field of Indian re sociological, anthropological, cultu ligions. The role of Sufi-centers in ral, and literary topics. This format re providing a ‘stage’ for the emancipa stricts the participant’s opportunity tion oflower castes, challenging exist to ‘surf the many simultaneous pan ing positions in the field of popular els and learn from other disciplines, devotion and religious prestige, and which, besides delving deep into one’s offering a cosmogonically defined own field, is a purpose of such meet locus which facilitated settlements of ings. The inherent logistic problems nomads and others in many areas of of the much-heralded concept of South Asia, has instigated interesting multi-disciplinary studies become comparisons with research into Sufiobvious on such occasions. traditions all over the Islamic world. During the more in-depth experi The application of methodology from ences at this conference, as a convener the cultural studies provides an inter of a panel on Sufism and early Islam esting handle for a many-sided ap and as a participant in a panel on the proach to the development of Indian representation of marginality in Islamic traditions. As an example I modern South Asian literature, it proposed the application of the con sprang to mind that the approach cept of the literary field as a continu from various disciplinary angles ous element in the development of In should be found in the limited space dian Islamic literature throughout its crossover into modernity. Another example of the develop ment of a multi-disciplinary ap proach within a specific field was the panel on modern literature. The theme of marginality turned out to be such a ubiquitous and fundamental element of modem fiction in the Indi an languages, that the approaches put forward in the papers contributed to a varied and rich perspective on this issue. From the late nineteenth cen tury writings to Arundhati Roy’s award-winning fiction, the characters from marginal groups in society, the national Institute for Asian Studies authors’ experience of not fitting in IIAS, P.O. Box g5i5, 2300 RA Leiden, with their environment, and the in NL, fax: +31-71-5274162, e-mail: herent marginalization ofindividuals iias@rullet.leidenuniv.nl (please in a modern urban society have been mention SAAgg), at their earliest major elements in Indian writing. convenience. We will send you fur The tension between margin and cen ther information. Please indicate tre, as represented in literature in whether you intend to present a many Indian languages, provides an paper (maximum length of presen amazingly manifold insight into the tation: 20 minutes) and mention struggle with identity that went on subject matter. Abstracts should throughout this century in all layers reach us before 1 February lggg. Pri and corners of Indian society. ority will be given to new research in The conference, which was hosted terms of material or methodology. ■ by the Indian Institute of the Charles University, Prague, effectively Prof. dr. K.R. van Kooij, President o f brought together scholars in this the European Association o f South Asian broad field. Its success will undoubt Archaeologists, Kern Institute, edly be carried on in its next instance, Leiden University, The Netherlands. at Edinburgh, in the year 2000. ■ B y T H O M A S DE BRUI J N

Conference on South Asian Archaeology he Fifteenth In ternational Con ference of the Eu ropean Association of South Asian Archaeolo gists will be held in Leid en, The Netherlands, from 5 to 9 July 1999. The conference is organized by the International Institute for Asian Studies (HAS). The official language is English. Research papers are wel come on any aspect of the archaeolo gy or art history of South Asia. There will be two sections, one on prehis toric archaeology, and the other on historical archaeology / art history. Those who want to participate are kindly requested to send a message to Congress Team SAA99, c/o Inter

1998

REGI ONAL

N E WS

„V

MADAGASCAR

Insular SW Asia

MAL DI VE S MAURITIUS RÉUNION S E Y C H E LLES

Sakalava outrider-canoe at the Malagasy west coast

The First Malagasy The Netherlands has occupied a niche in the history o f Mada gascar since Frederik de Houtman, at the beginning o f the sev enteenth century, wrote the first-ever dictionary o f the Mala gasy language, listing about two thousand words which he compared with their Malay equivalents to demonstrate the connection between the two languages. Subsequent research has served to confirm De Houtman’s view that the Malagasy language may be classed as part o f the Austronesian language family. The view generally accepted among modern scholars is that the closest relative o f Malagasy is the Maanjan language o f southeast Borneo. ■ By STEPHEN ELLIS & SOLOFO RANDRIANJA

he analysis of language, to Project gether with ar chaeology, anthropolo gy, and such specialized skills as historical bota ny, is one of the techniques which, in the absence of documents, may be used to determine the earliest histo ry of human settlement in Madagas car, and most notably the question of where the first Malagasy came from. There is agreement among scholars that the great Indian Ocean Island, in spite of its size - bigger than France, Belgium, and the Neth erlands combined - was uninhabited until some two thousand years ago.

Research

The first sites that can be deter mined through archaeological anal ysis date from the fifth century AD, and suggest that the first known human settlements were close to es tuaries, strengthening the generally held view that the island was settled by parties of seafarers who, to judge from the language, had a strong con nection with Indonesia. Who were these speakers of an Austronesian language who settled in Madagas car? How did they arrive, and when? Some twenty per cent of the vocab ulary of modern Malagasy is said to be of non-Austronesian origin, in cluding not only Bantu words, but also others derived from Arabic and, much later, from French, English, and Dutch. Perhaps the most difficult of all questions facing historians who

try to use language to de termine some sort of chro nology of the settlement of Madagascar concerns the exact circumstances under which Bantu words in par ticular became incorporat ed into the language of the proto-Malagasy. Although there have been all sorts of theories about this, there is a consensus among modern scholars that nav igators from Indonesia set tled along the coast of East Africa, acquired some Bantu vocabu lary, and then sailed to Madagascar already speaking a language which contained a considerable admixture of Bantu words. This process probably took place over a period of centuries, as traders of Indonesian origin shut tled between a number of points along the western shores of the Indian Ocean, only gradually founding per manent settlements in Madagascar from perhaps the fifth century. Clues may be found in the catego ries of words in modern Malagasy which are of Bantu origin and in the presence in Malagasy of words of other origin, particularly Sanskrit, which appear to have been acquired

by the ancestors of the first Malagasy before their departure from Indone sia. The ancestors of the Maanjan, the Indonesian language closest to mod ern Malagasy, are said to have formed part of a Barito group of Borneo who travelled to Sumatra and Java in the first five centuries of the present era. There, they acquired new skills and also new words under the influence of the Hinduized states, which existed in Java in those centuries. The pres ence in the Zambezi basin in east Afri ca of modern peoples with legends and funerary rites which appear to be of Indonesian origin, and which also exist in Madagascar, suggests indeed that the proto-Malagasy, probably

New Dictionary International Malagasy-French Conference in Mauritius A

r Philippe Beaujard recently published an impressive dictionary of the Tanala dialect. The Tanala live in southeast Madagascar. Beaujard studied their society for over five years and in this period he published various books and articles on the anthropology and literature of the Tanala. Beaujard's dictionary contains over six thousand entries. With ref erence to former publications on other Malagasy dialects, he studies the Tanala dialect in a comparative perspective. In addition, he deals with the etymology of the words and gives the ethnolinguistic meaning of the key words of the Tanala dialect. The etymology of the words clear

ly points to the fact that the Malaga sy language is an Austronesian lan guage. In this respect Beaujard not only provides for the origins of new words, he also rectifies the explana tions of scientists who studied the Malagasy language before him. ■

For more information:

n March 1998 Mauri tius reached its thir tieth year as an inde pendent sovereign state. In the context of this an niversary, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute proposes to orga nize an international conference from Tuesday 8 to Saturday 12 De cember 1998.

L'HARMATTAN Edition-Diffusion 5-7 rue de I’Ecole-Polytechnique 75005 Paris tel.:+33-1-40 46 79 20 fax:+33-1-43 25 82 03 ISBN: 2-7384-6460-2.

1. The conference will provide an op portunity to examine and reassess: (a) The processes of decolonization and their implications; and (b) The ideals and aspirations embodied in the national movements and

those of their leaders, and the ide ological choices of the new states, in the light of the current social, economic, and political configura tions in those countries. 2. The Conference will also provide an opportunity for an examina tion of national education, nation al cultures, and post-colonial liter atures as challenges to the legacy of colonialism. 3. A special session of the Conference will be on Republic, Citizenship, and Fundamental Rights. The countries and regions under consideration include Britain, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia,

being Barito navigators, touched the coast of East Africa before settling per manently in Madagascar. The pres ence of a small number of Sanskrit words in the vocabulary of the protoMalagasy suggests that the protoMalagasy left Indonesia at a period fairly shortly after the earliest San skrit influence on Borneo, in about the fourth century AD. Barito naviga tors appear to have left Indonesia shortly after that time, trading and settling on the coast of east Africa and founding their first settlements in Madagascar. It is likely that there was a considerable fusion of Indonesian and Bantu culture on the coast of East Africa which survived in Madagascar but which disappeared in east Africa with the large scale immigration of Bantu, perhaps in the period AD 8001000. Further research on the Malagasy language may provide further clues to dating the arrival of the proto-Mala gasy and may also lend material to the analysis of the history of other Aus tronesian languages. ■ Stephen Ellis and Solofo Randrianja are preparing to write a

general history o f

Madagascar from the period o f the protoMalagasy to the present. They would welcome communication with specialists o f Indonesia particularly who may be

interested

in the connection with Madagascar.

They can be reached a t

AFRIKA-STUDIECENTRUM PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden The Netherlands tel : + 31-71-527 3372 fax: (31) 71-527 3344 e-mail: Ellis@rulfsw.fsw.LeidenUniv.nl Solofo@rulfsw.fsw.LeidenUniv.nl.

Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Senegal, Singapore, USA, and the West Indies. Mauritius will, of course, constitute a major focus of the conference. The Confer ence organizers welcome contribu tions that provide fresh insights into and perspectives on the study of the problems that have confronted the new Mauritian nation. The response to the first call for papers has been very encouraging. Participants from Britain, India, USA. France, Singapore, and Mauriti us responded to our invitation.

Deadlines 1 October 1998. Confirmation of participation with title of paper, ab stract as well as a short curriculum vitae, 1 November 1998: Full paper on diskette. ■ For more information:

MAHATMA GANDHI INSTITUTE Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, Moka, Mauritius tel.: +230-433-2488,433-1277/78/79 fax: +230-433-2235, e-mail: asibmgi@intnet.mu.

December 1998 •

ii a s n e w s l e t t e r

* c 17 • 2 .1

REGIONAL

Southeast Asia

NE WS BRUNEI

• MYANMAR • CAMBODI A

I N D O N E S I A • LAOS • MALAYS I A THE

PHILIPPINES

THAILAND

• SINGAPORE

• VIETNAM

The Land of the Sugar Palm Tree The creation o f an independent Social Science Institute in Cambodia, a country which has never experienced a social sci ence academic tradition, and where social structures are based upon political alliances or patronage, d id n ’t happen over night. However, after three years a flourishing agency does exist. The developm ent o f the organization mirrors the devel opm ent o f the country. The aim o f this short paper is to de scribe these developm ents and to introduce both Cambodia and the research in stitu te to the European reader. By J O H N V I J G HE N

ntil you run out of sugar palm j trees you are in EX3 X out land’. It is said with a j smile and a warning: 'do not touch our land’. Kampuchea (pronounced kampucha) or the Kingdom o f Cambodia is in habited by smiling people who at var ious times in their history have tu r ned ruthlessly against invaders and their fellow countrymen. It is known throughout the world for the geno cide by Pol Pot who caused the death of a quarter of the population. It is also the country which was brought into the realm of democratic nations by a tremen dous effort of the world community: one of the successes of the United Nations. Some called it an ex periment in democra cy, until the second prime minister took power by force and ousted his rival first prime minister last July. In this country another ex periment is still taking place. The creation of an independent Social Sci ence Institute in a country which never had a social science academic tradition, and in which social struc tures are based upon political allianc es or patronage, did not come about without problems, but, three years later a flourishing agency seems to have found its feet. While the United Nations Transi tional Authority of Cambodia pre pared the nation for general elections and thousands of foreign electoral of ficers introduced the concept of de mocracy to a once fatalistic popula tion, the idea was born of introducing the idea of studying the country’s own society. The general elections were a success, the majority o f the population voted for a democratic al ternative. Immediately after the elec tions the losers, the former commu nist party, refused to relinquish power and manipulated the world powers into accepting a ‘government of national reconciliation’ which kept the former power structure largely in tact. Lack of insight into the social '" '■ i

1 i

system and a limited understanding of the social processes have contribut ed to this abandonment of a tough stance by the world community. At the time there were no Cambodian re searchers to provide such insight and understanding. Some foreign scholars warned about the outcome, but they were not heeded. The study of the Cambodian society had yet to begin.

N ational capacity One year after the general elections, a research group was founded with the aim of studying the society and the processes of development in terms of poverty alleviation and participation in decision making at all levels. Although the assistance of foreign scholars would be needed to introduce proper social research methodologies, the aim was to develop such skills and capaci ties among nationals. The research group was set up as a NonGovernmental Organ ization, not associated to any govern ment agency or the national universi ty, the latter being inescapably under the patronage of political figures. The name chosen for the organization ‘Cambodian Researchers for Develop ment symbolizes both the advance ment o f national capacity and the de velopment of society. A national folk theme animal, the rabbit, as the seek er of truth, was selected for the agen cy’s vignette. Effective from January 15195 the Social Research Institute CRD (acronym for Cambodian Researchers for Development) with the co-opera tion of the international development community, was formed. The first major studies focused on children and about women, two marginalized groups in Cambodian society. Cambodia's major social problem is the distribution of resources and the limited freedom to participate in so cial and political decision making. Owing to the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, more and more children are denied sufficient food and an adequate education. Women constitute more than half of the pop ulation, but are not represented in the public realm which is the domain of

‘C am bodia is still

a white spot on the

Social Science m ap ’

22 •

ii as n e w s l e t t e r NS 17 • D e cem b er 1998

sults are still weak and further re sion had been at virtual breaking men. Women guard the household search is needed, but there is a light at point between both sides for years and budget, but a significant proportion the end of the tunnel. The Cambodian there were few who believed in a o f men use violence demanding researchers are helping their country peaceful solution. The former commoney for gambling, drinking, and men to find the way out of the visiting prostitutes, causing darkness. their women not only physi Who are these men and C am bodian Researchers For D evelopm ent cal suffering but also leaving women who started from noth The ‘Cambodian Researchers for Developm ent’ was them with the burden of ing and created an Institute established April 1994 by a Dutch anthropologist and two feeding the children. Women which has completed over twen Cambodian colleagues. It became a Non-Governmental may also suffer most from ty studies on topics ranging from Organization in January 199S. Its mandate is to increase the traumatic events during Water Use Practices to Village local capacity for social research through social studies and the terror regime of Pol Pot Decision Making, Village Devel training. Since its inception over fifty studies, workgroup or the continued guerrilla opment Committees and Politi sessions and training courses have been completed, fighting in remote parts of cal Rhetoric; and who continued resulting in over twenty study reports and several academic the country. They lost .loved to conduct field work on democ papers. Working relationships exist with sections o f ones and had to feed and pro racy issues while fighting was universities in Uppsala, Gothenburg, Chiang Mai, Penang, tect their children during still going on? Their names are Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Phnom Penh. Currently, one those terrible times. not important, their nationality major academic research programme entitled ‘Local CRD has initiated and exe is. With the exception of the Participation in Development and Democracy', is sponsored cuted such studies into these Dutch founder who at present by Sweden. A major training programme is the School for problems, some are now run acts as advisor and is phasing Social Research, sponsored by the Netherlands. Since ning, some are on hold pend himself out, all are Cambodians October 1997, this agency has been under local ing further funding. A major who have remained with their managem ent with a professional sta ff o f around ten. problem is that during thirty countrymen in times of conflict Income is generated through contract-research, training years virtually no field stud and hunger. This group of re courses and consultancies. Except for project funding no ies about the Cambodian so searchers, academics and noncore funding was ever received and the agency is proud to ciety and population could formally educated field research be independent be conducted. Cambodia is ers alike, are the backbone for the still a white spot on the so kingdom's emerging young re cial science map. Researchers search core who wish to study their m unist party took back what it lost from CRD aim to fill these white spots own society in order to improve its de during the general elections with un to increase knowledge and under velopment. They are still vulnerable expected rigour and violence. Democ standing. and need advice and support from racy received a blow but there are more senior (European?) scholars and many rays of hope for democracy. For Backbone institutions. ■ more than two years researchers from On 5 July 1997 fighting broke out CRD have been studying local partici between rival forces of both major po John Vijghen can be reached at pation in the affairs of rural commu litical parties. The Pritikar (the Event), Cambodian Researchers for Development, nities. Evidence is starting to emerge as Cambodians call the ‘coup which P.O. Box 426, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that the concept of democracy as a was not a coup d’etat’ was a turning e-mail: CRD@forum.org.kh. basic principle has taken root. The re point on the way to democracy. Ten

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S O U T H E A S T ASI A tries, between agricultural classes, between rural and urban popula L O N D O N , GREAT BRITAIN tions, and between crops. This point was brought out particularly clearly in the two papers on the Philippines. The corollary of this argument is that the precise impact of the crisis in a particular locality was deter mined by one or more of a host of possible factors - the level of agrari an debt on the eve of the crisis; the ease of access to international mar kets during the depression years; the land, laboiir, and capital regimes of the crops grown in that locality; the ability of local tax collectors, land lords, and moneylenders to force payments from the population. The final discussion revolved principally around an attempt to construct This workshop took place at the School o f Oriental and African some general principles by which Studies, London, 2-4 April 1998. A total o f fifteen papers were the impact of the depression crisis presented, by scholars from the Netherlands, Great Britain, on a particular locality could be pre Indonesia, France, Denmark, Malaysia, Singapore, and the dicted. Was it, for example, access to international markets or was it United States. mainly the tightness of local credit conditions, which determined the duction to compensate in part for ■ By PETER B O O M G A A R D & severity of the depression in a given the collapse in crop prices; resistance I A N B R O WN locality? to the demands of tax collectors, The papers from the workshop are landlords, and moneylenders; and a he workshop pur now being revised. In addition, a fur sharp decline in the prices of articles sued two central ther paper - on Siam during the of consumption, notably imports themes. The first 1930s economic crisis - is being from Japan. Much of the discussion was the proposition that sought. The participants and their on this point focused on attempts to when the 1930s depres revised papers have reconvened as a establish the relative effectiveness of sion crisis struck South panel at the EUROSEAS Conference each of these strategies. east Asia, the populations of the re in Hamburg in September 1998. The The second, and more important gion - large sections of whom were panel was used to make the final re theme arose from the observation heavily dependent on production for visions to the papers and, in particu that the world economic crisis of the the world market - created or discov lar, to consider the first draft of an 1930s had a vastly varied impact ered a number of mechanisms by introductory paper. It is intended across Southeast Asia. The impact which they could defend their mate that the papers will be published as a varied, for example, between the rial condition. These survival stratesingle edited volume. ■ gies included an expansion in pro- I countries of the region, within coun

►

4 APRIL

1998

The Economies of Southeast Asia in the 15130s Depression

AUGUST

BERLIN,

>•

4 SEPTEMBER

1998

GERMANY

The seventh EurASEAA Conference The European Association o f Southeast Asian Archaeologists (EurASEAA] has held conferences every second year since its es tablishment in 1986. The main aim o f the association is to bring together European scholars working in the field o f Southeast Asian archaeology, including protohistory and early history, epigraphy and art history, and to offer facilities to pre sent and discuss new data. There is no fixed membership; scholars and students from all countries are welcome to partic ipate in the international conferences. The association also strives to raise funds for inviting Southeast Asian colleagues to participate. By M A R I J KE K L O K K E

he Seventh Inter national Confer ence of the Euro pean Association of Southeast Asian Archae ologists (EurASEAA) took place in Berlin, from 31 August to 4 Septemper 1998. It was organized by Dr Wibke Lobo and hosted by the Museum für Völkerkunde. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Bonn, the Heinrich-Böll Stiftung Berlin, the Gesellschaft fiir indoasiatische Kunst Berlin e.V., Senator für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur, Berlin, Partner für Berlin e.V., and the Ford Foundation in Ja karta all sponsored the conference. About a hundred participants

(from Australia, Austria, Cambodia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Italy, Ma laysia, the Netherlands, New Zea land, the Philippines, Russia, Singa pore, Thailand, the USA, and Viet nam) attended. They presented sixty-nine papers spread over five days. The subjects ranged from ‘Metal objects from Champa, Central Vietnam’ to ‘Epigraphical Evidence of Pasupata Saivism in Bengal and Cambodia’, ‘Chinese and MiddleEastern Ceramics Found in Barus, Sumatra’, ‘Underwater Archaeology of the Pandanan Wreck’, and ‘Secula rization’ of Burmese Mural Painting in the 18th and 19th Centuries’. The board of the EurASEAA met to discuss the organization of future conferences and the publications of

the proceedings of the conferences. The proceedings of the 1992 confer ence in Rome, edited by Roberto Ciarla and Fiorella Rispoli, have been published by the Istitute Italiano per l’Africa e 1’Oriente and the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Oriëntale in Rome in 1997. The first volume of the 1994 conference in Paris, edited by PierreYves Manguin, has been published by the Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull in 1998; the second volume will follow soon. The proceedings of the 1996 confer ence in Leiden, edited by Marijke J. Klokke and Thomas de Bruijn, are in press. By the time this Newsletter appears they will have been pub lished by the Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull. Seven of the papers delivered at the Leiden conference were edited by Ian Glover and have been published in the Journal of the Siam Society 85/1-2 (i997)- ■

Patriiia Zolese o f the Istituto Italiano per I'Africa e 1’Oriente has offered to organize the next conference in Toscane, Italy, in October 2000. She can be contacted at:Via Vittorio Veneto 108, 001 8 7 Rome, Italy, fax: + 39-6-4827085.

Places o f transit, exchange and encounters

Fairs & Markets in Southeast Asia the nature of contracts made, and outheast Asian systems of loans. The origins of mer specialists are in chants should also be looked into, vited to participate where they go, how they travel and in our interdisciplinary how they are lodged and fed. We research project ‘Fairs could also pay attention to the rea and Markets in South sons for the eventual decline, renew east Asia’. Aim of the project is to un al, or metamorphosis of markets dis derscore the specific forms of socia bility disclosed by these places of figured or abolished faced for in stance with urban reconstruction. transit, exchange and encounters. One could also observe the forms of We wish to develop a comparative exchange and the products ex approach that would be both syn changed (perishable, luxury, valu chronic and diachronic. Contribu able, lightweight) and the mode of tions on ‘peripheral’ markets in transport. India, China or Japan are therefore The question of ‘what is ex also welcome. Rather than list the changed in markets in addition to various kinds of markets according commodities’ could also be studied. to their nature or establish a typolo This would include words, languag gy based on their different speciali es, currencies, and peace between ties, we suggest a transversal inter different religions, cultures, and pretation of markets that will em customs. This leads to the question: phasize similar patterns of articula ‘who are encountered in a market, tion. merchants and their families, seden The starting point would be the tary population and nomads, town market as a locus (does it have its and country dwellers, more and own space, are there permanent more tourists? We can define market buildings or not, is it in a special people (such as packers, porters, neighbourhood?), sometimes geo money changers, hawkers, storytell graphically distinguishable (cross ers, medicine sellers) and a ‘perip roads or river junctions, ports, near heral’ population (beggars, brigands, by stations). It might be observed thieves) excluded from other spaces that the market place is frequently of sociability. The market as a place associated with a sacred spot (spring, for festivities could be also consid tombstone, temples, churches, or ered. Finally, the mythology of mar mosques) or a place of power (e.g. kets could be analysed, palaces). The market I claiming for instance can also be a place for to date back to ‘the proselytism (cf the dawn of time’, or to a fairs at which Mo 'We s u re s t utopian place of multi hammed preached). cultural receptivity as The place were a mar the market is also a ket is held could be a transversal place for special ‘sta considered a kind of ging’ procedures of the ‘forecourt’ for political foreigner for example, and public life, the interpretation or of a stereotyped cul strategy of political tural identity. figures concerning the To sum up, markets o f m arkets’ information (and the and the images that money) which is ex they convey consti changed in a market. tute, through the ex One should also look * changes that are ac into the extent to complished by them, which the people fre the backbone of other social ex quenting markets have taken an ac changes. Markets are always attest tive part in political upheavals. Another aspect is the timing of a ing globally to the needs, desires and hidden dreams of a society. ■ market, which, if not sacred, is at least very special as it is often con nected with a religious festival. Mar In addition to publication, a round table is kets therefore are special occasions, planned. Papers, in French or English, to not only thanks to their links with be sent by December 2000. They may be neighbouring markets but also be 5 to 25 pages long and sent in on PC or cause of their own calendar. Macintosh disk (Word), with a print out. The conditions for the emergence Kindly send to Gilbert Hamonic and Nelly of a market would have to be stud Krowolski, CNRS-LASEMA (UPR 297), ied. These are first and foremost his O pération Foires e t Marchés d'Asie du torical. Everyday practices are very Sud-Est, 22 rue d ’Athènes 75009 - Paris, important: a police force which pro France, te l:+33-145-26 15 12, tects merchants, special jurisdic fax:+ 33-144-53 04 06. tions, rights and particular codes, D e cem b er 1998 • ii as n e w s l e t t e r

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ASIA

Political Hypocrisy: An Indonesian Way Two shocking events which were intensely upsetting to Soeharto before he decided to withdraw from the Indonesian Presidency on May 21, 1998, were the appeal from the Parliament/Peoples’ Assembly that Soeharto should step down fol lowed by the statement o f withdrawal o f fourteen Cabinet Ministers in the following week. Both surprising proposals were sent to him by persons who had always been his loyal fol lowers, just at the moment when he was being pushed into a critical comer by his political opponents. By AMRI MARZAL I

he first proposal was sent by Harmoko, the Chairman of Parliament/People’s Assembly, who was once Soeharto’s bril liant and loyal cadre, and the second came from Ginanjar Kartasasmita, the Co-ordinating Minister of Eco nomics, Finance, and Development, who once used to be the loyal protégé ofSoedarmono, former vicepresident and close friend of Soe harto. They were all president’s

men, who metamorphized into pre sident’s foes. The proposals deflated Soeharto, filling him with a sense of hopeless ness. He seemed to be so isolated, deserted by men who used to re spect him, hanging on his every word. It seemed that Soeharto had reached a nadir of loneliness and disappointment. It must have been similar to the way he felt two years before when he was left alone after the death of his wife. His spoiled children, who had frequently un dermined their father’s dignity, and were unable to resist the tempta-

20 ► 22 JULY 1 9 9 8 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

The 8th Annual Meeting of the South East Asian Linguistic Society The Eighth Annual Meeting o f South East Asian Linguistic So ciety was successfully held at Brisdale Inn, Kuala Lumpur, Ma laysia, July 20-22, 1998. Participants from Malaysia, New Zea land, Germany, Singapore, Brunei, USA, Australia, Japan, Can ada, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Netherlands ex changed ideas and findings on languages o f Southeast Asia in Southeast Asia for the second time. By J YH WEE SEW

lthough a few un announced pull outs disrupted the flow of the meeting, these did not deter a thorough discussion on Malay linguistics with papers on Malay word stress, Kuala Lumpur Malay as a mainland Southeast Asian language, Malay and English news broadcasts in Brunei, Singapore, Ma laysia and Indonesia, etc. Other topics ranged from a comparative analysis of grammaticalization between Japa nese and Thai, and between Malay, Chinese, and Japanese to Tagalog-Illocano grammar, and a functional anal 2 4 • IIAS

newsletter

ysis ofBonggi. As a participant in this conference I thank the organizer David Gil for bringing the conference closer to home and thus more afforda ble to those from Southeast Asia. The next conference on Southeast Asian Linguistics will be held at the Univer sity of California at Berkeley, and will be organized by Prof James Matisoff, in May 1999. ■

tion to accumulate wealth for themselves by manipulating their father's position, were powerless to help their father out of the crisis, or consoling Soeharto’s wounded and disillusioned heart. This is a tragedy of a human being, who had become enthralled by his worldly grandeur. He thought that Indonesia was well and truly in his grasp, and was blind and deaf to people’s cries of misery. He was able to order the poor to tighten their belts while he and his children accumulated bil lions of dollars by collusion, nepo tism, and manipulation. He kept quiet when right-wing Indonesians - mostly Javanese - slaughtered hundreds of thousands of their Communist brothers and sisters in 1966 when he was the most power ful general in Indonesia. He had no qualms about ordering his ABRI (military] machine to ‘punch’ the critical, and intellectually alert young Indonesian students, send ing some of them to jail. Others were kidnapped and yet others are believed to have been killed. Soehar to is now bearing the burden of his own sins.

Not Napoleon Up to to July, 1998, when the ex traordinary congress of the ruling party, Golkar, was opened (more than a month after the fall of Soehar to), many people in Indonesia still believed that Soeharto would stage a come-back. Now, they say, he keeps silent, lying prone like a soldier. Many people believe that Soeharto’s followers are still roaming around, waiting for the right time to make a grab for power and restoring Soehar to to his former position. Soeharto’s enemies will begin to count down the days before they are doomed to hell.

This angst is unreal - it will never happen. Soeharto is not Napoleon. He is too old for ordinary men to muster the energy and plan the strategy needed for this sort of goal. His kidneys are failing, and he does not have the heart to carry out such a huge task. Next year, or even in the next months, he will need a stick to totter around. Nonetheless, the most important factor, of which many people in In donesia are not aware, is that Soehar to has never attracted fanatical fol lowers. Soeharto is not Soekarno. Soeharto built his gang by the sys-

‘Soeharto never attracted fa n a tic a l follow ers, he is not Soekarno’

tern of the ‘whip and carrot’. You obey me, adore me, and give me no trouble, and you are eligible for a carrot. Then you will be rewarded with a strategic so-called ‘wet posi tion’ in the government structure (the term used to refer to a govern mental position, which can be ma nipulated by its holder to produce wealth for himself by collusion, cor ruption, and nepotism). If, however, you choose the opposite cause, you will be whipped, or sent to jail or, at very the worst, to hell. The way Soe harto built his mass following is highly reminiscent of the Big Man system in Melanesia, or the Tonowi system among the Kapauku in Irian Jaya. This patron-client system of political recruitment will produce a

blurred, illusive, and non-compact group of clients. The clients will be loyal to the patron only when the pa tron has something of value for them.

Die by the sword Soeharto is different from his pre decessor, President Soekarno, who drew his followers to him with polit ical ideology, namely: Indonesian nationalism, socialism, self-help, and anti-neocolonialism and neo capitalism. When Soeharto was pus hed aside by his opponents, there was no poor lower class mass to de fend him, crying the slogan ‘pejah gesang nderek Soeharto’ (live or die with Soeharto), as it happened to Soekarno. Soeharto’s scenario was very dif ferent. At the critical moment the president’s men, namely Harmoko, Ginanjar, and Habibie deserted the him. In fact, what dealt the body ■blow to Soeharto were not the dem onstrations organized by the Indo nesian students and Amien Rais cum suis against him, but the betrayal of the men who had pretended to be his loyal followers. They were just play ing the political game that so charac teristic of Soeharto’s Indonesia: the strategy of political hypocrisy. Soe harto successfully applied this strat egy, only to be struck down by the political hypocrisy of his followers. As it says in the Bible: ‘Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword’. For Soeharto, this phrase should read: ‘He who ascends the throne trough hypocrisy, will be cast down from the throne by hypocrisy’. Who would dare to say these days that Harmoko, Ginanjar, and Habi bie are not among the heroes of the Reformation Order in Indonesia? ■

DrAmri Marzali (Indonesia) was a senior visiting fellow at the HAS from 15 February to 15 May 1998.

(Advert i sement )

ASIAN STUDIES ON MICROFICHE THE EAST TIMOR QUESTION, 1975-1996 LABOR ISSUES IN INDONESIA, 1979-1995 POLITICAL REPORTS AND DISPATCHES, DUTCH EAST INDIES, 1898-1940 SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF COLONIAL INDONESIA IMAGES OF EAST AND WEST: MAPS, PLANS, VIEWS AND DRAWINGS, 1583-1963 MEMORIES VAN OVERGAVE AND MAILRAPPORTEN, DUTCH EAST INDIES, 1849-1962 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDONESIA, 1807-1949 WAR AND DECOLONIZATION IN INDONESIA, 1940-1950 THE SARVODAYA MOVEMENT IN INDIA, 1950s For more information, please contact

lyh Wee Sew can be reached at the Linguistics Section, School o f Languages, University o f Otago, P.0. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.

W17 • December 1998

MMF Publications PO Box 287 2160 AG Lisse The Netherlands Tel +31-252-43 21 21 Fax+31-252-41 86 58 E-mail: niicroformat@compuserve.com

fïïff

SOUTHEAST

$ Ktrtnlog Indtsk Nnskah-Haskah Nusantara JL Jilid 3 - A

FAKÜLTAS

SASTRA

UNWERSITAS INDONESIA

ASI A

New Catalogues of Indonesian Manuscripts

Kotalog Induk Hoskah-Naskah Nusantara Jilid 3 - B

FAKULTAS

SASTRA

UNIVERSITASINDONESIA

LPW ieringa

‘C atalogu e o f Malay and M inangkabau M anuscripts in th e Library o f Leiden U n iversity and o th e r C o llec tio n s in th e N etherlan ds: V olum e O n e com prisin g th e acquisitions o f Malay m anu scripts in Leiden U niversity Library up to th e year I 896’ Leiden University Library: Legatum W arnerianum, 1998,608 pp. ISBN 0169-8672. IE. Behrend dan Titik Pudjiastuti

(taunting oleh T.l. Behrend dan Thik Pudjiastuti YAYASAN OBOR INDONESIA F.COLK PRANCAISE D 'EX TREM E ORIENT

Oisunting oleh T.f. Behrend dan frtik Pudjiastuti

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YAYASAN O BOR INDONESIA ECOLE FRANCAISE D'EXTREM E ORIENT

Fakultas S astra U n iversitas In don esia’. Jakarta:Yayasan O bor Indonesia/Ecole Fran?aise d’Extrême Orient, 1997, I 160 pp. ISBN 979-461-275-8.

By DI CK VA N DER MEI J

merest in texts from the Indonesian Ar chipelago has never faded. They have been studied ever since the first interested scholars appeared in the field in the nine teenth century, and at present, edi tions are still being prepared and published. Finding the way in the many collections in the world has often been hampered by lack of the basic tools for searching: catalogues.

OCTOBER HAMBURG

Luckily, librarians and institutions concerned with Indonesian studies have always understood that cata logues are an essential part of the scholarly tradition of text explora tion. Just as the methods of text edit ing have changed over the years, so has the method of cataloguing them. It is no longer sufficient to just list the manuscript by title and shelf number, nowadays the average scholar expects to find much more information and details. Catalogues such as the vast four volume catalogue of Javanese Manu

scripts in the Library of Leiden Uni versity and other collection in the Netherlands compiled by Th.G.Th. Pigeaud (15167-1980) contain a wealth of information on the text level, but not on the manuscript level. Details as to material (paper, palm leaf], measurements and such are found in them, but other details such as wa termarks are not. Details on texts, however are. Since a catalogue is pri marily concerned with texts and manuscripts, they now tend to offer information in detail on both. The catalogue compiled by Wie-

4 , 1 9 9 8

UNIVERSITY,

ringa has taken quite a few years to compile and the result is marvellous. Detailed descriptions of all manu scripts, references to other cata logues and places in secondary liter ature, as well as many illustrations of the manuscripts concerned has turned this book into an indispensa ble tool for scholars interested in Malay and Minangkabau texts and manuscripts. Also the inclusion of letters written in Malay make this book ever more attractive. Volume one contains manuscripts up to the year 1896. Other volumes of manu

►

PATTANI,

GERMANY

JUNE

scripts acquired after that date I hope will appear in the near future. The two volumes of catalogues of the University of Indonesia are a major achievement of Behrend and Pudjiastuti and their vast team ofcoeditors. All the manuscripts in many different languages have been de scribed in detail and elegant illustra tions of illuminations found in the manuscripts make this book even more attractive. Both catalogues are augmented by detailed indexes and references to make them easily accessible. ■

1998

THAILAND

T h e T h ir d E u r o -J apanese International Symposium

4 t h A S E A N In te r U n iv e r s ity seminar

Religion and Cultural Diffusion

SE Asia into the 21st Century

By B A R E N D J AN TERWI EL

he theme of the third Euro-Japa nese Symposium was Religion and Cultu ral Diffusion. From the outset it attracted en quiries from all around the world and offers of papers from scholars of international repute. What made this symposium so special was the fact that all speakers are familiar with primary sources related to Mainland Southeast Asia. At the same time many different disci plines were brought together. One had an intimate knowledge of Japa nese sources, others were specialists on historical Khmer topography, classical Pali literature, Roman Catholic missionary activities in

Southeast Asia, etc. This proved to be the right mix to produce lively discussions. New questions were posed and areas of further study were identified. During the concluding business meeting it was decided to appoint Barend Jan Terwiel and Alain Forest as editors of the proceedings of this third symposium, which again will be published with L’Harmattan in Paris. A date for the fourth EuroJapanese Seminar on Southeast Asia was decided upon, namely early September 1999. It will most prob ably take place in Leiden, where the International Institute of Asian Studies will provide institutional backing. The topic that was decided upon was: Mainland Southeast Asian Responses to the Stimuli of

Foreign Material Culture and Prac tical Knowledge Between the 14th and mid-i9th Century. ■

Prospective participants should contact:

B J . TERWIEL Thai Dept Von-Melle-Park 6 20146 Hamburg Germany (B.J. Terwiel will forward all enquiries to the next convenor, still to be decided.)

he main theme of the Fourth ASEAN InterUniversity Seminar on Social Development is ‘Southeast Asia into the 21st Century: Critical Transitions, Continuity and Change’. Panels will be organized on the following sub-topics: ‘Rural and Urban Poverty and Inequality’, ‘In dustrialization and Labour Regi mes’, ‘Family Strategies and Survival in Southeast Asia’, ‘Gender, Economy and Politics’, ‘Security and Strategic Relations in Southeast Asia’, ‘The Local and The Region in Develop ment’, ‘Science, Technology and So ciety’, ‘Globalization, Crisis, and Local Response’, ‘Values and Myths: Ancient and Modern’, and ‘Environ ment and Society’.

For a paper to be considered, an abstract of less than 250 words should be sent to the seminar secre tariat by 31 January 1999. Selection of abstracts will be completed by 15 February 1999. Upon notification of acceptance of an abstract, a complet ed paper should be submitted by 30 March, 1999. This paper should be camera-ready, single spaced on A4 sized paper and should not exceed 20 pages. Abstract and paper must be submitted on hard copy plus dis kette. ■

ASEAN ISSD4 Secretariat, Division o f Academic Affairs, Prince o f Songkla University, Pattani 9 4 0 0 0 ,Thailand, tel: +6673-312238, fax: + 66-73-313485, e-mail: issd4@ bunga.pn.psu.ac.th, website: http://www.pn.psu.ac.th/issd4.

December 1998 •

ii as n e w s l e t t e r

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A Century ofPhilippine-Dutch Connections:

Philippine Studies in the Netherlands On the occasion o f the celebration o f the centennial o f the Phi lippine Revolution and the proclamation o f the First Philip pine Republic, the International Institute for Asian Studies, Amsterdam Branch, organized a workshop in collaboration with the Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands on August 31, 1998. The venue was the recently renovated Doelenzaal in the University o f Amsterdam Auditorium-cum-Library complex. ■ by OTTO VAN DEN MUIJZENBERG

he A msterdam HAS Branch Manager Dr Mario Rutten wel comed the more than forty participants from ac ademia, the media, and business reminding the audience that this workshop brought Dutch and Fili pino students and observers of the Phi lippines together in the Amsterdam setting for the second time after the First European Philippine Studies Con ference in April 1991. The Philippine Ambassador, H.E. Rodolpho S. Sanchez, highlighted the relations between his country and The Netherlands, which started violently in 1600 in sea battles be tween the Dutch and Spaniards in Philippine waters. After a long peri od of centuries of mutual isolation, the relations are now ‘generally good’ in the view of Dutch prime minister, Wim Kok, and economic relations were recently intensified by mutual visits of the ministers of economic affairs. Trade grew from $340 million in 1992 to 2 billion in 1997. Several big Dutch companies have invested in the Philippines, some of them indeed have been doing so for decades. Dutch develop ment aid has focused on poverty al leviation, higher education, environ mental problems, and the rehabili tation of Laguna de Bay. The Philip pines contributes to the Dutch econ omy by its export, which is mainly directed to Rotterdam harbour, and its migrant workers (seamen, nurses, and professionals). In the education al field, it has sent over 1000 fellows to Holland for training. Ambassador Sanchez concluded by referring to an official Dutch suggestion to cele brate Four Centuries of PhilippineDutch relations in the year 2000, pos sibly with an exposition of the San Diego treasures in Amsterdam.

N a tio n a l Hero Professor Otto van den Muijzenberg (University of Amsterdam) rai sed the much asked question why the Philippine national hero, Dr Jose P. Rizal, never visited the Nether lands, although his name was known to late nineteenth-century Orientalists here. He gave an over view of the development of Philip pine Studies in the Netherlands dur ing the late colonial period, when socio-economic and governmental problems were studied in a compara tive fashion. But it is the past twenty years which have turned out to be the most productive, for Dutch aca demic work on the Philippines. The overall picture is one of diversity in 26 •

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NSlj

•

approaches, topics, disciplines. Much work has been done in the applied fields of development and environ mental studies as well as more pure ly scientific disciplines (e.g. anthro pology and linguistics). Owing to limited access to archives, history is an underrepresented discipline in Dutch Philippine studies. Outlining the general set-up of the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Mrs. Aurora Payayo-Galindo showed how since its inception in 1955 this institution has received hundreds of Filipino students, 365 of whom produced papers and theses on Philippine matters for a diploma or a master’s degree in one of eight specializations. Doctoral theses dealt with resource allocation in Philip pine households and mail-order bride migration from the Philip pines. Gerhard van den Top M.Ag.Sc. (University of Leiden) introduced the collaborative research and teaching project which his university and its Center for Environmental Problems launched in t990 in conjunction with the College of Forestry of Isabe la State University. The ongoing pro gramme under the name Cagayan Valley Program for Environment and Development (CVPED) focuses on problems connected with defo restation and the transformation of the ecosystem and rural economy and was host to more than a hun dred fieldwork projects by pairs of Filipino and Dutch students in the natural as well as the social sciences. Faculty members from both sides transformed this and their own work into PhD theses. The pro gramme tries to contribute actively to the solution of problems of the re gion.

Historical Conjunction In her review of Philippine re search projects at the University of Amsterdam, Dr Rosanne Rutten showed how a historical conjunction in the mid-1960s in Indonesia led to the diversification of what had been Indonesia-focused work in the Uni versity of Amsterdam towards social research in the Philippines (and India), with the first two PhD pro jects launched in the late sixties. Amsterdam’s staff and students have laid great stress on lengthy field work, but insights thus gained are always interpreted in the context of larger and long-term developments. Five themes are to be distinguished: socio-economic change in rural soci ety; changes in urban society, politi cal change and the more recent the mes of the social implications of gender and street children, and child labour.

D e c e m b e r 1998

At the University of Amsterdam the medical anthropology unit of the de partment of anthropology focuses on how people define and experience he alth problems, improve their health, and respond to health care interven tions report. In the mid-1980s Dr Anita Hardon was the first to under take PhD research in this field in the Philippines, but illness prevented her from presenting her review. Therefore Dr Rosanne Rutten also read the re port on the unit’s recent and present work, including close collaboration with Philippine counterparts in two action research projects on gender, re productive health, and population policies; on community drug use and on immunization programmes at several locations in the Philippines. Joost Oorthuizen MAg.Sc. (Agricul tural University Wageningen) dealt with research and teaching in which his university has been involved over the years in and with the Philippines. In Wageningen, almost all working relations with the Philippines are based in Los Banos, where the Univer sity of the Philippines, the Interna tional Rice Research Institute and the Southeast Asian Research Council in Agriculture are located. Much of the work is in the sciences, and research is done in crop science, geographical in formation systems, soil erosion re search, host-pest interaction research, and work on crop ecology, irrigation and, lately sustainability of various technological innovations. More in the social science field is work on the users’ perspective in agricultural re search, stressing the need for partici pation by farmers (women) in tech nology development. Ongoing inter disciplinary PhD research by the speaker and two colleagues deals with contract farming arrangements in Mindanao, interactions between users and officials of irrigation sys tems and the dynamics of develop ment NGOs in a rapidly changing na tional and international context. A documentary film ‘The Law of the Jungle’ which was made in the context of CVPED, mentioned above, concluded the academic part of the workshop which was rounded off by a reception offered by the Philippine

Embassy in the Netherlands. Plans for a regular follow-up in the form of quarterly meetings of a Dutch Phi lippine Studies network may materi alize soon. ■

BOOKS

Prof. W .A.L. Stokhof and Philippine Ambassador, H.E. Rodolpho S. Sanchez

RECEIVED

Michael A. Aung-Thwin

MYTH & HISTORY IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EARLY BURMA: PARADIGMS, PRIMARY SOURCES, AND PREJUDICES Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1998, 220 pp. ISBN 0-89680-201-9 Gert-Jan Bartstra BIRD'S HEAD APPROACHES: IRIAN JAYA STUDIES A PROGRAMME FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH Rotterdam/BrookfieId:A.A. Balkema, 1998,275 pp. ISBN 90-5410-683-2, ills. (Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia, 15) CuongTu Nguyen ZEN IN MEDIEVAL VIETNAM: A STUDY AND TRANSLATION OF THE THIEN UYEN TAP ANH Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8248-1948-9 (Second Edition of the 1947 edition) Craig A. Lockard DANCE OF LIFE: POPULAR MUSIC AND POLITICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1998, 390 pp. ISBN 0-8248-19 18-7 Mayoury Ngaosyvathn and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn PATHS TO CONFLAGRATION: FIFTY YEARS OF DIPLOMACY AND WARFARE IN LAOS, THAILAND, AND VIETNAM, 1778-1828 Ithaca NY: Cornell University, Southeast Asia Program Publications, 1998. ISBN 0-87727-723-0 Adolf Maximiliaan Pino KOMEDIE-STAMBOEL EN ANDERE VERHALEN UIT DE PRAKTIJK VAN HET BINNENLANDS BESTUUR OP JAVA 1913-1946 Leiden University, 1998, 192 pp. ISSN 0165-2850 (Intercontinenta No.22). U Jana NGUYÊN COCHINCHINA. SOUTHERN VIETNAM IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES Ithaca NY: Cornell University, Southeast Asia Program Publications, 1998, ISBN 0-87727-722-2 Louis Zweers INDIË VOORBIJ: VAN KOLONIE TOT NATIE Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1998, 128 pp. ISBN 90-5730-010-9

REGI ONAL

N E WS P. R. C H I N A

East Asia

JAPAN KOREA MACAO TAI WAN

1 9 >• 2 3 J U N E 1 9 9 8 TRIER, GERMANY

Second International Conference on Yi Studies Under the title ‘Processes o f Social Change, Rising Ethnic Identity, and Ethnicity among the Yi Nationality in China’ the conference brought together more than forty scholars from China, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the US. The majority were scholars from among the Yi themselves. Twenty-nine papers were presented, all in Chi nese. The conference was sponsored by the German Research Association (DFG). of relations between minorities in the peripheral areas. If one takes Han cultural practices as the gauge he conference of civilization, then there is much started with the to be said for this model, for it accu issue of ethnic rately reflects a certain kind of his identification and defi torical change - Sinicization. But nition. Stevan Harrell the model breaks down, if one con (University of Washing ton) illustrated the complexity of siders other external sources of cul ture change, namely the influence the term minzu (nationality) in of neighbouring minority ethnic China. The Yala for example, a groups. group of people in Miyi county Several paper presenters discussed (Sichuan), are classified as a compo the revival of traditional local prac nent of the Yi nationality, even tices. Shaha Gatse (Cultural Centre though they do not recognize any for Bimo Studies at Meigu County, kinship between themselves and Sichuan) argued that bimo (tradi the local Nuosu branch of the Yi. tional priests and healers) were the They are components of the same core of Yi identity, as the Yi as a na mmzu, but they are two different tionality possess no common lan ethnic groups and neither group guage, customs or blood relations. will marry the other. Therefore Bamo Ayi (Central University ofNathere is a difference between the ob tionalities, Beijing) pointed out that jective characteristics of a group set the number of bimo is growing by the state (nationality or minzu) and the subjective consciousness of both in both rural and in urban areas. Bimo are not only intermedi that group (ethnic group). Pan Jiao (Central University of aries between men, ghosts, and an cestors, but also between men, be Nationalities, Beijing) argued that tween clans, and between men and the ethnoscape in China seems to nature. The ethics of the bimo are have confirmed the thesis that eth by no means only traditional. Bimo nicity is created by the nation-state. are also models for a modern system Although the diversity within the Yi is tremendous, the designation of of ethics and education. Benoit Vermander (Ricci Institute for Chinese Yi nationality seems to have been Studies, Taipei) argued that the re accepted by the Yi population. This ligion of the Nosu (Liangshan Yi) is is not only because they have no choice, pertinently they are aware of not a ‘primitive’ one, but the result of a profound and continuous his the advantages of forming a larger torical evolution which has not nationality in any political and eco stopped yet. There is no homogene nomic bargaining with the state. ous religion, but we can identify a Wugashinuimo Louwu (Universi ‘world vision' that is proper to Nosu ty of Michigan) compared narra religion. tives from the classics of Sichuan, On the topic of the historiogra Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi and concluded that even though ‘Yi’ is a phy of the Yi various questions were constructed term, the majority of asked: is there one history of the Yi people or are there several histories the ‘Yi’ population share many cul (as He Yaohua, Yunnan Academy of tural elements and a common con Social Sciences claimed), have the Yi sciousness. as a nationality existed since the Charles F. McKhann (Whitman Zhou dynasty or are they the de College, USA) criticized the concept scendants of various people who that ethnicity in China is funda have merged together throughout mentally a bipolar structure, in history? And what is the difference which all minorities are opposed to between the Yi history imagined by the majority Han. Suprisingly little the Chinese state and the historical has been done to address the issue B y T HO MA S HEBERER

perception of various Yi groups and social strata within the Yi? Ann Maxwell Hill (Dickinson Col lege, USA) argued that the Yi in Xiao Liangshan were not a slave society, if we mean by that term a society where the mode of production was based on the slave-master relation ship. Nuosu society bore little re semblance to economies that relied significantly on slave labour. Slav ery was indeed the main institution through which outsiders became Nuosu. Nuosu consciousness of slavery was also a window on social stratification. Ma Erzi (Institute of Ethnic Studies of Liangshan Auton omous Prefecture, Sichuan) claimed that there was no term for ‘slave’ in the Yi language but that instead there were different words for spe cific situations and that therefore the English and Chinese terms for

‘slave’ would not correspond to the Yi terms and would thus present a wrong imagination of traditional Yi society. Issues of language education were addressed by Huang Jianmin (Cen tral University of Nationalities, Beijing) who considers Yi scripts and literature to be important fac tors in the identification and iden tity of the Yi. Halina Wasilewska (Adam Mickiewicz University Poz nan, Poland) spoke about the Yi writing system and its multiple presentations. Generally speaking, fewer and fewer Yi are interested in bilingual education, and prefer edu cation in Han Chinese, but there are different local developments. In Lunan county only very few people are interested that their children learn Yi language, as most have al ready turned to Han language, whereas in Liangshan only a few people understand Han Chinese and therefore have a deep interest in their children receiving a bilingual education. As Thomas Heberer (University of Duisburg, Germany) pointed out, there is still a consider able inequality in terms of minority languages, as access to higher edu cation, employment, and profes sional career depends on mastering the Han language and not on mas

tering minority languages. This also has a material foundation and could change under specific condi tions, e.g. with the development of an economy in the non-state sector based on ethnic group, with the emergence of a system of higher learning for non-Han nationalities or even with modernization pro cesses that may lead to the revival of minority languages. After the First International Yi Conference in Seattle 1995 (orga nized by Stevan Harrell) and the second one in Trier (by Thomas He berer), the third will be held in Sep tember 2000 in Lunan Yi Autono mous County in China. ■

For more information please contact:

PROF. THOMAS HEBERER Institute of East Asian Studies/Political Science, Gerhard-Mercator University, 47048 Duisburg, Germany tel:+49-203-379 3728 fax: +49-203-379 3729 e-mail: heberer@uni-duisburg.de.

Ghosts and Modernity in East Asia here is a cele brated scholarly tradition where by Japanese spirit and ghost beliefs have been documented by folklor ists, historians and anthropologists. In this conference, we focus on spir it and ghost beliefs in relation to modem East Asia. Many ‘tradition al’ beliefs are eclipsed and rendered obsolete in modern society, but it is also the case that modern society and culture maintains and even generates spirit and ghost beliefs. In this conference we aim to document the beliefs themselves and to ana lyse the social and cultural condi tions of believing. We emphasize the following sub-themes. Spirit-related Commerce. In the name of the dead, money is spent, spaces are fashioned, and services are performed. To a certain extent, this spirit-based commerce forms part of a wider economy of misfor tune in which people attempt to offset actual or pre-empt possible misfortune or calamity by investing resources in spiritualist profession als. A wide range of modern prob

lems, ailments and difficulties (edu cation, career, family, health etc.) are attributed to spirits or other un seen forces (e.g. house position), and a wide range of services are available to counter their effects. East Asian Ghostliness. One of the features of East Asia is the moral imperative among the living of maintaining a connection with the spirits of the dead. Abandonment of the dead is one of the principal ways in which ghostliness arises. Loneli ness is central to East Asian ghostliness: the imperative of social inclu sion extends to the spirit world. Haunted Spaces of Modernity. Death is often the occasion for such beliefs to emerge, to be reinforced, to be activated etc. This is so both for individual deaths but also for large scale times of death such as war or calamities. Just as human life marks space, so too does human death have the power to mark space - for example, the protracted associ ation of the spirits of the dead with the places where they die. Deaths, in addition to representing the ending of lives, also shape the lives of those they bereave. Non-human deaths

also occasion spirit beliefs - particu larly the large scale animal deaths demanded by modern industrial so ciety. We already have a solid block of papers for next summer’s confer ence, but are interested in finding further papers, especially on Korea, China and Taiwan. The conference will take place in Leiden, the Neth erlands in July 1999. ■

Please contact one o f the convenors:

DR JOHN KNIGHT has

P.O. Box 9515 2300 R.A Leiden, the Netherlands fax:+31-71-527 22 27 e-mail jknight@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

DR JAN VAN BREMEN Leiden University, Faculty of Arts, Dept, of Languages and Cultures of Japan and Korea, same postal address, e-mail vanbremen@rulcri.LeidenUniv.nl.

D e c e m b e r 1 9 9 8 • i i as n e w s l e t t e r 19917 • Z J

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17 > 2 0 J U N E 1 9 9 8 ESSEN, GERMANY

Collective Identity, Experiences of Crisis and Traumata ‘Asunder breaks the country, only hills and streams remain’ (Du Fu, 712-770). Crises, catastrophes, cataclysms - China’s long history, exceptionally well documented for over three thousand years, witnessed such ruptures abundantly. How were these ruptures dealt with in Chinese historiography? Which remedies were provided by Chinese historical thought to cope with such catastrophic events and fundamental experi ences o f crisis and disorder? How were these experiences inte grated into society’s collective identity so that people could go on living? And what about these soothing “modi” o f historical thinking developed in traditional China in the face o f the traumatic experiences o f modemity?In the face o f modem world’s ‘one big catastrophe that piles up rubble and mins in cessantly’, as Walter Benjamin put it in his seminal reflections on history? ■ By A C H I M MI T T A G

uch were the questions th a t were discussed for three days by a high-powered group o f scholars in his tory, anthropology, si nology, and religious studies. The conference under the title o f Collec tive identi^, Experiences o f Crisis, and T raum ata took place in the Kulturwissenschaftliches In stitu t (KWI), Essen (Germany), and was orga nized by Jörn Riisen (KWI), Changtze Hu (National Science Council Taipei, Bonn) and the present au thor. It was the first o f a series of three conferences on Chinese Histori ography and Historical Culture in a Comparative Perspective, to be held in Germany from 1998-2000 and sup ported by the Chiang Ching-kuo

Foundation, Taipei, w ith a substan tial grant. Closely relating to the contempo rary discourse on theory and history, the three conferences are aimed at re assessing Chinese historiogaphy and historical culture in the wider con text of cross-cultural research on his tory-writing and historical thought. They are part o f an International Project on Chinese and Comparative Historiogra phy, jointly organized by Herzog Au gust Bibliothek Wolfenbiittel, KWI (both Germany), National Taiwan University (R.O.C.), and City College o f New York (U.S.A.), and directed by the Professors Thomas Lee, Conrad Schirokauer, Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, Jörn Riisen, Huang Chun-chieh and Ku Wei-ying (for further details see HAS Newsletter No. 16). In undertaking the intended crosscultural comparison in the field of

historical culture, the Chinese histo riographic tradition makes a good case due to its extraordinary continu ity, its great wealth of works handed down to us, its richness of literary forms of historical narration, and its strain o f critical and self-reflective thought that was cultivated across the centuries. Thus, we can draw upon a great pool of texts and source materials in rethinking historical memory and historiography, thereby avoiding to take Western concepts of history-writing and historical think ing as a norm. The twenty papers delivered at the conference contained many percep tive vignettes, adding up to an im pressive panoramic view of Chinese historical culture. They centred on four larger themes as follows: Chi nese historical identity; historical re membrance and the dynamics o f ex clusion and inclusion in Chinese history; basic challenges to historical memory: crises and humiliations in Chinese historical culture; and trau mata and traum atic experiences - to ward a new understanding of the fractal structures o f Chinese histori cal consciousness. Topics ranged from the deep moral-spiritual crisis in the Chinese Axial Age to the ‘na tional hum iliation days’ in twenti eth-century China, from the failed and frustrated exam candidates in the late Tang period to the young widows in late imperial Huizhou (Anhui) lost to the chastity cult’s in

Europe in China III The third meeting o f the research group Europe in China was entitled ‘Between Ming and Qing: The Jesuits, Dynastic De cline, Internal Strife, and the Establishment o f a New Order in Seventeenth Century China’ and took place at Technische Universiat Berlin, 2.2-26 April 1998. Although this title was broad enough to include several topics, one might ask whether any thing new can be said about a period that has been fairly well studied for a long time. Like former meetings, however, this one again turned out to be innovative in several respects. By N. S T A N D A E R T

t the first level of innovation were the discussions on lesser known people or texts: e.g. the bizarre role of Buglio and Magalhaes at the court of the rebel king Zhang Xianzhong (1644-1646), who orga nized a large-scale massacre of the Sichuan people, or the problem of Christianity’s foreign origin as dis cussed by the Chinese Christian Zhu Zongyuan. Three papers were devoted to Mingli tan, the first Chinese trans lation of Aristotle’s Isagoge Porphyrii and Categoriae. Although this text had very little success in the seventeenth century, it came to the attention of

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scholars like Hu Shi, Ma Xiangbo, and Chen Yuan in the early twentieth cen tury. Among the texts scarcely stud ied before were treatises on music and medicine as well as Chinese and Manchu memorials to the Throne con cerning Christian-related topics. The Manchu interpretation o f Christiani ty is a whole field open for further in vestigation. At another level o f innovation was the question of whether the transi tion between Ming and Qing was a change from success to failure, or from interest in to indifference to Christianity. The first point is to un derstand better what success means, since the dim inishing o f elite con verts ran parallel to an enormous in crease in conversions at the middle

>©17 ■ December 1998

and lower levels o f society. Most par ticipants thought that the transition between Ming and Qing itself was not responsible for this change. Two interpretations were advanced: the disinterest in religious subjects ei ther had already started around 1630 (since a detailed analysis of the pref aces w ritten by elite scholars shows a sudden decline around that period) or it occurred around 1670 when Qing scholars moved their interest from learning from the West, mainly scientific subjects, to rebuilding their own Confucian tradition. The conference delved deeply into the process o f appropriation o f Euro pean ideas. It appeared that these were appropriated, some said digest ed, in very different ways, by very different people at very different times. Through questions like how they were accepted (did Christianity provoke the acceptance o f new ideas or were they already present in China?), a whole new view o f the re ception by the Kangxi Emperor was presented: for him the appropriation o f Western learning became an in strum ent o f control which implied

sanity, from Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BC), known as the founding-father of Chinese historiography, to the NeoConfucian eccentric Wang Gen (14831541), to the prom inent modern his torians Liu Yizheng (1880-1956) and Chen Yinke (1890-1969).

Footbindin^ In the course o f the conference, the guiding notions o f collective identi ty, crisis and traum a proved to be a fortunate choice for coping with the great thematic variety and structur ing the discussions. But not only that. They also appear to provide a conceptual framework to discuss the difficult issues of forgetfulness, am nesia, and suppressed memory with regard to traum atic experiences such as, e.g., the Taiping Rebellion (18511864), which brought death to twen ty to thirty million people, or the catastrophic famine in 1960-63 re sulting from the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward, for which estimated figures range up to thirtyfive million casualties. In his key paper, Jörn Riisen undertook to show how the three notions o f iden tity, crisis, and traum a are related to each other and how they can be ef fectively utilized for an intercultural comparison in the field o f historiog raphy and historical thought. Riisen’s argum ent was taken up by Georg G. Iggers (Buffalo), who thoughtfully commented on the comparability of historiographies.

aspects such as loyalty, confidence, and a new relationship to the Clas sics and to specialists or simply to specialists. It was also noted that Chinese as well as Western mission aries participated in the construc tion of myths about each other’s cul tures (Western learning having its origin in China or the Chinese learn ing having its origin in the West). The purpose of these myths should be studied in more detail: they often functioned as a rhetorical means to argue for or against the acceptance of Western learning. One final paradigm for discussion was the question of language and translation, which was touched upon in many papers. Apart from the question of plurality of languag es in this early contact between China and the West (different Euro pean languages, Chinese, Manchu, but also the regional languages and specialized languages), much atten tion was devoted to the question of categories: how some basic catego ries like science, religion, medicine, and music as understood in the sev enteenth century m ight well be dif ferent from what are understood in present-day usage. Instead o f a sim ple explanation of the tension be tween understanding and non-un derstanding in the seventeenth cen-

The refreshingly vivid and stim u lating discussions opened up new perspectives and led to many intri guing questions beyond the topics discussed in the papers such as, e.g., how are we to understand the phe nomenon o f‘second-hand traum ati zations’? And which role does histor ical scholarship play in generating and/or controlling this kind o f trau matizations? To which extent is the Chinese attitude toward history sha ped by what has been termed ‘episte mological optim ism ’? Is this opti mistic outlook a salient characteris tic o f Chinese historiography? Which notions in pre-modern China can be conceived as equivalents of the mod ern notion of trauma? Can the prac tice of footbinding be understood as an in-built traum a o f Chinese wo men's life? To which extent are, in present China, the traum atic experi ences of the Cultural Revolution worked through in the Freudian •sense? How are we to understand the contradictory role of Mao Zedong as both the hailed saviour of the Chi nese nation and the presumed epito me o f modern China’s trauma? It is hoped that some of these issues will be addressed and more fully dealt with in the conference volume, which is in preparation, jointly co edited by Jörn Riisen, Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, and the present au thor. Naturally, many other im portant questions were not or not sufficient ly dealt with. Nevertheless, the con ference has certainly made a first step forward into the direction map ped out by the noted historian Christian Meier who called for ‘an elaborated comparative view o f the different forms, w ithin which the different cultures and societies cor relate historical questions, world views, and interests with certain ways o f activity, o f change, of expec tation, and with certain structural peculiarities of society’. ■

tury, participants were made aware o f the complexity of the dialogue in volved, a complexity that was not very different from the dialogue at the conference. A selection of the papers will be published. ■

N. S ta n d a e r t is attached to the Department o f Eastern and Slavic Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven e-mail: oriental.studies@arts.kuleuven.ac.be. Europe in China is a research group sponsored by the European Association of Chinese Studies. Its primary goal is the study of the interaction between Chinese and European cultures in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mainly from a Chinese perspective, and based on Chinese sources. The group was established in 1990, held a first colloquium in Paris in 1991, and a second one in Rome in 1993. The organization o f the third meeting was in the hands o f Michael Lackner and Catherine Jami.

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1 5 MARCH 1 9 9 8 BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

Chinese Business Networks On March 15, 1998, Chi-Kong Lai organized a workshop on Chinese business networks. Several im portant characteristics o f networks were discussed, including their complexity; their international nature; their relationship with the State; their policy o f co-operation; their relationship w ith indigenous groups; their native-place ties; their different categories; and their flexibility and fluidity. A lthough the role o f networks in the current Asian econom ic crisis was not discussed, it can be argued that those involved in the networks have a better chan ce o f survival. By CHI - KONG LAI

he Head of Asian Languages and Asian Studies at the University of Queens land, Professor Kam Louie expressed the hope that workshops such as this would help build up support groups among the underprivileged in the Chinese community as well as help our under standing of the network systems among the wealthy. Carl Trocki (Queensland Universi ty of Technology), discussed the his tory of Chinese opium networks in Singapore. Throughout Asia, from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, opium farm ing was the largest source of colonial government revenue and opium farmers were key figures in every so ciety. The complex system of net CHINA,

JAPAN,

works used by opium farmers in volved: the 'kongsi’ (companies made up of a large number of investors) se cret societies (the enforcers who po liced ‘kongsi’ security), and the elite (native leaders and colonial officials). Networks were established for the rich and powerful to exploit the la bour of the poor who were paid in opium, to fuel their addiction. Paul Ivory (Sunshine Coast Univer sity) discussed how Chinese orga nized crime also involved complex, inter-relational networks: the Han core of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong; the inner diaspora of neighbouring Asian nations; and the outer diaspora of overseas Chinese in Western countries. He commented on the huge upheaval in organized crime in the 1980s and 1990s, owing to the great influx of refugees and migrants to the outer diaspora. John Butcher (Griffith University) pointed out that

both opium farming and organized crime networks involved at least some collaboration with the State. This is a valuable key in understanding how Chinese business networks can use the law for financial gain. On the other hand, Sue Jackson (University of Queensland) gave a good example of the State’s attempt to restrict network activity. The Malay sian government imposed a New Eco nomic Policy in 1971 to undermine Chinese economic power. The result was a massive increase in stateowned, indigenously operated enter prises. The ploy ultimately failed be cause Chinese business networks sim ply joined forces and invested in a wider field of industries. She called this strategy ‘co-operation before competition’. It seems to be an impor tant factor in the successful survival of networks. Liew Leong (Griffith University) raised the issue of the tentative rela tionship between the Chinese com munity and the indigenous elite. Chi nese networks tend to be exclusive which may be seen as a positive or negative characteristic. Consequently, there seems to be an unwritten code of intra-group co-operation and inter-group competition, as exists be tween the Hakka and Hokien com munities.

David Ip (University of Queens land) discussed how Chinese mi grants used their family and social networks to emigrate. Migrants from the People’s Republic of China were mostly highly-educated students who decided to stay in Australia after 1989, foregoing professional careers in China. They came to Australia with little money, few contacts, and no knowledge of the Brisbane area and could often find employment only as cleaners or factory workers. In contrast, the Taiwanese and Hong Kong Chinese were mostly business migrants with established nativeplace ties and were soon able to build up their businesses. Therefore Tai wanese and Hong Kong Chinese con centrated mainly on ethnic markets, whereas PRC migrants tended to join the mainstream Australian market. Older mainland Chinese migrants, who shared a background of trau matic experiences, gained a reputa tion as determined entrepreneurs, willing to try anything to succeed in their second chance for happiness. David Schak (Griffith University) critisized Hamilton’s work on net works in Chinese society. He argued that networks have been used by Western scholars to explain Asian ec onomic success. This would be satis factory if the term were used loosely

to encompass all relationships in volving transactions. However, in his study he found three different cate gories of networks: the family enter prises which were moral, kinship ties, friendship networks which had no hierarchy and were based mainly on trust, and enterprise group net works which were based on status and were exclusive and restricted. He believed that networks were tran sient, unpatterned, and fluid in na ture. If this is so, the current crisis will not negate their effectiveness. Sherman Cochran (Cornell Univer sity) questioned Schak’s sharp dis tinction between hierarchical and egalitarian networks, believing that networks are too difficult to catego rize. He highlighted the issue o f‘na tive place’ as culture capital, using as an example the success of Hong Kong entrepreneurs who used ‘restaurant ties’ to establish Chinese restaurants in London during the 1960s and 1970s. He pointed out that nativeplace ties appear to grow stronger outside China, another reason for their success. In a nutshell the speakers showed how networks are complex and co operative, national and internation al, exclusive and flexible. The Malay sian incident of 1971 reminds us that although economic setbacks occur, those involved in such networks are capable of survival. Thus, in the cur rent Asian economic crisis, the posi tive characteristics of the Chinese business networks appear to suggest that the network system will contin ue to remain a competitive advan tage. ■

KOREA

Religion and Economy in East Asia interest and involvment with this Relations exist between religion and economy. To high ligh t spot that set it apart from other Tathis thesis from various angles was the m ain aim o f the threeday international workshop ‘R eligion and Economy in East | oist centres. Examples of three types of the financing of local cults in an Asia (China, Japan, Korea)’, in March 1998. The Asia Com m ittee o f the European Science Foundation (ESF) was the c h ief sp on cient China were discussed by Ste sor and an additional contribution was offered by the D euts phan Peter Bumbacher (University of Tübingen). With or without the che Forschungsgem einschaft (DFG). Professor Knut W olfgang help of local officials, priests could Nörr, Chairman o f the Deutsch-ostasiatisches W issenschaftslevy various taxes, particular seg forum, T übingen, presented the welcom e address. A selection ments of the population financed o f the total o f seventeen papers are m entioned here. ■ By DR S TEP HAN PETER BUMBACHER, DR GERHARD LEI NSS, DR S U N G J O N G PAIK

deport

f |" ^ 0 approach the

I vast subject in an J - interdisciplinary way, the conference was divided into five parts. In the theoretical part, Giinter Kehrer (University of Tubin gen) offered a model for a micro-eco nomic analysis of religious actions. Basing himself on the thesis that re ligious promises are comparable with economic goods, he discussed a matrix of religious/non-religious means leading towards relig ious/non-religious ends and applied it to a variety of examples of relig ious behaviour. Klaus Antoni (University of Trier) spoke in the part on religious aspects of modern economic organizations in East Asia. He investigated the enormous commercialization of the Shinto wedding rituals in Japan. As

an ‘invented tradition’ the ceremony was introduced in 1900 in the wake of the Shintoization of Japan and did not really belong to the realm of au thentic Japanese religions. Its com mercialization after the end of state Shinto in 1945, therefore, did not im pinge on religious feelings. Hirochika Nakamaki (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka) presented a paper on company memorial monuments on Mt. Koya, which wer originally erected to honour the memory of employees who died before retire ment. Annual memorial services are conducted at the tombs with the covert purpose of praying for the prosperity of the company. In the section on pre-modern eco nomic aspects of religious organiza tions Roger Greatrex (University of Lund) analysed the economic organi zation of the Taoist institutions on Mt. Mao during the Tang and Song dynasties. He concluded that, while the Maoshan profited from imperial patronage, it was mainly the literati

cults from their own pockets, or pil grims and believers worshipping at a local shrine would be requested to contribute objects from their posses sion.

Self-sacrifice Structures of longue durée in eco nomic-religious thought and ac tions in East Asia since the eighth century were the subject of part four. Although an integral part of Chinese popular religion, spirit money tend ed to be mentioned only briefly or not at all. John McCreery (Yokoha ma) argued that - in contrast to of ferings of food, which are used to at tract spirits and draw them into so cial relationships - offerings of spirit money are used to send them away, restoring a comfortable social dis tance, which shows a fundamental ambivalence toward both gods and ancestors. Olof Lidin (University of Copenhagen) claimed that disconti nuities are rare events in Japanese re ligion and culture; continuous de velopments seem to be the rule. The

Shinto we meet today has not chan- j itself has to be seen as part of a cul ture, civilization or society at large. ged much since the eighth century, Pertinently problems of economic and Buddhism - in its earliest form interpretation arise particularly is still observed in Japan’s oldest when religious ideas become the end temples. of economic or otherwise non-relig The final section of the conference ious investments. The issue ‘money’ concentrated on sacrifice and its eco in general and questions like ‘what nomic-religious meaning. Noreya are the costs of religion?’ or ‘who Sumihara (Tenri University) looked profits economically from religion?’ closely into one of the so-called Japa in particular proved to be delicate nese New Religions, the Tenri sect ones. At the same time the relationwhich emerged in the middle of the hips between economy and religion nineteenth century and today has al are to be seen within the spatial and most two million followers. These temporal dimensions and limita followers practice a kind o f‘self-sac tions of relevant cultural contexts. In rifice’, the hi no hishin, a ‘daily dedica analysing phenomena of earlier peri tion or contribution of labour to ods, patterns of economic organiza wards the happiness of others’. Two tion, action, and thought that may examples were presented of compa differ not only in quantity but also nies that act partly contrary to eco in quality when compared with nomic laws since not being interest modern times have to be taken into ed in the maximization of profits account. That we tend today to see they try to buy at high and sell at religious life in terms of modern low prices. This works due to the market conditions is, of course, a self-sacrificing attitude of manage phenomenon of our own time and ment and workforce. culture. We may deplore it, yet it is a consequence of the economization of E conom ization o f life many aspects of human life. Indubitably mutual relations be The papers will be edited for pub tween economy and religion exist. lication to present the results to the Although this close relationship was scientific community. ■ revealed and light was shed from var ious angles on the complex connec tions between religions and econo my, it is clear that an economic ap proach is by no means sufficient to understand all aspects of religions, I one reason being that the economy December 1998 •

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As a first step, we organized a series o f eight afternoon sessions durin g the past semester.

China's Civilization Process During the Tang dynasty (618-907), the Chinese empire extend ed from Korea to Vietnam and deep into Central Asia, and Chi nese civilization reached an apex o f splendour. Though m ilitar ily far less powerful and constantly confronted w ith the threat o f attacks from neighbouring ‘barbarian’ states, the Song dy nasty (960-1279) also enjoys a reputation as a glorious period, stemming from its lavishly rich cultural achievements, notably in the field o f philosophical thought, but also in literati paint ings, ceramics, and other more tangible material creations. ■

By JAN DE M E Y E R ,

ACHIM MITTAG & ANGELA SC H O T T E N H A M M E R

no less th a t Chinese state and society underwent radical changes, propel lin g China toward m odernity centu ries ahead o f the West.

cause o f its focal concern w ith the transform ation o f an aristocratic soci ety in to one dominated by a bureau cratic elite, we believe th a t the notion o f the civilization process, borrowed from the renowned sociologist N orbert Elias, can help us to understand better the dynamics o f Chinese cul ture in the three centuries under con sideration. To study the divergent develop ments and the profound changes that took place in this particular period, we propose to focus on social, relig

Going one step further, we present ed our ideas d urin g a round table dis cussion at the Conference o f the Euro pean Association o f Chinese Studies

cally innovative ways o f dealing w ith those materials (private literary col lections, collections o f official docu ments, local gazetteers, etc.). We have decided to explore five larger topics, w hich should be o f interest to re searchers o f Tang and Song history alike: order and the development o f new w orld views: Changing patterns o f cognition and lite ra ti discourse; 2. Empire b u ild in g and the rise o f stable institutions; 3. Religious beliefs and cults - their roles in state legitim ation, com mercialization, and local commu n ity life;

I t should be borne in m in d th a t the usage o f the notion o f ‘m odernity’ has

d itio n al Chinese

been repeatedly criticized, and i t has been argued that the developments in

ious, and intellectual practices, at w hat m ig h t be termed an interm edi ate level o f analysis. This means adopting an approach w hich avoids

Song and later im perial China led to the form ation o f a ‘neo-traditional’, rather than a ‘modern’ w orld order.

the extremes o f treating history as an accumulation o f mere facts and a too narrowly defined Geistesgeschichtc.

4. Status, social roles, career patterns:

h a lf o f the Tang dynasty, i.e. the peri od o f decline after the devastating An Lushan rebellion (756-763), and the subsequent period o f the Five Dynas

Nonetheless, the N aitö thesis has ser ved as a rich source o f inspiration and

O ur ch ie f concern is situating w orld views, philosophical ideas, and moralspiritual concepts in the social, p o liti

5. The sh iftin g centre o f gravity and the form ation o f new state, region al, and cultural identities.

ties and Ten Kingdoms (907-959), was almost completely overlooked. This

this, our knowledge o f this crucial pe riod is s till insufficient and research

O ur m ain aim is to generate inter est in this field, to encourage dialogue

tendency has changed considerably in modern sinology, a move w hich is largely the achievement o f the Japa nese scholar N aitö Konan (1866-1929)

w ork has hith e rto lacked broader con ceptual frameworks. O w ing to the overwhelm ing influence o f tra d itio n al historiography, the long-standing

cal, and economic context to which they relate. This also entails exploring how the people in the transitional era perceived and responded to the crises

the author o f the m uch debated ‘N aitö thesis’ and the prom inent Chi nese historian Chen Yinke (1892-1965).

view o f the Tang and Song dynasties as separate, m o n o lith ic entities has impeded the achievement o f a deeper

According to the N aitö thesis, i t was in the Tang-Song transitional period

understanding o f the transitional pe riod, i.e. roughly from 750 to 1050. Be

(j ) I

historiography to focus on the period o f a dyna

sty’s rise and glory, it comes as no surprise th a t the second

a catalyst on w hich some solid re search w ork has been based. Despite

ensued not only broadened the scope o f topics deemed w orthy o f closer scrutiny, b u t also encouraged us to proceed along the projected path. ■

x. The loosening o f the traditional

iven the strong tendency in tra-

[ iR f f lliM

(EACS) in Edinburgh, September 1013, 1998, w hich received considerable attention. The lively discussions that

the rise o f new elites and the exten sion o f urban culture;

In the near future, we want to concentrate our efforts on the preparation and organiza tion o f a small, focused international sympo sium (preferably to be held within two years), the results o f which will be published in book form. To this end, we would like to invite inter ested scholars to contact us at one o f the fol lowing addresses:

DR JAN DE MEYER Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (N W O ), Nonnensteeg I -3, PO. Box 9 5 15, 2300 RA Leiden,The Netherlands; tel.+31-71-5272944, e-mail: Janmeyer@Rullet.Leidenuniv.nl.

DR A C H I M MI TTAG Stapenhorststr. 155,33615 Bielefeld,

and changes they experienced, what they th o u g h t about th e ir own times in contradistinction to either previ

between scholars and researchers o f Tang and Song history, to create a forum for discussions and com m uni cation, and to provide an impetus for

ous ages or w hat they expected from the future. We set great store by case studies th a t are based upon original source

long-term activities such as, e.g., the com pilation o f a textbook or bio graphical and bibliographical refer ence tools for the study o f the Tang-

DR ANGELA S CHOT T ENHAMMER

materials and open up methodologi

Song transitional era.

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3 O •

has new sletter

NS 17 • D ecem ber 19 9 8

EAST AS I A MARCH 9 ► 12, 1 9 9 8 BEIJING UNI VERSI TY,

P RC

The IIAS-Beida International Symposium on Modernization in Asia and China: 1860-1960 By EDUARD B. VERMEER

uring this con ference some 30 jpj " papers were pre, \ sented by both Chinese and Western scholars. Many stressed the role of government in modernization, and some questioned the modernization of government and challenged ideas about its proper functions in society. The traditional Marxist-Leninist framework of analysis [including such issues as periodization, the role of imperialism and colonialism, and the result of state intervention in cap italist development) was quite notice

able, but increasingly, attention was turned to internal social and econom ic factors in China and other Asian countries. Sometimes, such as with the generalizations about the adap tivity of traditional Chinese culture and its periodic waves o f ‘self-nega tion’ (in contrast with the ‘complete westernization’ of Taiwan) by Chang Paomin of the Institute of Political Economy of Taiwan Chengkung Uni versity, historical interpretations dif fered widely. In accordance with the conference theme, transnational issues were highlighted. Different periodiza tions were suggested for the process of peripherization in Southeast Asia,

orientation, using international trade and investment data. Li Minghuan presented interesting data about the life and work of Wenzhou migrants in Europe. Most historians showed great in terest in such economic questions, such as industrialization and capital formation. Zhu Yingui compared the role of capital in China with that in Japan. Some papers discussed rural organizational change. Chong Wai-keong contrasted the Chinese share-holding companies set up since the late Qing period with the Western limited liability companies, and stressed their nationalistic ap peal and fund-raising efforts. David

which some saw as a twin sister of modern commercial development. Several historians compared Japa nese and Taiwanese or Korean devel opments with those in China. Liu Hong (National University of Singa pore) sketched the role of China (or rather, of its image) in the post-colo nial build-up of Indonesia, and Kurt Radtke analysed the foundations of the image of China in pre-war Japan. Vermeer examined the rapid eco nomic modernization effort of the Chinese government in Taiwan under pressure of the Western pow ers and Japan from the 1860s till the 1890s. Thomas Lindblad outlined three phases in Indonesia’s economic

1 >- 3 MA Y 1 9 9 8 L E I D E N , THE N E T H E R L A N D S

The IVth International Conference on the Lotus Sutra An International Conference on the Lotus Sutra, with the theme ‘The Development o f Lotus Thought and Practice in East Asia/ was held May 1-3, 1998 , at Leiden University, under the sponsorship o f the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies. It provided a splendid opportunity for the coming together o f Japanese, European, and American scholars who specialize in Buddhist Studies with a particular interest in the Lotus Sutra tradition. ■ By PAUL S WA NS ON

I I his meeting was I the fourth international confer ence on the Lotus Sutra. This was the first time the conference was held in Europe, allowing greater partici pation by and co-operation between European and American scholars. A book based on papers from the first conference was edited by George and Willa Tanabe and published as The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture. A volume of essays based on the pro ceedings of this fourth Conference is also being planned for publication. The conference opened with a re ception at the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies. A welcome ad dress by Professor Erik Ziircher of Leiden University set the tone of high expectations for the conference with a stimulating talk outlining the importance of the Lotus Sutra in East Asian Buddhism and the role of the early translations of this text into Chinese. This opening address reflected the fact that this was the first time that the theme of an Inter national Conference on the Lotus

Report

✓

Sutra focused on East Asia as a whole; the themes of the previous three conferences had centred on the role of the Lotus Sutra in Japan. The first theme of the conference focused on ‘The text and its transfor mations’. Willa Tanabe (University of Hawai’i) provided insight into ‘visual piety’ by examining Lotus Sutra paintings in China and Japan and Daniel Stevenson (Kansas Uni versity) discussed the question of Lotus Sutra apocrypha and the prob lem of scriptural closure and authentification. One theme brought out in this panel, which reappeared many times during the following sessions, was the idea of the impor tance of the ‘body’ in Lotus Sutra rel igiosity. The subject of another panel was ‘Interpreting the Text’. Jackie Stone (Princeton University) looked at the hermeneutics of subjective ‘minddiscernment’ (kanjin) in the Lotus Sutra commentaries of medieval Japan. Jean-Noël Robert (Université Paris) analysed the ‘Hundred Poems’ (Hokkehyakushü) of Jien as a poeti cal commentary on the Lotus Sutra. The most surprising and satisfying aspect of this panel was the unex

wsm ■

"Ji!

Ircrs

ttmssm y rn

_____ pected synergy among the papers; each brought out different aspects of how the Lotus Sutra has been used and interpreted by its followers, whether by reciting the title, ex panding on the teachings of the sutra through an avowedly subjec tive hermeneutics, or literarily (not literally) building on the doctrine through Lotus-themed poetry. The third panel followed the theme ‘Doctrines of Buddhahood Drawn from the Sutra’. Paul Groner (University of Virginia) argued for the importance of physical manifes tation of Buddhahood in asking ‘What’s physical in Tendai theories of sokushin jobutsu (the realization of Buddhahood with this very body)?’ Brook Ziporyn (Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhism) gave a philo sophical analysis of the question of time entitled ‘How to Will Back wards: Time, Forgetting and Repeti

tion in the Lotus Sutra’. This panel added further nuance to the mean ing and place of ‘body’ in the Lotus tradition, a theme that was promi nent during the first day. The papers also served oppositely to show the depth of the philosophical traditions that have grown from the Lotus Sutra. The final panel examined ‘Lotusinspired Praxis’. Kitagawa Zenchö (Risshö University) spoke of the fig ure of the bodhisattva, Sadaparibhüta from the Lotus Sutra as an ideal and guiding model. Saitö Enshin (Taishö University) provided details on the support Ennin received from lay Buddhists during his travels in Tang China. Unlike some of the ear lier sessions, these papers gave a sense of the practical aspects of the Lotus Sutra tradition. The conference was brought to a fitting close with an informal recep-

Clayton characterized Hongkong’s industrial structure as being domi nated by small, market-oriented, family firms, and looked for expla nations of why their transaction costs were so low. At the micro-level, Wang Hongsheng analysed the links between politics and education in the recent history of his native vil lage, and particularly the conflicts between the youth and the older generation. Professor Dong Zhenghua of the host institute, the Center for Studies of World Modernization Processes, scrutinized modernization, first as a process and second, as a goal; besides the progress from agricultural to in dustrial societies, he emphasized cultural and psychological changes: secularization, urbanization, and diversification. Very lively exchanges of views fol lowed the formal comments of the discussants. Dong Zhenghua and Eduard Vermeer will edit a selection of revised papers, for publication in book form in the Beida Modern His tory series, scheduled for spring 1999- ■

Dr Eduard B. Vermeer is a member of the Academic Committee of the HAS.

tion where the participants were able to pursue issues raised during the conference at a more personal and detailed level. A spirit of lively exchange, discussion, and camarade rie attested to the great success of the meetings. Highlights included the suggestion by Ichishima Shöshin that we aim eventually to have a total of twenty-eight conferences to match the number of chapters in Kumarajlva’s version of the Lotus Sutra. I would like to make two remarks, firstly on the prominence of papers by Western scholars given at this conference from the perspective of the T’ien-t’ai/Tendai traditions. I be lieve this reflects the maturation of T’ien-t’ai/Tendai studies in the West, an area that is finally taking its rightful place in Buddhist Studies. Secondly, an unexpected and most welcome synergy emerged spontane ously as the papers and discussions proceeded. The papers seemed to build on each other, with similar themes reinforcing presentations and comments of previous sessions. The total result grew to be more than a mere sum of its parts: the the mes that emerged during the ses sion, and the personal contacts and relationships that developed during the conference, will surely bear fruit far into the future. The conference was well organized by Lucia Dolce of the Centre for Japa nese and Korean Studies. Financial support was provided by the Inter national Institute for Asian Studies, the Faculty of Arts, Leiden Universi ty, Leids Universiteitsfonds, Minobusan University, Risshö University, the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences, Taishö University, and the University of Hawai’i. ■

Paul L. Swanson is attached to the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

December 199&

•

has n e w s l e t t e r

>£17 • 3 1

EAST

ASIA

How did the Asian Crisis affect China?

The Case of Guangdong U n til the recent crisis, Asia attracted alm ost h a lf the total cap ital inflows to developing countries - nearly US$ 100 billion in 1996. In the last decade, the share o f developing and em erging market econom ies o f Asia in world exports has nearly doubled to alm ost one-fifth o f the total. However, since July 1997, both Southeast and East Asia have experienced an econom ic shock o f unprecedented severity after decades o f uninterrupted high growth. The crisis in Asia has raised questions about the Asian econom ic miracle. By CEN H U A N G

hina has been one of the fastest grow1 ing countries in I Asia. In 1996 alone, China wm I actually utilized foreign investments amounting US$ 42.35 billion, which makes up about 42.3% of total foreign invest ment in Asia in the year. Between 1978 and 1995, China’s economic growth accounted for nearly twothirds of the increase in total income of the low-income countries, and per capita income has increased at an av erage annual growth rate of 7 to 8%. How has the Asian crisis affected China? Can China avert the crisis? The author tried to find answers to these questions during her recent field study in Guangdong, South China. Guangdong export makes up more than forty per cent of mainland trade. In the past fifteen years, Guangdong has attracted a total of US$ 36 billion foreign investments, and it had a high economic growth rate of up to 15% in 1996. Guangdong has been in the front line in meeting the challenge of the Asian crisis, and it can be seen as a window through which to glimpse what the Asian cri sis has meant to China. With this purpose in mind, the author inter viewed government foreign trade and economic officials and foreign investors in Guangdong in order to understand their experiences and perspectives on the Asian crisis. In dubitably the Asian crisis has had important impact in the province, which can be summarized in the fol lowing points. First of all, foreign investments have declined. For example, Shantou, one of the three Special Economic Zones in Guangdong, approved 62 new projects with foreign invest ments of US$ 75.49 million in the first quarter of 1998. Although the total number of the new projects was up 32%, the amount of the contract investments was down 46% on the same period last year. Studies reveal that at least 80% of the total foreign investments in Guangdong is from overseas Chinese sources, and the overseas Chinese have suffered badly in the Asian crisis. Another report re veals that in the first quarter of 1998, Japanese investment in Guangdong was down 42%, and South Korea in vestments were down by 50% on the same period last year. Secondly, export slowed down in the first seven months in 1998. Owing to the depreciation of curren cies in many Asian countries, export3 2 ■ has

newsletter

ers are seeing business shift to cheaper factories in Thailand and Malaysia. As a result, Guangdong ex port is facing great difficulties in competing in price with Southeast Asian exporters, especially when the Chinese Yuan still remains strong. The study found that export orders declined by an average drop of 2030% in many small and medium ex port firms. During the Guangzhou Spring Trade Fair in May 1998, the export prices were forced down up to 20% on the same period last year.

Overseas

donations

International buyers took the op portunity to demand lower prices, which in some cases were even lower than the production costs. This is be cause the buyers could find cheaper importers elsewhere. An overseas Chinese investor in several export firms told us that he was worried about how to compete with rivals in Southeast Asia who lowered prices after their currencies tumbled. With earnings dropping, this investor has dismissed one-third of his workers. His experience and the worries in its wake represent those of many for eign investors in the region. It has emerged that in some heavily for eign invested industrial zones, the shortage of labour supply is no long er a problem. On the contrary, many export firms studied have laid off or are planning to lay off workers owing to insufficient manufacture orders. The third impact was that the charitable donations from overseas Chinese to Guangdong qiaoxiang dropped significantly. The overseas Chinese have played an important role in Guangdong’s development through substantial donations of money and materials towards the construction or renovation of schools, hospitals, and other welfare projects. Now the Asian crisis has caused the decline of such donations in Guangdong. A survey found that in the past ten years Chaozan county of Shantou, for example, benefited „from overseas donations in an annu al range of RMB 30 million, but in the first six months of 1998, it only received a tenth of that amount. Sev eral social welfare construction pro jects in the county have to stop be cause of the discontinuitation of the overseas financial support. Despite this negative impact of the Asian crisis on Guangdong’s economy, the province still enjoys the advantages of being the leading exporter and foreign investments re cipient in the country. Guangdong foreign trade and the economy con

“N? 17 • December 1998

tinue to grow. For example, in the first quarter of 1998, Guangdong ap proved 3473 new projects with for eign investments of US$ 1,994 bil lion, which were up 16.19% and 38.58% respectively on the same peri od last year. Export was US$17.6 bil lion and the actual foreign invest ment was US$3.06 billion, which were both representing a 20.2% in crease compared to 1997.

Dreams Although the foreign investments from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia declined, direct investments from Europe and America increased. During the first six months in 1998, Guangdong re ceived European investments of US$ 1.2 billion, which was up 60.62% on the same period last year. The Amer ican investment in Guangdong was US$ 71.27 million, up by 86.91%. Another big leap in foreign invest ment in China is represented by Tai wanese investments. In the first four months in 1998, Taiwanese invest ment in China amounted to US$550 million, up 41.2% on the same period last year. In the first half year of 1998, Taiwanese investments went down in Indonesia with 96.62%; in the Phi lippines with 87.69%, and in Thai land with 45.7%. It was interesting to note that the turmoil in Indonesia and the crisis in the Asian economy seem to have made the Taiwanese in vestors feel that China might be a safer and more stable place to realize their dreams of international devel opment. In addition, two new develop ments in Guangdong’s foreign econ omy have been observed. One is the scope of foreign investment on indi vidual projects. In the first half of 1998, Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province, approved 70 projects with a contract investment of US$ 10 million or more each, 50 projects more than in the same peri

od last year. Another observation is that the foreign investors were en couraged to invest in some new in dustrial areas, such as private hous ing projects, and high technology projects. Dongguan is where the computer industry has established its professional production zone. The professional and technological industrial zones have become an im portant factor in attracting foreign investments in Guangdong.

Lesson In a nutshell, the Asian crisis did have a great impact on China, but China has not, at least so far, suf fered the way the other East and Southeast Asian countries have. The challenges facing China come from several sources. Although most aca demics and governments believe that China can and will maintain its current RMB exchange rate, the market seems to have a different opinion. Black market currency trad ing to sell RMB has reappeared on the mainland of China. Investors have shown hesitation. The IMF forecasts that China can only grow 7% this year, while the Chinese gov ernment expects its GDP growth to reach 8.1% in 1998. However, the tar get of 8% simply means that the economy can generate nearly enough jobs to soak up the six mil lion Chinese entering the workforce each year, as well as the 12 million being laid off by restructuring state enterprises. The current massive lay ing-off in turn requires substantial investments in new firms to absorb the unemployed. Foreign invest ment is a major source of financing the non-state sector. So, it implies that any decline in capital inflow means a rise in the unemployment rate. Considering the lack of social welfare system and of a channel to dilute the discontent arising from joblessness and corruption, high un employment in some contracted areas is a possible precursor to social unrest. The Asian crisis has been a good lesson for China in terms of how to adjust its direction of the future de velopment. China must make the ef fort to meet putative challenges not simply by reconstructing its eco nomic structures and banking sys

tems, but also by strengthening its social welfare and legal systems. China needs to re-establish its confi dence and competitive positions in the global market. The case of Guangdong is not representative of how other provinces were affected by the Asian crisis, but it reveals that there are also opportunities in the crisis which depend on how these challenges are handled. It is hoped that China will learn lessons from the Asian crisis and not only to sur vive it, but also be able to maintain its fast economic growth. ■

References - The Guangzhou Daily, 2 September 1998, Guangzhou. - The Overseas Chinese Affair Office of Guangdong (1998), 'Impact of the Asian Crisis on Overseas Chinese Invested Enterprises in Guangdong, An Investigation Report,’ May, Guangzhou. - Stiglitz, J. (1998), 'Second-Generation Strategies for Reform for China,’ an address given at Beijing University on 20 July, World Bank Vice President, Beijing. - The South China News, 13 July 1998, Guang-zhou. - Zhang, Jiaheng (1997), ‘China’s Opening Policy Guidance,’ Beijing Review, February 10-16.

Dr Cen Huang is a research fellow

at the HAS. She can be reached at: chuang@rullet.leidenuniv.nl.

ECAN Second Annual Conference he EU-China Ac ademic Network (ECAN) will orga nize a conference on ‘Ec onomic Reforms, Social Conflict, and Collective Identities in China’, at the Centro de Estudios de Asia Oriental, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, January 21-22,1999. Speakers will in clude Prof Barry Naughton (Univer sity of California), Prof. Fan Gang (National Economic Research Insti tute, Beijing), Prof Peter Nolan (University of Cambridge), Prof Steve Tsang (Oxford University), Prof Hung-mao Tien (Institute for

National Policy Research, Taipei), as well as other senior scholars, govern ment and business representatives from Europe, China, Taiwan and the United States. Topics to be addressed will include SOE reforms, social change, the resurgence of national ism, and the impact of the Asian fi nancial crisis. A final panel discus sion will seek to provide uniquely European perspectives on current developments in China and Asia. ■

For further information contact: RACHEL GARBUTT

ECAN, SOAS, University of London, RectoradoThornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC IH OXG, GB tel:+44-171-637 6130 fax:+44-171-323 6277 e-mail: ecan@soas.ac.uk or LEILA FERNANDEZ-STEMBRIDGE

Centro de Estudios de Asia Oriental Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049-Madrid, Spain tel:+34-91-397 4695 fax:+34-91-397 5278 e-mail: ceao@uam.es.

EAST

ASIA

The Original Analects If you assume that Confucius’s Analects consists o f a small but still discernible kernel plus various people’s additions to this core, ‘The Original Analects’ is a fascinating read. One must be prepared to master yet another transcription system, and the substitution o f ‘o’ for ‘BC’ - (‘0479’ for *479 BC j but the num bering o f the chapters and verses is the same as in the standard ‘Lunyu’. ‘A review o f The Original Analects - Sayings o f Confu cius and His Successors’, E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, 342 pp. ISBN o231-10430-8). By B.J. MANS VELT BECK

t is widely recog nized that classical philosophical texts, often attributed to and named after an individu al, may in fact be the re sult of an accretion process around an older nucleus. This has been shown for the Mozi, may be sur mised for the Laozi, and a convincing case has been made for the Guanzi. Not all such texts, however, have grown in this way. The Zhuangzi, for instance, stubbornly resists all ef forts to slice and dice it into different layers, as does the Mengzi, but in this study it is taken for granted that the Zhuangzi is a multi-layered text, and that mere ‘inconsistencies’ in the Mengzi ‘do imply an accretion pro

liflU lfiT il

cess’. Are mere ‘inconsistencies' proof of an accretion process? The authors apparently think so, for ‘inconsistencies’ in the standard Analects form the backbone of the ac cretion theory in these Original Ana lects: if we find two mutually incon sistent verses in the Lunyu, we as sume that one verse is the older one, reflecting a philosophical position that the school subsequently aban doned. The school’s new position on the subject was then formulated in the pithy Lunyu-style (often intro duced by: ‘The Master said:..’) and haphazardly interpolated into the old text - but the older, now ‘offen ding’ verse was not expunged. If, for example, Confucius speaks at length about the virtue ren, such verses ob viously belong to a period in which ren was deemed important; when we

Researching China's Provinces It seems self-evident that Chinese provinces, with their large populations and considerable economic wealth, would attract the attention o f scholars involved in China Studies. The area o f central-local relations has become a favoured topic among Si nologists, particularly with the devolution o f power in the post-Mao period and the increase in the scope and intensity o f bargaining between the centre and provinces in such areas as fiscal and foreign trade policy. However, the study o f provinc es in and for themselves has been somewhat neglected. ■ By KEITH FORSTER

ntil recently, re search tended to j concentrate eiI ther on the national I (macro-level) or the micro-level of village or danwei (work unit) studies. In the 1970s there was an abortive attempt in the United States to carry out a sys tematic study of China’s provinces, but this failed partly due to the lack of available data. One factor behind the flourishing (and, for the author, most gratifying) state of affairs today is that scholars of provincial China face exactly the opposite problem to that which saw the 1970s project col lapse. The question now is how to handle the flood of material which continues to pour off the Chinese printing presses. The challenge to describe and ex plain what has been happening in

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China’s provinces was taken up by Professor Goodman, Director of the Institute of International Studies at the University ofTechnology, Sydney, who since 1995 has organized a series of workshops in different Chinese cit ies around the theme of Reform in Provincial China. The first volume of papers was published 1997, a second volume will appear this year. In 1997 David Goodman built on the success of the workshops to launch a new journal Provincial China: research, news, analysis, and in 1998 a Centre for Re search into Provincial China was es tablished in Sydney under the joint sponsorship of UTS and the Universi ty of New South Wales. The Centre is sponsoring a series of provincial monographs around the theme of re form, to be published jointly by Wild Peony Press (Sydney) and the Univer sity of Hawai’i Press. The first task has been to describe and analyse provincial economic and

then meet the highly problematical verse IX.i ‘The Master seldom spoke of profit and fate and ren’, we are equally obviously dealing with a phase in the school’s development where ren is being abandoned. This coincides nicely with Lunyu Chapters X and XI, where ren is not mentioned at all. So, sometime in the period to which the authors assign Chapters X and XI, somebody forged?, designed?, wrote? the above description of the Master, but did not append it to his Chapters X and XI. He interpolated it at the very beginning of the previous, pre-existing Chapter IXI. This study distinguishes no fewer than nineteen such interpolators, most of them not only adding their own chapters to the Lunyu but also dropping verses here and there in the others’ chapters. Three of these inter polators had the brilliant idea of put ting their own chapter at the begin ning of the whole collection, so that the Analects, which began their exis tence with Chapter IV at the front, after a century and a half acquired Chapter III in the front of that; then years later someone added his own chapter and called it chapter II; and a further twenty-five years down the line someone did the same and called

social development during the period of reform, and to identify key source material to enable this to be carried out. Provincial China has published key provincial economic and social indicators, and bibliographies con cerning Guangdong, Sichuan, and Zhejiang provinces. Some of the is sues which have emerged from the China workshops include the nature and characteristics of provincial cul ture and identity, the variations in sub-provincial economic and social development, and the re-emergence of pre-revolutionary patterns of so cial, economic and political organiza tion and behaviour. Future research will elucidate and develop these the mes.

Some recent publications on Provincial China:

Peter Cheung, Joe Ho Chung and Lin Zhimin (eds),

Provincial Strategies of Economic Reform in Post-Mao China: Leadership, Politics, and Implementation (NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998). Keith Forster

Zhejiang in Reform Wild Peony Press and University of Hawaii Press: Sydney and Honolulu, forthcoming 1998 Hans Hendrischke and Feng Chongyi (eds),

The Political Economy of China's Provinces: Competitive and Comparative Advantage London: Routledge, 1998 Keith Forster is attached to the Southern Cross University.

it no. I. This form of accretion then stopped, but the text continued to grow, but only at the tail end, acquir ing Chapters XVI to XX before being closed in about 249 BC (‘0249’). Readers of the Analects may be sur prised to learn that Confucius’s most famous phrase, ‘To have friends com ing from far places, is this not also delightful?’, is therefore a late addi tion, belonging to a phase in the de velopment of the Confucian school when Toss of court influence’ seemed ‘permanent’, i.e. after 295. Therefore Chapter I offers ‘a citizen ethic, which holds that virtue is valuable even without public service’. The busy forger (Zigao, the fifth head of the school) also left some verses in the body of the received text, but so skilfully hidden that some of them escaped detection ‘until 15 October 1993’-

It will be clear that this is a book a prendre ou a laisser - there seems to be no middle way. The question is not whether the Lunyu is a monolithic work - it is not, the great Han com mentator Zheng Xuan already sug gested three authors for the text. The question is whether one can agree with a nineteen-fold layering of the work. Can one accept ‘interpo lation’ left, right, and centre as the solution for perceived inconsisten cies? The question is: can one resolve inconsistencies in the Analects by creating a new set of inconsisten cies?

A detailed examination of the method employed is superfluous, consisting of a mixture of sound phil ological reasoning and a great deal of special pleading to tie up the loose ends. There is no doubting the aut hors’ erudition, but one cannot es cape the impression that the forces of this erudition are too often mar shalled only to overwhelm the reader. Readers who keep their wits about them will notice that the questions raised by this kind of approach are not mentioned, let alone answered. Do philosophical schools change their values as soon as the going gets tough? Do they announce their new stance by forging ‘words from the Master’ which they then pass off as genuine? Why do they keep the old, offending verses? If the answer is ‘veneration for the old text', this leads to the question: Why did they rape the old text by interpolating into it? And perhaps most of all: do the authors really want to say that ninety-five per cent of what ‘the Master said’ is not what the Master said? The chief value of this study, in my view, are its character as a treasure trove of Lunyu lore, and the fresh translation of the Analects that goes with it. ■

B.J. Mansvelt Beck can be reached at Vondelstraat I l-G, 1054 GC Amsterdam, The Netherlands, tel.: +31-20-6167047.

Chinese Linguistics The Seventh Annual Meeting o f the International Association o f Chinese Linguistics (IALC) was held in conjunction with the Tenth North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics at Stanford University on June 26-28 this year. By WOLF GANG BEHR

he joint organiza tion of the two meetings by Pro fessor Sun Chaofen and his Stanford colleagues resulted in an unexpect edly high number of participants. A hundred and thirty scholars, or al most one half of the current member ship of the International Association for Chinese Linguistics (IACL), were present. The regional distribution of partic ipants - roughly one half from Tai wan, Hong Kong, and the PRC and another half from North America, with eight Europeans and a handful of Australians, Japanese, and Koreans scattered in between - reflects the current geographical affiliations of the Association’s members quite closely. The ridiculously low number of mainland Chinese scholars, who, if Hong Kong is excluded, do not even constitute one-twentieth of the over all membership of the world’s largest international association for Chinese linguistics, is deeply to be regretted. An extraordinary breadth of topics was addressed at the conference, ranging from generative syntax, over functional approaches, including grammaticalization studies and dis-

Short News

course pragmatics, to historical lin guistics, phonetics & phonology, se mantics and cognitive linguistics, psycho- and sociolinguistics, the study of language acquisition, com putational linguistics and even the historiography of Chinese linguistics. Unlike last year’s meeting in Leiden, topics directly related to Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics were almost entirely absent at this conference. The Stanford meeting has shown that topics in generative/minimalist frameworks, which have tended to dominate IACL’s conferences during the mid-nineties in view of the sheer number of speakers working in these paradigms, are gradually receiving heavy competition from new and notso-new areas of research, such as dis course pragmatics, functional studies of grammaticalization processes or corpus-based approaches to lexical se mantics and information structure. A marked and very welcome trend, which crosscuts these coarse method ological classification is an increased interest in the study of Chinese ‘dia lects’. It remains to be seen if it will continue at the next two annual meetings in Melbourne (1999) and Singapore (2000) under the Associa tion’s new president, Anne Yue-Hashimoto of the University of Washing ton, Seattle. ■

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The Way of Tea Anna Beerens is o f the op inion that ‘The Japanese Way o f Tea. From Its Origins in China to Sen Rikyü’ by Sen Söshitsu XV and translated by V. Dixon Morris (H onolulu: University o f Hawai'i Press, 1998. 32 pp., ISBN 0-8248-1897-0) should be ap proached with caution because o f its tendency to read history backwards. By A N N A BEERENS

rcnufnnHi

he title of this book suggests that it is the story of the Way of Tea, that is chadö, or chanoyu, best known in the West as the Japanese tea ceremony. Actually, it deals with the prehistory of the tea ceremony, but, it is no simple history of tea-drinking either: to its author, tea-drinking and the tea ceremony are much the same thing. The story moves from Tang China to Sen Rikyü, the founder of modern cha noyu, with striking inevitability. The evolutionary line presented by Sen may not be quite so straightforward. It is significant that the term cha noyu is not defined at the outset or

PARIS,

later in the book. Although it has been used throughout the history of tea-drinking practices in Japan, it has not always had the same mean ing. In obscuring these differences, Sen creates an impression of continu ity that is not altogether justifiable. The term chanoyu, left undefined, is turned into an extremely elastic con cept by a veil of rather vague spiritu al, aesthetic, and idealistic notions. Sen tells his story mainly by pre senting quotations from sources re lating to what may be called a spiri tuality of tea, beginning with Lu Yu’s Chap tig, or Classic o f Tea, from Tang China. This focus on spirituali ty often obscures the reality and ac tual practice of the period under dis cussion. For example, in the last chapters on Murata Jukö, Takeno

ASIA

Jöö, and Sen Rikyü, Sen focuses so ex clusively on the texts expressing the thought of these masters that he for gets to tell us how the ‘tea ceremony’ had developed in the meantime. We find words cropping up like ‘tea master’, ‘tea student’, ‘beginners’, ‘men of tea’, ‘practice sessions’, that make us realize that ‘tea’ had be come an established ‘Way’ with its own recognized rules, teaching prac tices and hierarchy. This develop ment, however, is not discussed in any systematic way. The starting point of Sen’s book is the Cfiajing of the second half of the eighth century. As this work is sim ply the oldest remaining monograph on tea it might be considered the an cestor of any tea drinking tradition. The Cftajing has been a very influen tial book, both in China and in Japan, but it never led to the development of a Chinese tea ceremony, nor did it set in motion a chain of reactions that produced Sen Rikyü some centu ries later. The Chajing and the other Chinese sources mentioned by Sen should be studied for their own sake and be carefully related to their own context, to the subtleties of the Chi nese literati way of life and the role of connoisseurship.

24 JUNE 1 9 9 8 FRANCE

Third Ancient Chinese Grammar Colloquium For the third tim e after Zurich 1994 and Beijing 1996, the In ternational Sym posium on Ancient Chinese Grammar was held on June 22-24 this year in Paris. Alm ost fifty speakers from China, Taiwan, Japan, the U nited States, Canada, France, Norway, Germany, and Switzerland gave their papers in the Am phitéatre Stourdzé o f the M inistry o f H igher Education and Research, where the conference was join tly organized by the Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur 1’Asie Oriëntale o f the C.N.R.S. and the University o f Oslo. By WOL F GANG BEHR

he meeting start ed as a small m\ JL workshop-like ^ I event in Zurich four years ago, with the in tention of bridging the gap between Chinese and Western scholars working in the held of An cient Chinese grammar. It then quickly developed into a full-fledged conference with several hundred participants in Beijing and now seems to have reached a preliminary and always precarious balance be tween the acceptance of a large varie ty of presentations and participants on the one hand, and wishes for more intensive and unhurried ex changes on the other. The heading ‘Ancient Chinese’ was understood in a fairly broad sense, so that the topics of presentations, al beit roughly concentrating on the five hundred years before the unifi cation of China by the First Emperor of Qin (221 BC], addressed an overall time-frame spanning from the earli est inscriptions on oracle bones dur ing the late second millenium BC to

the very end of the pre-modern peri od. Several of the papers dealing with syntax and/or semantics, traced the development of verbal complement constructions from Ancient throughout Medieval Chinese, the origin of classifiers and measure words, the evolution of passive con structions, as well as various aspects of pronoun systems in Archaic, Clas sical, and late Medieval Chinese. The increasing use of inscriptional source materials, uncorrupted by the history of transmissions, omissions, and editions, is certainly one of the most gratifying developments in the study of Ancient Chinese grammar during recent years. It allows for a fresh and sometimes rather surpris ing perspective on topics otherwise reputed to be dead, such as the syn tax of attribution in Archaic Chi nese, which was argued by Anne Yue-Hashimoto of the University of Washington to display a ‘Head + Modifier’-pattern, rather reminiscent of Tibeto-Burman languages, in its oldest stages. A panel focusing on the history and theory of Chinese writing and its first explicit classifi cation in the Shuowen jiezi, reflected

3 4 ’ 1IAS n e w s l e t t e r W 1 7 • December 1998

the continued European interest in a topic outside the core of what is usu ally perceived as Chinese linguistics by scholars from the People’s Repub lic of China and Taiwan. The fairly novel concern with the study of con ceptual categories, semantic fields of synonyms and antonyms in Ancient Chinese on the other hand, would seem to indicate a certain steering away from more traditional lines of inquiry, certainly enhanced by the increased availability of computer ized text-corpora facilitating fine grained semantic classifications. A similar broadening of its research focus characterizes the field of pho nology, represented by two papers at this symposium, in which attention was directed more towards interfac es with morphology and syntax, than towards the reconstruction of the Old Chinese phoneme system per se. Commemorating the centenary of the publication of the first grammar of Ancient Chinese, this symposium sought to evoke the spirit of the au thor Ma Jianzhong (1845-1900] and his striving for a true amalgamation of Chinese indigenous philology and Western grammatical concepts. The organizing committee at the Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur 1’A sie Oriëntale, facing the tough job of hosting an international conference at a time when the French capital was besieged by legions of soccer fans flocking in for the World Cham pionships from all over the world, is to be congratulated for the creation

It is a pity that the format of The Japanese Way o f Tea does not permit any discussion of later reactions to Sen Rikyü’s chanoyu. Then we would have seen how the Kyoto literati of the eighteenth century used that same Chajing and many other Chi nese works on tea to justify their re jection of chanoyu which they had come to see as an anaemic and stilted performance, an expensive pastime that pursued an image of rustic sim plicity at high cost. Sen, however, presents Lu Yu as the representative of a certain aspect of chanoyu: the creation of a world apart, away from the daily grind and the vulgar. In the same way, looking back at the history of tea drinking in Japan with a thorough knowledge of the finesses of modern chanoyu, Sen states that occurrences ‘foreshadow’ later developments, certain expres sions are ‘an embryonic form’ of later terminology. Eisai (1141-1215) and his Kissa Yöjöki are declared represen tative of the quotidian and rational element of chanoyu. The tea drinking habits of the Zen temples of the med iaeval period provide the necessary link between Zen and chanoyu. The tea-tasting contests of the same peri od ‘introduce’ the elements of enter-

tainment, hosts and guests and the growing importance of utensils both as decoration and as prize. The last part of the book shows the emer gence of the ‘grass hut style’ chanoyu and the terms of wabi and sabi. While these developments are often depict ed with a certain objectivity and in dependence in the chapters in which Sen deals with them at length, later in the text they are inevitably sum marized in such a way as to fit seam lessly into the line of the argument. This book directs one to a large amount of relevant source material and this is a redeeming feature. But it is marred by its tendency to read his tory backwards. In his foreword to this book Paul Varley states that the 'greatest value’ of it ‘lies in the au thority with which Dr Sen has been able to describe the evolution of the way of tea in Japan from its begin nings to the age of Sen Rikyü’. This is exactly what is wrong with this book. In spite of its great erudition, Sen’s Japanese Way o f Tea is a book that should be approached with caution because of its highly teleological character. ■

of a very pleasant atmosphere of sci entific exchange in a smoothly scheduled, exciting programme. During recent years, communica tion between Asian, European, and American scholars of Chinese lin guistics, despite its still rather per functory nature, sometimes seems to be even more intensive than that within Europe itself. Acknowledging this problem, an important sideevent of the conference was a prepar atory meeting for the establishment of the European Association of Chi nese Linguistics, which will be open to all interested scholars working in Europe, regardless of their respective

theoretical frameworks or periods o f specialization. The Association will be dedicated to the co-ordination of research projects, sources, and the overall enhancement of communica tions in Europe at a time when the splendid isolation of strictly nation al research endeavours has ceased to be a scientific option. ■

Anna Beerens can be contacted at e-mail: abeerens@brick.dstron.nl.

Dr Wolfgang Behr was an HAS research fellow from January to November 1998 and has now taken up a position at the Faculty of East Asian Studies, University o f Bochum, Germany.

Japanese Library of Art L

ast April, a Japanese art library was ope, ___ ned in Amsterdam. i f . 1 Almost two thousand J volumes (mainly in Japa nese) have been brought together, covering a wide range of fields, including calligraphy, paint ing, sculpture, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), suiboku (ink painting), Bud dhist art, pottery, lacquerware, and tea ceremony. The library is open for scholars and anyone generally inter ested in Japanese art. The library is es tablished in an especially designed in terior so as to create an intimate at mosphere dedicated to the apprecia tion of Japanese art. Detailed infor mation about the collection of the li brary can be found in the computer ized library catalogue, both in Eng lish and in Japanese, at the library and via the Internet. The library was opened by the Cul ture Communication Fund BV (CCF), an institute connected with the Cen

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tury Museum in Tokyo and the Cen tury Cultural Foundation. The aim of CCF is to develop the understand ing and study of Japanese culture in Europe, especially through the art of calligraphy, for which Japan is fa mous. The undertaking of the pre sent library is linked to the celebra tion of the four hundredth anniver sary of the relationship between the Netherlands and Japan. The library is open weekdays from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. It is closed in weekends and on national holidays. Entry is free, though membership registration is required. ■

Further information: CCF LiÉrary o f Art Herengracht 493 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel:+31-20-4229652 Fax: +31-20-42 74956 E-mail: info@ccf.nl http://www.ccf.nl

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The Korean Nation and the 'World System' The current global malaise is taken by many as prima facie evi dence that the world is describable, at least w ith regard to eco nom ics, in terms o f a unifying system. In South Korea, where u n til recently calls for internationalization were made with increasing frequency and confidence, the dem onstrated risks involved are now turning attention m ore urgently to ques tions about the global system: what is the nature o f the beast, what is the relation o f the two Koreas to the world-system , and what place can the Korean nation have as a self-determ ining cultural entity w ithin the world-system? In short, is there a nation-state future for Korea? ■ By K E N N E T H M. WELLS

he concept of a diI vision era has J L been refined as a theory of division contra dictions. Son Hoch’öl, the sociologist, has analysed whether the division is an effect of imperialism or an effect of capital ism. This created an impasse over | whether democracy had to wait upon reunification or whether the | reverse was the case, and a search began for a unified theory of contra| dictions relating to the division. But the search was motivated also by a j desire to find a particularly Korean, third way between the Vietnamese and German reunifications and a Ko rean alternative to capitalism and degenerated socialism that is appro priate to both northern and south ern regions of the peninsula (Son, 1994:318-22). A significant attempt to break the PD (People’s Democracy) - NL (Na tional Liberation) impasse over theo ry and practice has been made by the literary critic and publisher Paek Nakch’ong, who advanced the theo ry of a division ‘system’ that encom passes north and south as one whole, _ in the sense that its contradictions are not between the two states but I between their combined populaces and the world-system that main tains the regimes that rule and di vide them. The thrust of Paek Nakch’ong’s theory of a division-system is that allthe social, economic, military, politi cal, and cultural contradictions of Korea are systemic. Paek draws heav ily on Immanuel Wallerstein’s writ ings on the world-economy, particu larly the view that virtually the en tire world has become a system of capitalist division of labour. Thus the interstate system - the system of nation-states - is the political ex| pression of the capitalist worldI economy (Wallerstein, 1984:4). For Paek, the two Koreas together form a single boundary within which there is a major contradiction, the divi sion, which means that no satisfac tory change can occur in either north or south since this contradic tion will always stymie the attain ment of real democracy and real au tonomy so long as it exists.

Unique position The place of the Korean nation is clarified by Paek’s formulation of the relation between the Korean division

and the world-system: ‘While a sub ordinate system to the world-sys tem, [the division-system] is a uni que union of north and south Kore an systems that has its own definite characteristics’ (Quoted in Son, 323). This unique union has its own selfreproducing dynamic, which can only be tackled satisfactorily by the Korean min.ju.ng (ordinary populace). More than this, the unique charac teristics of the Korean case are due to Korea’s being the sharpest focus of the contradiction of the world-sys tem, and as such are in the forefront of global development. The solution found by Koreans to their divisionsystem will become the pattern for the solution of the world-system itself(Paek, 1994:113,322-6). Hence it is prescribed by the world-system and Korea’s unique position within it that a Korean national movement must flourish at this point. For Paek, the test of their validity is whether national movements are anti-systemic, and he argues that even though they have obvious im perfections, reforms which issue from these movements are neverthe less real in themselves and must be understood in relation to the overall movement to topple the divisionsystem, a movement Paek believes is clearly winning (Paek,1995: 204). Again, this echoes Wallerstein who adopts an optimistic view even of anti-systemic movements that seem to disappoint the purpose. Social movements have found it very diffi cult to remain essentially anti-systemic once in power, and nationalis tic movements have found it virtual ly impossible’ (Wallerstein, 130). Wallerstein believes that the cumu lative effect of these movements will be to create a crisis for the worldeconomy that will favour socialism. In a sense, the key element in Paek’s arguments about the role of recent movements in Korea and his will ingness to promote the issue in na tional terms may be understood as an adoption of Wallerstein’s faith that such movements can be ‘revital ized,’ and that ‘we can feed our knowledge back into these move ments and thus contribute to progress in the mode of operation of the movements themselves’ (Paek, 1995:205). Not only the sophistication but also the motives behind Paek Nakch’öng’s elaboration of a ‘divi sion-system’ theory stimulate re thinking one’s view of the world as well as on Korea’s particularity.

Moreover, he corrects the common tendency to attribute all negative as pects of Korea’s past and present to non-Korean factors and thus endows Koreans with the dignity of being significantly involved in the course of their own affairs. The commitment equally directs attention to the question of analysis, which is not, it seems, without its problems. In this respect one might well question literature or historiog raphy that promotes nationalism ei ther as the only possible or desirable arrangement (as an end in itself) or as the proper strategic form for the time in question (as a means to an end). To the extent that nationalism concerns the political organization of peoples, it is an arena of concen trated power-seeking or power building, and nationalist historiog raphy becomes willy-nilly an aspect of this, affirming the validity of its modus operandi even where it is written on behalf of an opposition movement. This is to say that for the kind of aims desired - reunification, democ racy, abolition of productive ine qualities and contradictions - na tionalism or nationalistic historiog raphy might be neither helpful nor necessary. Can nationalism be si multaneously promoted and re strained; can it ultimately be turned to the desired ends and dropped once its ‘strategic’ usefulness ends? There is, of course, a larger issue in the case of the division-system theory over the validity of Wallerstein's worldsystem and the function of initially anti-systemic nationalist and other movements within that system. There are some points specifically re lating to nationalism that should be addressed, even if I can only do so briefly.

A n ti-system ic movements Although I do not find evidence that Kang Man’gil accepts the world-system in Wallerstein’s sense, or even perhaps the division-system in Paek’s sense, it is clear that he fa vours historical research that pro motes nationalist categories. When he predicates the establishment of his ‘minjok chuch’e saron’ (histori cal theory of the national subject) on first identifying ‘non-national, antihistorical’ elements, it is not clear what ‘anti-historical’ means. Does it imply that ‘history’ is something transparent that is spread out before us from past to future as a process of which the goal is known? One can not help noticing a strong element of romanticism in Wallerstein’s for mulation of this relation, which masks the all too well known facts concerning the enormous human calamities of this century - a century that Hobsbawm aptly characterizes as an ‘age of extremes.’ So long as nation-states exist, they are the necessary arenas of the class movement and the galvanizing force for anti-systemic movements of var-

'The union has its own self-reproducing

doubt that the contradictions of a capitalist world-economy would find expression in their own actions (just as much as in the actions of other social actors)?’ (Wallerstein, 9-

dynam ic’

ious kinds. A nationalistic move ment, where the term is appropriate, must be on behalf of the nation state in relation to others; a class movement must be on behalf of that class’s interests primarily within the nation-state and only secondarily in relation to other nation-states. If it were possible for the primary and secondary aspects of a class move ment to coincide with the interests of the nation-state qua nation-state, such a phenomenon would be counterfactual to the very notion of a genuine capitalist world-system in which the nation-state is its ‘expres sion of power.’ On the other hand, if this is not possible, there is certainly no logical reason for the claim that there is a cumulative, progressive ef fect of movements of ‘false cons ciousness’ that comprise the absorp tion of class struggle into nationalist movements. There is no logical reason for mov ing from the observation that antisystemic movements such as Pol Pot’s Cambodia ‘have discovered no single state-structure [and] can enact a transformation either of the interstate system or of the worldeconomy' (Wallerstein, 107), to the assertion that these movements in dicate a looming, fatal crisis for capi talism, and that therefore their com plicity in nationalism is not ulti mately problematic. For if it is really the case that the ideological or moral commitment of the leaders of such movements is powerless against the ‘social relation’ they find themselves in when they do gain power, which is to say that they are in the same structural position of the capitalist leadership they set out to replace and therefore in no sense ‘anti-systemic,’ then the case is, on logical grounds, hopeless. That the strategic appeal to na tionalism and the principle o f‘revi talization’ appear to be grounded in nothing other than appeals to those who feel victims of the system is the Achilles’ heel of the whole scheme. In such a case, how can ‘revitaliza tion’ become anything other than ‘repetition’? And in the process we must, apparently, witness the savage excesses of nationalist movements or socialist-revolutionary movements that if politically successful become perpetrators of the chilling oppres sions with which this century has become horribly familiar. Further, we are to expect and accept that the Korean scholars whose values we might now appreciate will even now be transforming into protagonists of principles contradictory to their pre sent positions, since ‘how can propo nents of a Marxist world view-

10)This ‘explanation’ not only of na tionalism but of betrayal and the ac companying mass suffering, surely gives one pause. One might say the world-system theory is eminently flexible, capable of encompassing a great variety of phenomena and like ly to be upset by very few develop ments. On the other hand, this re duces its utility and raises a number of doubts. It is difficult - and not al ways meaningful - to negotiate with a position to which almost any de velopment can be assimilated. The many hundreds of thousands of peo ple who continue to be slaughtered this decade on the altar of ethnic or racial ‘identities,’ which provide the soil of nationalist movements and opportunities for other powers’ in terests, are also ‘real’ concerns of our times that should not be absent from historians’ consciousness. One certainly does not need a nationalist perspective in order to agree that treatment under military regimes, colonial occupation, monopolistic economic giants responsible to no electorate, and so on, is something to oppose. One wonders, when faced with the downside of the world-sys tem as we are now, whether strengthening ethnic and supposed ly single-culture bases of identity and political organization will either topple the ‘system’ or lead into bet ter conditions of human dignity. ■

References - Son Hoch’öl, ‘Pundan ch’ejeronüi pip’anjök koch’al,’ in Ch’angjakkwa pipy ng, W94

- Paek Nakch’öng, Hündüllinün pundan ch’eje, Seoul, Ch’angjakkwa pip’yöngsa, 1998

- Immanuel Wallerstein, The Politics of the World-economy: The States, the Movements, and the Civilizations, 1984.

Dr Kenneth Wells (W ellsk@ coombs.anu.edu.au) was an affiliated fellow at the HAS from I August 1997 until I July 1998.

December 1998 •

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ART THE GATE FOUNDATION

THE GATE F O U N D A T I O N IS AN I N T E R N A T I O N A L ART

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F O U N D A T I O N DEVOTED TO P R O M O T I N G I N T E R C U L T UR A L E X C H A N G E OF C O N T E M P O R A R Y ART. THE GATE F O U N D A T I O N AI MS TO S TI MULATE KNOWL E DGE A ND U N D E R S T A N D I N G OF C O N T E M P O R A R Y ART AND A R T I S T S , E MP H A S I Z I N G N O N - WE S T E R N A ND MI G R A N T CULTURES.

Visual Art Impressions

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This year I travelled to Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Japan to research the work o f you n g visual artists. I con centrated on young artists who had not yet been absorbed into the local establishm ent. My research was focused on the prep aration o f Platform 2 (the second artbook published by Canvas Foundation), in which work o f these artists is presented. I m et critics, art historians, exhibit organizers, m useum curators, art academy teachers, gallery owners and, o f course, many artists. I will briefly discuss som e o f my im pressions o f the visual art situations in the countries that I visited. ■ ...

■ By M A R T I J N K I E LS T R A

f a

t he high speed of

change in Asia JL had raised great expectations. In general modernization and a changing political cli mate are creating better opportuni ties for modern art. When I visited Tokyo, I expected a dynamic young art scene, as a lot of Japanese artists had emerged on to the international stage during the past few decades, but the studios were hard to find. Not many people in Tokyo were able to give me information about them. Take galleries, for instance. Many of them work with a virtually un changing set of mainly foreign artists. Young Japanese artists can only show their work in these galleries by paying a high rent. As a critical statement against this expensive ‘gallery on hire’ system, the artist Tsuyoshi Ozawa created the Nasibu Gallery, the smallest gal lery in the world, in 1993. From time to time Japan’s finest young artists are still on show (for free) in this mo bile gallery. Galleries which do pre sent young Japanese artists are often not aware of ‘young’ developments in the rest of Tokyo. The indepen dent curator and critic Fumio Nanjo explained to me that this lack of knowledge about others flows from the insular nature of the Japanese. In other words, you just mind your own business. This may be true, but there are also other developments. Previous generations had the drive and the ambition to achieve interna tional success; many of them left for Europe or the US. Partially due to the economic crisis, today’s youth find it hard to escape the vicious circle of disinterest of their own country. But cream will always rise to the top. Mariko Mori is becoming a new in ternational star. Her photography calls for an ‘eternal harmony of human spirit’. I also enjoyed a multi-media rock experiment by Hiroyuki Matsukage and Muneteru Ujino. For the period ofone year they

are combining (graphic) design, photography, performance, and rock music.

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Between lasers In contrast to the Japanese invisi bility of young artists, their Vietna mese counterparts pop up all over the place. This is true of both the typ ical paintings for foreigners, to be found in hundreds of galleries of all sizes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and of more progressive experimen tal art on show at foreign exhibi tions. A walk along the commercial ‘street-galleries’ quickly shows that it is mostly the same artists on show. At international exhibitions outside Vietnam a limited circle of artists is also continuously on display. Cata logues of earlier exhibitions are often the only source of information for foreign exhibitors. In Hanoi I searched for artists be tween the two visible layers of galler ies and international catalogues. But very few young artists explore experi mental imagery or themes that devi ate from the Vietnamese mainstream art so popular with foreigners. And it is exactly those who do, like Minh Thanh, Van Cuong, and the female artist Dinh Y Nhi, who are welcomed by the international art trade. ‘Art from Very Young Artists’ was the name of one of the exhibitions I visited. It showed work by artists in their early twenties. As the title sug gested, the work was indeed very young. But nevertheless I had never seen their style and way of working before in Vietnam. It goes to show that more and more young artists are finding their own way. The artist Truong Tan has greatly influenced this development. His work unmis takably has homosexuality as its theme; obviously a rather controver sial subject in Vietnam. Tan has shown that art can also be used as a medium for engagement.

Social M iseij Engagement or social conflict is the driving force behind the work of many young artists in Indonesia.

• h a s n e w s l e t t e r N? 17 • December 1998

Photographing the work o f Xin Haizhou

Their social environment forms an inescapable source of inspiration for their work. According to critic Jim Supangkat, a lot of work is no more than an outcry or a slogan. There is no real social criticism: artists are too much a part of society to be able to step back and comment. Artists such as Agus Suwage and Agung Kurniawan heed this criticism and are try ing to identify their position in soci ety. Kurniawan explained to me that he is growing tired of expressing so cial misery over and over in his work, but at the same time he cannot ig nore it. Younger artists like Isa Perkasa and Nandang Gawe in Bandung and S. Teddy D. and Yustoni Volunteero in Yogyakarta seem to be even more radical. If the political situation in Indonesia ever really ‘normalizes’, it will be interesting to see how the ar tistic creativity of these artists will develop. Meanwhile, art critic Dwi Marianto stressed to me that young artists do not confine themselves to this ‘conflict art’. Take Diah Yulianti for example. She has just finished the art academy in Yogyakarta and in her work shows the beauty and the diversity of her childhood sur roundings, the natural beauty of Kalimantan villages.

Global centre Although I focused mainly on two-dimensional art, I had the im pression that a-new wave of art in China highlighting the things which interest and influence the youth of today, apparently without passing judgement. These artists, still in their twenties, were in school when China was opening up to foreign ideas and culture. They see, and make use of, the new possi

bilities. The English language, pop music, cartoons, and most consu mer goods are as everyday to them as to someone in Amsterdam or London. According to art critic Li Xianting, Fang Lijun’s ‘Water’ paintings, al though silently hiding something behind the stillness, marks Fang’s movement to a more silent method of dealing with scenes of daily life. These ‘Water’ pieces were recently on show in Fang Lijun’s solo exhibi tion in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The representation of daily life charged with a sense of al ienation, complacency, and apathy has become a new and more and more recognized visual language to many of these artists. Meanwhile, China’s art world is not only dreaming but also talking about China as the new global cen tre for modern art. The rapid growth of China as a world power, the new conservatism in art and even the post-colonial placement of China’s modern art in the West should make such a development possible. China is teeming with happening, but it is one of those places where the infrastructure still leaves much to be desired yet. In the meantime, young artists worry about their work disappearing into foreign collections and not being available in China when the mod ern art museums finally arrive. I was only in Thailand for a week, too short to learn about the most re cent developments of the artistic climate. Anyway, in Bangkok I was almost laughed away by young stu dents who heard I was looking for artists with a grounding in paint ing, drawing, or graphical tech niques. I wonder: in a country

where interest in and understand ing of modern art is so minimal, making foreign attention financial ly important at the very least, how many of these students will still be exhibiting in five years’ time.

N ot understood This brings me to some conclud ing remarks. One of the great frus trations for many contemporary art ists I met is the fact that their work is barely seen or understood in their own country. It is mainly foreigners and art academy students who turn up for exhibition openings. Partici pating in exhibitions abroad is not satisfying enough in the long run, and leaving their country seems to be the only option for some. Naturally artists should not be guided by commercial motifs. But, on the other hand, I think it is a mis take for young artists to think that they ‘have’ to make installations. Bangkok’s art academies have some good teachers in the field of threedimensional art. But in many other countries, like China, courses at art academies still tend to be preponder antly conservative. Many multimedia artists have a ‘classical’ back ground. Over the years they have also learned about other media and finally became strong in that area too. Perhaps for many young artists that is still a good ‘road’ to follow. ■

M artijn Kielstra and Joris Escher founded Canvas World Art in l99S.This is a Dutch organisation that supports and promotes young artists from Asia and Latin America.Work o f the artists is published in books (the Platform series) and exhibited. Canvas also leases the work to companies and other institutions in the Netherlands.ln order to present a continuous picture o f artists in Asia and Latin America, 'Kielstra and Escher make regular visits to the artists.

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New Media Artfrom India

16th World Wide Video Festival In the past sixteen years the World Wide Video Festival has grown from an experimental event to a renowned internation al platform for the presentation o f the newest productions o f media art for an increasing public. This year again the festival programme was distinguished by a rich diversity: installa tions, site specific work, performances, videotapes, CD-ROMs, and websites. To enhance the mapping o f the developments within media art, a seminar was about the ontology o f the electronic image, narrative structures in media art, and how to create exhibition spaces for it. International speakers analysed media art at this moment in time, when this art form seemed to be breaking through to a much wider audience. ■ By J O H A N PI JN A P P E L t r a n s l a t e d t o E n g lis h by PAT RAFF

s a meeting place for modern exper imental art, the World Wide Video Festi val has followed the de velopments in perfor mance art. In the eighties video was no longer being used solely as a re cording device in performance art, but had taken its place as an integral part of the art form. Performances started to assume the character of multi-media to a growing extent. The new and revived developments in per formance art recently, show an intermeshing of very different disciplines. This is not confined to the Western world, but is also found in South America, Asia, and Africa. These inno vations affect form as well as content and can be broadly summarized as follows: computer and digital editing, blending of highbrow and lowbrow (no hierarchy), total experience and new dimensions/worlds and interdis ciplinary collaboration. This year the World Wide Video Festival paid extra attention to media art from India. India has a big film production system and a strong docu mentary history but media art is a rel atively new phenomenon. Research in India revealed a strong relationship between politics and contemporary art. To get a better idea of the modern art scene on this Subcontinent, the festival arranged a lecture by Geeta Kapur. As an art critic Kapur has writ ten extensively on contemporary art in India. Her recent work brings to the fore ideological matters that are clearly connected to modernism in India and Third World culture and its relationship to the Western world. ‘Today it is the secular cultures of the postcolonial era that are premised on a countering impulse. It is this heri tage which is to be carried over into the present post-modern to evolve a more definite commitment to praxis. This will incur perhaps a dispersal of the regimental movement of the Euro-American avant-garde into more differentiated moments which we can now begin to see as radical in terventions in the ideologically re gressive one-world system.’

Nuclear testing The new production ‘Remember ing Toba Tek Singh’ (19518) by the Pa kistan artist Nalini Malani is a direct reaction to nuclear testing. On May

xi, 1997 nuclear tests were carried out by the government of India in preparation for the production of nuclear weapons. More nuclear tests by India followed and Pakistan fol lowed suit. In all the discussions it looked as if no simple rational solu tion was possible or even desired. Po litical parties used this momentum to stir up old frictions between Hin dus and Muslims again. India, the largest democracy on earth, still felt the wounds of the separation of 1947 from Pakistan and Bangladesh. In front of a quiet, dark room there is an image of smoke - the smoke of bombs, of the pyre of the hearth. On either side there are large black and white images of women, in the act of folding a saree, in slow motion. They seem to come together to fold the edges of the garment - but cannot really meet - separated by the pas sage that is the room itself We hear recordings about the sorts of absur dities that exist between nations the world over. In between are stories, one is ‘Toba Tek Singh’: a couple of years after the Partition of the coun try, governments of India and Paki stan exchanged inmates of lunatic asylums, in the way as prisoners were exchanged. After the installation ‘Remember ing Toba Tek Singh’ has been exhib ited in Amsterdam, it will move on to New Delhi and Bombay where it is certain to contribute to a critical dis cussion. In her work ‘Is it what you think’ (1998) the Indian artist Rummana Hussain questions the stereotype of the Muslim woman, projected by the media and by the West. Considering the wide geographical spread of Islam which is accompanied by vast ly dissimilar practices and rituals, is it possible to create an image of the universal Muslim woman? There fore Hussain only asks questions, to which there can be no fixed answers. Besides conveying this message the performance is also about the trans lation of notions of war and love and how they become connected with the woman's body. It begins with Sufi chants, which could be about a lover or God or both at the same time. She narrates a story about a woman who fought for the freedom of her country. She reads out ques tions from a book, as if she were chanting from a holy book. As Rum mana Hussain chants, there are sl ides projected on her body, of news paper images of Muslim women. When she finishes reading, she picks

up the veil lying on the floor, folds it and places it carefully on the stool, removes her prosthesis and walks out.

Unknown destination The title ‘House/Boat’ (1994) liter ally describes what this first media installation by Vivan Sundaram con sists of The cube-shaped house is constructed of walls of thick, hand made paper with rusty metal con nectors. In this humble self-made dwelling, of which you see millions in India, is a metal cube upon which sits a large dish of water with a glass bottom. Video images of burning gas flicker through it. Only the common basic elements of water and fire are

present. The big boat next to it seems to be stranded on a dozen rail way sleepers, the last useful leftovers of British rule. The transportation of people who have been driven from their homes for political or religious reasons to an unknown destination has been a constantly recurring tragic occur rence throughout India’s history. With this work of art Sundaram again seizes on a politically loaded event, a position that in the past in India was not really expected of art ists. The artists selected for the 16th World Wide Video Festival, Rumma na Hussain (1952, India), Nalini Mal ani (1946 , Pakistan), and Vivan Sun

daram (1943, India) have shown a strong commitment to the religious and political situation on this Sub continent in their work over the years. Unlike the mainstream of modern art being produced in India, their paintings, installations, and performances are attracting growing attention at an international level. The media element in these works is still quite slight and can be ex plained by the relatively high pro duction costs of media-related art, certainly when seen in the context of the standard of living in India. The subjects of Malani, Hussain, and Sundaram continually bear wit ness to firm social commitment to the problems of modern India in volving nationalism, neo-colonial ism, feminism, and ecology. Video holds an exceptional place within this wide-range of media categories. It is still rarely used in India by mod ern artists as an independent medi um, although it is used for docu mentation. ■

Indonesian Art

The Creation of a National Identity Helena Spanjaard’s thesis, which was defended in June 1998 at the University o f Leiden in The Netherlands, is a lengthy work on modem Indonesian painting. Spanjaard divides Indonesian developments in the modem visual art into different periods, starting from the beginning o f this century. On many occasions the political situation has exerted an influence on the artistic scene. The rise o f Indonesian nationalism, the fight for indepen dence, and the ensuing process o f decolonization have caused major cultural changes. Spanjaard distinguishes four phases. By K A R I N S T R A A T H O F

riginally Indo nesian painters followed the Western standard of the ‘Beautiful Indies’ (Phase r, X900-X942). During the fight for independence (Phase 2, X942-X950) the character of Indone sian painting changed. A socially en gaged realism replaced the ‘holy trinity’ of the ricefield, the misty volcano, and the palm tree. The selftaught pioneers of modern Indone sian painting chose a realistic, im pressionistic, or expressionistic style to manifest their revolutionary ideals. After official independence from the Netherlands (December X949), the two official art institutes: the ASRI (Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia) art academy in Yogyakarta and the art academy in Bandung were the most influential bodies (Phase 3, X950-X965). The ASRI was a product of the struggle for independence. The painters from Yogyakarta continued the socially involved traditions till 1965. The art academy of Bandung, derived from a Dutch school for teachers of drawing and painting (1947), was more internationally or ientated. The artists and art critics of Yogyakarta who ironically labelled Bandung ‘the laboratory of the West’

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did not appreciate the inclination towards abstract art shown by the Bandung painters. The political changes of 1965, when tlxe Orde Baru of President Soeharto was established, opened up new directions in the field ofart. The socially involved, realistic art gave way to more abstract-decorative and aesthetically inclined art. Hand in hand with this there was a conscious effort to use traditional Indonesian motifs in modern Indonesian art (Phase 4, X965-X995). This process of ‘Indonesianization’ evolved from two circumstances. Firstly, some In donesian painters, who had been studying abroad, started to see their own culture through different eyes.

Secondly the Indonesian govern ment promoted an art in which the ’Indonesian character’ should be clearly pronounced. Nowadays mo tifs borrowed from many different local cultures are an intrinsic part of Indonesian art. The position of art ists today is often double-edged. On the one hand there is a bond to be continued with disappearing tradi tions, but on the other the same tra ditions stand in the way of new de velopments in society as a whole. As Helena Spanjaard states, con temporary art can no longer be di vided geographically and the artifi cial, colonial differentiation between East and West is no longer valid. The art-historical term ‘non-Western’ for any art that is produced outside the West is an example of the colonial model of a centre (the West) and a periphery (the East). This model fol lows the hierarchy that has been used by the West for ages to docu ment the art of other cultures meas ured against ‘dominant’ Western culture. An analysis of modern Indo nesian art, therefore, can only be val uable if taken from a pluralistic viewpoint, in which Western and In donesian norms and values can co exist. For Spanjaard, the formulation and spreading of a knowledge of In donesian modern art could correct the dominant role of the Western judging ‘non-Western’ art. And in such way the Western imagination about ‘the Other’ can be corrected and eventually lead towards a more balanced international dialogue. ■

Helena Spanjaard, Het Ideaal van een

moderne Indonesische Schilderkunst 1900 - 1995: De creatie van een nationale identiteit,

December 1998 •

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until I I D e c e m b e r PLEASE REFER TO THE HAS NEWSLETTER WEBSITE (http://iias.leidenuniv.nl/) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT MUSEUMS W ITH ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS.

AGENDA

Treasures from Kuwait

An exhibition o f Islamic a rt from the al-Sabah Collection

Percival D avid F o undation o f C hinese A r t 53 Gordon Square London W C IH 0PD te l:+44-1 71-38 73909 fa x:+ 4 4-1 71-3835 163

F rom 16 D e c e m b e r 1997 For poets and princes.

N O V E M B E R

1 9 9 8

BELGIUM

C hinese Pavilion / Japanese Pagoda Van Praetlaan 44 1012 0 Brussels te l:+ 3 2 -2 -2 6 8 1608 daily: I Oam -5pm closed on Monday

>► M A R C H

1 9 9 9

Fifteen centuries o f Chinese celadons. A new display o f celadons in the Lady David Gallery. 19 N o ve m b e r-3 1 May 1999

Royal A c a d e m y o f A rts

Rare marks on Chinese ceramics

Piccadilly W IV O D S London te l:+ 4 4 -1 7 1 300 8000 fax:+4 4-1 713 0080 01

until 21 N o ve m b e r Asian A rt in London

until 10 January 1999 between tradition and innovation, Japan 1842 - 1912

O verview o f the last cultural changes towards modernisation in Japan during the last century. Lacquer ware, ceramics, cloisonne enamel and engravings.

An extended calendar of events in which the academic and commercial worlds have joined forces to stage a programme of museum exhibitions, lectures, seminars gallery shows and auctions. (See photo’s on these pages). I 7 N o ve m b e r - 20 D e c e m b e r / 00 Masterpieces o f imperial Chinese ceramics

CHINA

Red G a te G a lle ry Level 3 China World Hotel China World Trade Centre I Jianguomen Wai beijing 100004 te l:+86-10-650522661 68 21/5 729 fax:+8 6-1 0-6 532 4804 daily I la m - 6pm

28 N o v e m b e r - until 23 D e c e m b e r New artist(s) Christmas, Chinese New year

C o u rty a rd G a lle ry 95 Donghuamen Dajie beijing te l:+ 8 6 -10 -6 5 0 5 5 5 11 fax:+ 8 6-1 0-6 5055 522 Tuesday to Sunday I la m - 7pm

An exhibition o f the Au Bak Ling Collection, a private group o f imperial Chinese porcelain collectors.

Still-life

An exhibition o f mixed media on canvas from Ji Dachun and small sculptural objects from LinTianmiao. both artists use simple forms from the tradition o f stillife: plants, vases, household objects,which they rew ork to a new, individual sense of beauty.

12 bennet Street bath b A I 2 QL tel: + 44 -1225-464640

fro m 3 S e p te m b e r 1997 Myths, Stories and Riddles in Chinese and Japanese Art

Rituals and Feasts in ancient China

The exhibition o f bronze sculptures from the Shanghai Museum

M usée G u im e t Place d ’lena 6 75116 Paris te l:+ 3 3 -1-47238 398 fax:+ 3 3-1 -47 2383 99 Due to renovations the museum will be closed until the end o f 1998.

26 N o ve m b e r - 8 D e c e m b e r

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The artist-teacher-scholar tradition

A series o f 36 woodcuts and etchings made by Benode Behari Mukherjee. The works are made during the 1940’s at the Kala Bhavan - Santiniketan, a centre where artists experimented w ith various a rt forms, from p rint making and sculpture to mural art.

B ritish M useum and M useum o f M ankind Great Russelstreet London W C lb 3DG tel: + 4 4 -1 7 1 -4 12 7 111 fa x :+44-1 7 1 -3 2 3 8 6 14 /8 480

A rtist: Kitagaw a Utam aro (1754-1 806] - Publisher: Tsuruya Ichibei / Format: Oban = 38 [h] x 25 cm [w] FRO M : A S IA N A R T IN L O N D O N / A W O R L D W ID E P R O M O T IO N O F L O N D O N AS A C EN TR E FOR A S IA N ART

IND ON ESIA

until end 1999

MALAYSIA

24 D e c e m b e r - 5 January 1999

A rts o f Korea, w ill present an overview o f Korean a rt and archeology, ranging from the Neolithic period to the 19th century.The exhibition includes loans from the national Museum o f Korea, the British Library and several private collections. The exhibition w ill be a forerunner o f the Museum's new permanent Korean Gallery scheduled to open in 2000.

Dissolving contradictions

An exhibition o f oil paintings and mixed media works of K.G. Subramanyan.

british Museum Eskenazi Ltd 10 Clifford Street L o n d o n W IX IRb te l:+ 4 4 -1 7 1-4935464 fa x:+4 4-1 71-4993 136

until 3 January 1999 An exhibtion o f contem porary textiles from India, woven in Moghul style.

B ru n ei G a lle ry School o f Oriental and African Studies Thornhaugh Street Russel Square W C IH 0XG London te l:+ 4 4 -1 7 1 3 2 3623 0 fa x:+4 4 -1 7 1 -3 2 3 6 0 1 0

G a le rip ad i

Balai Seni M aybank

JI. Ir. H.Juanda 329, bandung 40135 tel: +62-22-250-0578, f a x : - 4229 Tuesday to Sunday 10am - 20pm

7 - 1 9 January 1999 Anguish Absorbed

F ebruary 1999

Etchings, intaglios and lithographs of Somnath Hore.

An uncompromising integrity

4 - 1 6 February A passionate detachment The evolution of the oil paintings of Biren De clearly reveal an eroticspiritual struggle in the manner by which the figure and its human togetherness gradually dissolves. 18 F ebruary - 2 M arch Preliminary studies An exhibition o f pen and ink drawings o f A. Ramachandran.

I Ith Floor Menara Maybank I I OOJalan Tun Perak, 5 0 050 Kuala Lumpur tel: +603-2308833 fax: + 603-2322504

Zoulkifli Yusoff

A exhibition o f paintings by this contem porary artist from Malaysia.

21 January - 2 February An exhibition o f oil paintings byTyeb Mehta. All his images, ranging from the trussed bull to the falling figure, to the rickshawala on to Kali, represent the overwhelming helplessness and fragmented nature of the human figure.

M inakar: Spun gold and woven enamel

until 25 January 1999

33 Altamount Road M um bai 400 026 India te l:+ 91-22-386 96 28 fax:+ 9 1-2 2-3 89 1606

1 0 - 2 2 D ecem ber

O rie n ta l B ridge G a lle ry Avenue Vélasquez 7 75008 Paris te l:+33-1-45635075 fax: + 3 3 -1 -4 5 6 3 7 8 16 Daily 10am - 5.40pm closed Monday and public holidays

T h e W in d o w

In his oil-paintings he succeeds in expressing the Indian diversifiedunity in themes as 'popular and elite’, ‘rural and urban’ o r ‘east and west'.

FRANCE

M usée C ernuschi

IN D IA

Maqbool Fida Husain: The beacon o f energy

M useum o f East Asian A r t

Arts o f Korea

16 N o ve m b e r - 28 D e c e m b e r

A jo in t exhibition w ith the Victoria and A lb e rt Museum which w ill explore the nature and meaning o f rare marks using ceramics from both collections.The pieces date from the 15th to the 20th century and were made in Jingdezhen, Dehua and Yixing.

M arch 1999 Comic World

Comics o f Thariq, Motul, C im ot and Pidi requestion the change o f histories, myths, values o f truth and nations.

19 D e c e m b e r - 28 January 1999 Contemporary Mlaysian Islamic A rt Exhibition — The exhibition will

showcase a wide range o f Islamic art including textile, fibre art, ceramics, fine metal and architectural designs as well as paintings and sculptures.

THE NETHERLANDS JAPAN

Fo u nd ation fo r Indian A rtis ts S e ta g a y a A rt M useum I -2, Kinuta-koen Setagaya-ku Tokyo 15 7 tel: + 81-3-34 15 6 0 11, f a x : - 6 4 13

Fokke Simonszstraat 10 101 7 TG Amsterdam te llfa x :+ 3 l-2 0 -6 2 3 IS 4 7 daily I pm - 6pm, closed on Monday, 1st Sunday o f the month 2pm - 5pm

3 I O c to b e r - 6 D e c e m b e r Yoshihiko Yoshida Exhibition

A retrospective exhibition o f one o f the leading Japanese Style painter, Yoshihiko Yoshida, who studied under Gyoshi Hayami, Koke I Kabayashi and Yukihiko Yasuda.

14 N o v e m b e r - 17 D e c e m b e r Arpana Caur — Recent works o f this artist from New Delhi. In her paintings she tries to harmonise what in fact cannot be harmonised, the inner and outer world, the figurative and abstract.

Kunsthal 88 Elisabethhof 2, 7600AS almelo te l:+ 3 1-546-852692

GREAT B R IT A IN

20 F ebruary - 28 M arch 1999 Canvas

V ic to ria & A lb e r t M useum , London.

Contem porary A r t from Asia and Latin America in co-operation w ith the Canvas Foundation.

South Kensington London SW7 2RL te l:+ 4 4 -171-9388500 fa x :+ 4 4-1 71-9388 264 daily 10am -5.50pm, Mon, 12-5.50pm

until D e c e m b e r 1998 Japanese Masks: ritual and drama Using material exclusively from the Museum’s collections, the display brings together many aspects of the masks performing arts of Japan: the austere masks o f Buddhist processions, the formalised characters o f the Nó theatre and the humorous individuals depicted in popular festivals.

R ijksm useum Hobbemastraat 19 PO box 74888, 1070 D N Amsterdam te l:+31-20-6732121 fax:+3 1-2 0-6 7981 46 daily 10am - 5pm

M B S Pair o f s ix fo ld paper screens painted in ink and colours on agoldground. Each screen shows blossoming plum trees, flowers and p airs o f birds in a river landscape w ith mountains above. - Kano School / Japan 18th century / Dimensions: 26,5" [h] x 75,5" [w] (66,5 cm x 191 cm) FROM : A S IA N AR T IN L O N D O N / A W O R L D W ID E P R O M O T IO N O F L O N D O N AS A C EN TR E FOR A S IA N AR T

3 8 • h a s n e w s l e t t e r NS17 • December 1998

New permanent exhibition — The South wing o f the museum presents a new permanent exhibition o f Asiatic art. The choice has been made not to categorize according geographical area - China, Japan, India, Indonesia but to devide the whole collection into sculpture, painting and decorative art.

ASIAN T ro p en m u s eu m Linnaeusstraat 2 1092 CK Amsterdam te l:+ 3 1-20-5688418 fax:+31-20-5688331 New Department Semi permanent exhibition about the life of people in the tropics.The South east asia department is a new department about people and cultures in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. until 3 January 1999 Colonial painting in the Dutch East Indies An overview o f fo u r centuries of painting in the Dutch East Indies, the exhibition comprises an historic overview from the 17th century until the end o f the 19th century, portraiture and 20th century painters amongst others W alter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet and W illem Hofker.

M useum o f Ethnology Willemskade 25 3 0 16 DM Rotterdam te l:+31-10-4112201 fa x:+ 3 1 -1 0-4118331 Tuesday to Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday and Sunday I lam - 5pm until 31 D e c e m b e r 1998 Soaps Multimedia-exhibition centring on nine contem porary soapseries from nine different countries. until 31 D e c e m b e r 1998 A Last Farewell Funeral and mourning rituals in m ulti cultural Holland. A selection o f more than hundred black and white photographs from the book of the same title by the Dutch photographer Marrie Bot. Since 1990 Marrie Bot has attended more than hundred funerals o f several ethnic groups living in the Netherlands amongst them from China and Pakistan. She depicts both traditional and more recent customs. Mode in the Pacific Top items from the internationally renowned Oceania collection of the museum.

NEW ZEELAND

G o v e tt-B re w s te r A r t G a lle ry Queen Street, New Plymouth te l:+64-6-7585149 fax: +64-6-7580390 Daily 10.30 - 5pmfrom October 1997 Artists in Residence.Yuk King Tan and Callum Morton

ART

T h e A sia S ociety

S W IT Z E R L A N D

725 Park Avenue New York, NY 10021 te l;+ 1-212 2886400 fax: + 1-212-5178319 daily 11 am-6pm,Thursday 6pm - 8pm, Sunday 12 - 5pm

B aur C o lle c tio n 8 Rue Munier-Romilly 1206 Geneva tel: + 4 1-22-3461729 fax:+41-22-7891845 daily: 2pm - 6pm, closed on Monday From 6 D e c e m b e r 1997 Renewed permanent collection A presentation in fo u r new exhibitions rooms o f rarely shown Japanese and Chinese objects: Satsuma ceramics, stamps, Chinese lacquerware.

R ie tb e rg M useum Gablerstrasse 15 CH-8002 Zurich te l:+ 4 1-1-2024528 fa x:+ 4 1-I-2025201 daily 10 am - 5 pm, closed on Monday

15 S e p te m b e r - 3 January 1999 Inside Out: New Chinese art The exhibition shows how social, economic and cultural changes in the late 20th century in all parts of the Chinese w orld have served as catalysts fo r the significant works by artists in China, Hong kong and Taiwan as well as by artists who left China in the late 1980’s. 18 Feb ru ary - 30 May Bamboo masterworks Japanese baskets from the Lloyd Cotsen collection.Around 85 of the finest pieces o f this collection w ill be on show fo r the first time.

26 S e p te m b e r - 10 January 1999 Glance o f the Orient An exhibition o f 145 paintings for royalties from Instanul to Delhi.

C h in a In s titu te 125 East 65 Street New York, NY 10021-7088 tel: + 1 212 7448181 fax:+1-212-6284159

U N I T E D STATES OF A M E R I C A

rope M useum o f A r t 5th Avenue at 82nd Street New York NY 10028 te l:+ 1-212-8795500 fax: + 1-212-5703879 Continuing exhibition Chinese Galleries Reinstallation On show in the Douglas Dillon Galleries and the Frances Young Tang gallery w ill be 8th to 20th century paintings.The H erbert and Florence Irving Galleries fo r Chinese Decorative A rts w ill house jades, lacquers, textiles,m etalwork and other objects from the the 12th to 18th centuries.

H o no lu lu A ca d em y o f A rts 900 S. Beretania Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96814-1495 te l:+ 1-808-532 8700 fax:+1-808-5328 787 Continuing exhibition Taisho chic Many o f the early 20th century art movements which originated in the west such as Impressionism, A rt Nouveau and A rt Deco, also affected the modern Japanese artist. This exhibition highlights Japanese works of a rt and everyday items which show modern design elements of the Taisho period (1912-1926).

F rom O c to b e r 1997 Kilns an d Collections:A tour o f China for connoisseurs Designed fo r serious Chinese a rt enthousiasts, Kilns and Collections includes not only visits to some of the finest collections o f Chinese art objects, but also to the sites where some of the objects were created.

T h e M e tro p o lita n M useum of A rt 5th Avenue at 82nd Street New York NY 10028 te l:+ 1-212-8795500 fax:+1-212-5703879 fro m 22 May 1997 Chinese Galleries Installation

A rare large early ming blue and white dish. FROM: 'A S IA N A R T IN L O N D O N / A W O R L D W ID E P R O M O T IO N O F L O N D O N AS A C E N TR E FO R A S IA N ART

A sian A r t M useum San Francisco Golden gate Park San Francisco te l:+ 1-415-3798801 21 N o ve m b e r - 17 January 1999 (Hiroshige) Hokusai and Hiroshige Great Japanese Prints from the Jmaes A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy o f Arts. The exhibition offers visitors the rare opportunity to view original prints including Hokusai’s The Great Wave O ff Kanagawa and Hiroshige’s Rain at Shono. Ongoing exhibition Chinese Bronze Sculpture from the Permanent Collection Jade: Stone o f Heaven

M useum o f Ethnology

A r t h u r M . S a ckler G a lle ry

Avenida llha da Madeira 1400 Lisboa te l:+351-1-3015264/5 fax:+ 3 5 1-1-3013994

Smitsonian Institute 1050 Independence Avenue SW Washington DC 20560 tel: + 1 202 3574880 fax: + 1-202-3574911 (7862317)

From May 1997 Stories o f Goa An anthpological exhibition about Goa (India) as a cultural area in which christianism and hinduism are superposed.

S IN G A P O R E

m2 A sian C ivilisations M useum 39 Armenian Street Singapore I 79939

,4r

Continuing indefinitely: The Arts o f China M etalwork and Ceramics from Ancient Iran Sculpture of South and Southeast Asia Luxury A rts of the Silk Route Empires From 5 A p ril 1998 Khmer Ceramics Eighty rare glazed ceramics from the 9th to the 14th century Khmer empire go on view in the South Asian sculpture gallery.The works range in height from less than an inch to more than 2 feet and are fashioned into animal, bird and human forms, as well as into gracefully curving jars decorated w ith incised designs.

From su m m e r 1997 The seven thrones o f Jami:A Princely Manuscript from Iran A copy o f the Persian mystical poem, th e ’Haft Awrang’ (Seven thrones) by Jami, created between 1556 and 1565 fro the prince and bibliophile Sultan Ibrahim Mirza, is one o f the great masterpieces of Persian painting and a treasure of the Freer collection. From 2 August 1997 The Evolution o f Chinese Celadon This exhibition o f about 60 Chinese ceramics illustrates the development of the gray-green glaze known in the West as celadon. From 20 S e p te m b e r 1997 Japanese Art in the Meiji Period (18681912) This is the first exhibtion to focus on the Freer’s holdings of paintings, drawings, ceramics, lacquer, m etalwork and cloisonne from the Meiji period in Japan, included w ill be works by such painters as Kano Hogai (1828-1888), Kawanebe Kyosai (1831-1889) and Hashimoto Gaho (1835-1908), as well as painter and lacquerer Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891). C o ntinuing indefinitely Seto and Mino Ceramics An invitation to Tea

The A rt Agenda is produced by The Gate Foundation in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Please send all information w ith regard to activities and events relating

F re e r G a lle ry o f A r t 1000 Jefferson Drive at 12th street SW Washington DC 20560 tel: + 1 202 3572104 fax: + 1 202 3574911

T h e N a tio n a l M useum 6 / Stamford Road 02-01 Stamford Court 0 6 17 Singapore tel: +65-3309552 fax: +65-3309568 daily 9am - 5.30pm F rom January 1997 Jade Gallery This Gallery houses the Haw Par Jade Collection donated by the Aw Family comprising largely decorative carvings from the Qing Dynasty ( 1644-1911) and jasper, quartz and agate exhibits.

» - 1.

- 0 1 4 7 / 8 "(36.7 cm) 16 S e p te m b e r - 15 D e c e m b e r Chinese snuff bottles The Pamela R. Lessing Friedman collection features over 100 snuff bottles from the Qing Dynasty ( 1644-1911). Materials range from carved jade and chacedony, to delicately painted porcelains, overlaid glass and rock crystal painted on the inside o f the snuff bottle.

PORTUGAL

F rom N o ve m b e r 1997 Calligraphy from the Tareq Rajab Museum Kuwait The Q u r’an, Holy Book fo r Muslims, was central to the development of the a rt of beautiful writing. In this exhibition we w ill explore the various scripts that developed over the centuries and also calligraphy as a decorative m otif on various media like ceramics and metalwork.

....

A bronze drum with zoomorphicfmial o f spirited form and w ith thickly formed malachite patination. -

Height: 67 cm

FROM: A S IA N AR T IN L O N D O N / A W O R L D W ID E P R O M O T IO N O F L O N D O N AS A C ENTRE FOR A S IA N ART

From 4 June 1997 At the Margins In the context o f W estern art, the idea o f adding an asymmetrical border around a w atercolor may seem strange. But in Mughal painting between the 16th and 19th century, as in its Persian counterpart from which the practice is derived, decorated margins were an integral and accepted part of the artistic repertoire.

to Asian art to:

T H E G ATE F O U N D A T IO N K E IZ E R S G R A C H T 613 1017 DS A M S T E R D A M THE N ETH ER LA N D S T E L: +31 -2 0 -6 2 0 80 57 F A X : +3 I -2 0 - 6 3 9 07 62 E -M A IL : G A T E @ B A S E .N L W E B S IT E : h t t p : / / w w w . b a s e . n l/ g a t e

D e ce m b e r 1 ^ 8 • h a s n e w s l e t t e r

• 39

I NDEX

N E WS L E T T E R 17 AGENDA

REPORTS

1 FORUM (General News) - On the Temptation o f the West ............................................ 4 - Studying Asia Internationally................................................. 5 (South Asia] - Kashmir and the United N a tio n s.......................................... 18 - Language Endangerment in Nepal........................................ 19 (Southeast Asia) - Political Hypocrisy: An Indonesian w a y ............................. 24 (East Asia) - How did the Asian Crisis Affect China? A Case of G uangdong.............................................................. 32 - The Korean N ation and the ‘World System’ ...................... 35

■ ■ ■

MA S

INSTITUTIONAL NEWS

(General News) - The EurAsian Orientalists’ Server as a Tool to Maintain National Cultural H e rita g e .....................................................6 - Research Centre for Linguistic T ypology...............................6 - Forum Luso Asiatico ................................................................6 - European Studies Programme: EU Programme at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, T hailand...............7 - Asia Urbs is Becoming Effective.......................................... 10 (Central Asia) - Centre o f Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir . . . 14

(General News) -

Assessing the Asian C risis....................................................... 3 Regionalism and Global Affairs in the Post-Cold War Era .. 7 Hmong and Miao S tudies....................................................... 8 Labour Mobility and Migration in China and A sia .............8 Asian Food Culture in the Twentieth C e n tu ry .................. 11

(Asian Art) - Art A genda...............................................................................38 (HAS News) - IIAS Agenda .............................................................................43 - International Conference Agenda ........................................47

(South Asia) - The Shifting Boudaries of a Popular South Indian Theatre: Tradition and innovation....................................................... 16 - (First) International Conference on H indu Solidarity — 19 - Understanding Health Care Systems .................................. 20 - Fifteenth European Conference on Modern South Asian S tudies...................................................................................... 20 (Southeast Asia) - The Economies in Southeast Asia in the 1930s Depression 23 - The Seventh EurASEAA Conference.....................................23 - The 8th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society....................................................................24 - Philippine Studies in the Netherlands: A Century ofPhilippine-Dutch Connections .................... 26 (East Asia) - Second International Conference on Yi Studies ..................27 I - Collective Identity, Experiences o f Crisis and Traumata ..28 - Europe in China III ................................................................ 28 - Chinese Business N etw orks................................................... 29 - Religion and Economy in East A sia ...................................... 29 - IIAS-Beida International Symposium on Modernization Asia-China: 18A0-1960............................. 31 - The IVth International Conference on the Lotus Sutra . . . 31 - Third Ancient Chinese Grammar C olloquium ....................34

PUBLICATIONS (General News) - ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian A g e........................3 - Books Received: G en eral....................................................... 10 - Visiting Arts: Asia-Europe Newsletter ............................... 10 - The Medieval History Jo u rn al.............................................. 11 (Central Asia) - Books Received: Central A sia ................................................14 (South Asia) - M aharashtrian Culture and Society.....................................15 - Books Received: South Asia ..................................................17 - Tabo, A Lamp for the K ingdom ............................................ 17 (InsularSouthwestAsia) - New Dictionary M alagasy-French.......................................21 (Southeast Asia) - New Catalogues of Indonesian M anuscripts...................... 25 - Books Received: Southeast A sia............................................ 26

(South Asia) - NISAS: Studying South A sia ................................................... 15 - The Royal Nepal Academy ..................................................... 18 - Linguistics in N ep al................................................................ 19

(Asian Art) - Visual Art Impressions ......................................................... 36 - New Media Art from India: 16th World Wide Video Festival .......................................... 37

(East Asia) - Books Received: East A sia .......................................................30 - The Original Analects ............................................................ 33 - The Way ofTea ....................................................................... 34

(IIAS News) - Staff and Fellows at the IIAS................................................... 42 - IIAS (Travel) Grants ................................................................43 - IIAS Research P artn ers............................................................ 43 - The ASALFA Network Organizes a C o u rse........................... 46

(IIAS News) - When Research Traditions Meet: The International Convention of Asia Scholars .................41 - Nomads in the Sedentary W orld.......................................... 43

(Asian Art) - Indonesian Art: The Creation o f a National Identity ....... 37

(Clara News) - Labour Studies at Other Institutes: The Centre o f Asian Studies, University o f Hong Kong .......................................49 (ESF Asia Committee News) - European Associations for Asian Studies .............................51 - Reconstitution of the ESF Asia Committee ......................... 51 - ESF Asia Committee F ellow s................................................. 51 - Workshops Selected for Funding ..........................................51

(CLARA News) - Economic Impact of the Crisis on Labour ..........................48 - ICAS Panel on ‘Changing Industrial Labour Relations in Asia’ ......................................................................................4& - One-Day S em inar................................................................... 49 - EUROSEAS Conference Panel on ‘Changing Labour Relations in Southeast Asia’ ................ 49

RESEARCH PROJECTS

(Central Asia) - Language Policies and Movements in Present-Day Central Asia ........................................................................... 12 (South Asia) - Labour and Nationalism in Sholapur, Western India, 19x8-1939................................................................................. 17 (Insular Southwest Asia) - The First Malagasy: Sakalava outrigger-canoe at the Malagasy West Coast — 21 (SouthcastAsia) - The Land of the Sugar Palm Tree .........................................22 (East Asia] - China’s Civilization Process................................................... 22 (HAS News) - Performing Scholarship .........................................................44 - The Tai Yi Firm in Nagasaki and its Documents: A case of the Overseas Chinese Business N etw o rk ............. 45 - The Chronicle Development of the IIAS-Xiamen Joint Research Project: Progress report Qiaoxiang Ties Program m e............46 (ESF Asia Committee News) - Negotiating Identities: Hinduism in modern Indonesia .. 50 - Illness Prevention and Social and Cultural Aspects of the AIDS Issu e .................................................................... 52

•

has n e w s l e t t e r

W17 • December 1998

(KITLVNews) - New Publications by KITLV..................................................46 - Newsletters on Asia in Europe ............................................ 56

(SEALGNews) - SEALG Meeting in H a m b u rg ................................................. 52 (EIAS News) - Views on the AsianFinancial C risis....................................... 55

(General News) - Legal Pluralism and Folk Law: Fourteenth IUAES Congress 7

(IIAS News) - IIAS (Recent) Publications .....................................................43

CALL FOR PAPERS (General News) - Asia in the Pacific: Fourth conference of the European Society for Oceanists ..........................................................................i° - Remembering and Forgetting: Political and Social Aftermath o f Intense Conflict in Eastern Asia and Northern E urope..................................53 - Migration and Countries of the South ................................54

I SHORT NEWS

(General News) - Lithuania: Ten Thousand Years Between East and West ..11 (East Asia) - Researching China’s Provinces..............................................33 - Chinese Linguistics ................................................................33 - Japanese Library of Art .......................................................... 34

PEOPLE (General News) - Edward W. Said: Scholar and Activist ...................................9

(South Asia) - Conference on South Asian Archaeology ............................20 (Insular Southwest Asia) - International Conference in M auritius ............................. 21

VACANCY

(Southeast Asia) - Fairs and Markets in Southeast Asia: Places o f transit, exchange and encounters.......................................................23 - Southeast Asia into the 21st Century: 4th ASEAN InterUniversity Seminar ................................................................ 25 - The Third Euro-Japanese International Symposium: Religion and Cultural Diffusion .......................................... 25

- Vacancy

(East Asia) - Ghosts and Modernity in East Asia ...................................... 27 - ECAN Second Annual Conference ........................................32

Charbo’s A ntiquariaat............................................................9 Gert Jan Bestebreurtjc Antiquarian Bookseller.................. 22 The Chant Center: Database o f CHinesc ANcient Texts . . . 30 MMF P ublications.................................................................24 Products and Services ...........................................................53

MAS

Pink Pa^

NEWS LETTER

INSTITUTIONAL NEWS FROM: HAS p-4i / KITLV p-46 / CLARA P-4» / INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AGENDA P 47 / ESF Asia Committee P 5° / SEALG P.52 / PRODUCTS & SERVICES p 53 / EIAS p 55 / NEWSLETTERS P 56

I I AS NE WS MAS MAI N OFFICE LEIDEN

International Institute

N onnensteeg 1-3,

l e id e n

Postal Address:

for Asian

P.O. Box 9515 23OO RA LEIDEN

Studies

stitute

25 > 28 J UNE 1 9 9 8 NOORDWIJKERHOUT,

THE

THE NETHERLANDS

for

E-mail: iiAS@RULLET.LeidenUniv.NL

Spinhuis, rooms 214, 215, and 216 Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185 1012 DK Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Newsletter contributions:

Telephone: +31-20-525 36 57

Telephone: +31-71-527 22 27

Visiting address:

MAS BRANCH OFFICE AMS TERDAM

Telefax: +31-71-527 41 62

iiASNews@RULLET.LeidenUniv.NL

WWW: h ttp ://iia s .le id e n u n iv .n l

Telefax: +31-20-525 36 58 E-mail: HAS@pscw.uva.NL

NETHERLANDS

When Research Traditions Meet

The International Convention of Asia Scholars The International Convention o f Asia Scholars (ICAS) which took place from 25 to 28 June 1998 in N oordwijkerhout, the N etherlands, was an experim ent in terms o f the parties in volved, the nature o f the participants, the contents, the m an ner o f organization, and the size (at least in the European con text). On this page I w ill try and give my im pressions o f this M eeting and add som e recom m endations. As I was the ICAS supervisor, this short report m ight be a little biased but I hope it will give food for thought. ■ By PAUL VAN DER VELDE

-r

ow did the ICAS I come about? For X . JL some of years the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and the In ternational Institute for Asian Studies (HAS) had been thinking of ways of internationalizing Asian Studies. Internationalization meet ings took place during the annual meetings of the AAS. This transatlan tic dialogue gradually matured and was thought of as an arena in which American and European Asianists could get together. It acquired a name: the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS). Apart from the AAS and the IIAS, the European Sci ence Foundation Asia Committee and the six major European Asian Studies associations participated. This was the first time that these associations had formally co-operated in an Aca demic Programme Committee, which in itself should be considered a prom ising sign. Quite apart from this Eu ropean and transatlantic collabora tion the organizing committee at tached great value to setting up a cul tural programme to encourage the cultural rapprochement between East and West, which it sees as one of the most important challenges facing Asianists. It joined forces with Film South Asia, the School for New Dance Development Amsterdam, the Neder lands Filmmuseum, the Rotterdam Conservatory, some thirty renowned publishers in the field o f Asian Stud ies, the Gate Foundation Amsterdam, t

and Canvas World Art, and organized the ‘The Eurasian Century’ forum of journalists.

Scope o f IC A S There was never any doubt that Asianists from all over the world should have the chance to partici pate and once the convention was announced, enthusiastic replies came from every quarter o f the world. Thus the convention grew to a platform on which Asian, Ameri can, and European Asianists could study problems o f interest to all. N othing can demonstrate this more clearly than the geographic origin of the participants and participating institutions. More than three hun dred and fifty universities, insti tutes, and organizations were repre sented at the ICAS. There were nearly a thousand participants from some

forty countries and there was a re markably equal distribution conti nent-wise. Thirty-five per cent of the home institutions is located in America, an equal percentage in Eu rope, and thirty per cent in Asia. It is no exaggeration to say that the main goal o f the ICAS and its Programme Committee was to transcend the boundaries between disciplines, be tween nations studied, and between the geographic origins of the pre senters in its more than a hundred and thirty panels. Let me quote one the many letters we received from participants. Geof frey Wade, also on behalf of his col leagues of the Centre of Asian Studies (Hong Kong) wrote: ‘The greatest value o f the ICAS was that it did allow a greater mixing of Asian, N orth American and European scholars than we have experienced at any previous such gathering. This was o f course one of the aims o f the Convention and we hope that its un qualified success will be sufficient incentive to encourage you to at tem pt a ‘repeat performance’ in fu ture. We were all greatly impressed with the Convention - its venue, its scope, the excellence o f the organiza tion, the diversity o f activities and

N J3

the range of scholars who attended. The only drawback was that it was impossible for one to attend all of the sessions, but that indicates a surfeit rather than a deficiency. Particular thanks are due to your administra tive staff who handled each and every query with concern and good grace.’

U nqualified Success? The remark passed by Wade on the unqualified success should be put in perspective. From the question naires filled in by a fair num ber of participants it transpired th at ICAS had its teething problems. Trans portation was singled out as the big gest one: many people had a tough time getting to the Convention site. This was due to insufficient infor m ation on the schedules and the fact th at these schedules were not always followed. Whereas this was viewed as the main on-site problem, difficulties in communication pla gued the entire process leading up to the Convention, which were mainly due to an overreliance on the Internet w ithout adequate technical control. It should be added that the size o f this first ICAS also took the organizers by surprise and we wait ed too long to increase the staff. There is one other severe shortcom ing which should be mentioned here. The organizers or chairs o f the panels were asked to send in sum maries of their panels which were to be p u t on the ICAS website. So far ten-odd summaries out the total of one hundred and thirty panels have been received. This kind o f sloppi ness, in view of all the effort which has been put into ICAS, is hard to understand. Therefore I would like to personally ask all those who have not yet sent in their summaries to kindly to do so. I have a good reason for this, namely th at an overwhelm ing majority o f the respondents opted for what Wade called a ‘repeat performance’.

ICAS 2 In this context a meeting took place on 27 June attended by repre sentatives of European Asian Studies associations, the AAS, and the HAS during which it became clear that a second ICAS was deemed desirable. There were discussions on when it should be held (every three to four years), where it should be held and who should organize it. No conclu sive decisions were taken. The partici pants of the meeting recommended setting up an ICAS Steering Commit tee. This committee is still in the pro cess of formation but plans are to have the first meeting during the An nual Meeting of the AAS in Boston, 11-14 March 1999. Information will be disseminated both through the HAS Newsletter and the AAS Newslet ter. All ICAS 1 participants will be in formed about the outcome o f the meeting o f the Steering Committee. On behalf o f Helga Lasschuijt (the ICAS Project Manager), I would like to thank the numerous sponsors, all ICAS staff members, the organizers o f the cultural events, the booth holders, the Leeuwenhorst Congres Centrum, and all the participants who turned ICAS into an unforgetta ble experience o f which Helga and I think that it will ultim ately serious ly change everybody’s orientation. ■

International Convention of Asia Scholars

You will find the edited versions o f the ICAS keynote addresses by Goenawan M ohamad and Anthony Reid on pages 4 and 5 .

December 1998 •

i i as n e w s l e t t e r

39917 • 4

MAS

NEWS

R E S E A R C H F E L L OWS AT T H E H A S 15 N O V E M B E R 1 9 9 8 - 15 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 9 9 D r Rosalia S cio rtino (Ford Foundation),

D r H ae-kyung U m (South Korea) 1. RESEARCH FELLOWS

STAFF

(P O S T P H D )

Prof. W.A.L. Stokhof (Director)

‘Performing A rts in Korea and the Korean Communities in China,

The HAS assists in mediating between

stationed at the Amsterdam Branch Office ‘Islam, Gender and Reproductive

Drs S.A.M. Kuypers (Deputy Director)

a. individual

the form er Soviet Union and Japan’

universities in the Netherlands and

Health in Southeast Asia’

K. van Belle-Foesenek (Secretary)

b. attached to a programme, i.e.

within the programme ‘Performing A rts

research institutes in Asia, inviting

5 October 1998 - 20 November 1998

Drs M.T. te Booij (Staff Member)

- ‘International Social Organization in

o f Asia:Tradition and Innovation'

established scholars (minimum D r A le x d eV o o g t (The Netherlands)

Drs A.j.M. Doek (WWW)

East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang Ties

(PAATI).

requirement: assistant professor level) to

Drs R. Habiboe (Special Projects)

in the Twentieth Century’

Until I January 2001

share th e ir expertise w ith Dutch scholars,

‘Differentiation-processes of Material

by being affiliated to Dutch universities

culture in Asia: the case o f Indonesian

fo r a period of one to tw o years.

mancala'

E. Haneveld (Automation Officer)

- ‘Performing A rts o f Asia: tradition and

Drs E.A.T. van der Hoek (Managing Editor)

innovation; the expression o f identity

M.F. Langehenkel (Seminar Organizer)

in a changing w o rld ’ (PAATI) - ‘Changing Labour Relations in Asia’

Drs A.M.P. van der Lint (Secretary Branch Office Amsterdam) D r M.A.F. Rutten (Co-ordinator Branch Office Amsterdam)

D r Reed W a d le y (USA) 'The Ethnohistory o f a Borderland People: the Iban in West Kalimantan,

Amsterdam, NIAS Copenhagen, and

focus on the philosophy o f Zhuangzi. He

On Discourse LE’

w ill be in Leiden from O ctober 1998 -

IS July 1 9 9 8 - 15 January 1999

A N U Canberra

September 1999.

Institute for Asian Studies fo r max. 3 years,

(P O S T -P H D , NO AGE L IM IT )

Drs C.B.W.Veenkamp (Executive Officer)

carrying out independent research and

The HAS offers senior scholars the possibility to engage in research w ork

(P O S T -P H D LEVEL)

seminar.

in the Netherlands.The period can vary

The HAS has signed several Memoranda

A t present the HAS is host to several

from I to 3 months. The HAS w ill be host

o f Understanding (MoU) w ith foreign

to several senior visiting fellows in 1998:

research institutes, thus providing scholars with an opportunity to parti

you w ill find an overview o f th e ir names and research topics:

D r John W o lff (USA) Preparing a glossary and phonological

(Leiden University) Prof. H.W. Bodewitz (Leiden University)

D r W olfgang Behr {Germany)

Prof. A. Hagendoorn (Utrecht University)

‘Forms, Functions, and Foundations

Prof.W.L. Idema (Leiden University)

o f Ablaut in Old Chinese And Beyond',

Prof. O.D. van den Muijzenberg

individual fellow. Until I January 2001

(University o f Amsterdam) Prof. H.A. Sutherland

D r H e n k B lezer (the Netherlands)

(Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

'The ‘Bon'-Origin o f Tibetan Buddhist

A C A D E M IC C O M M IT T E E

(Institute o f Social Studies, The Hague)

State Called ‘Reality as It Is” , individual

6. E S F /IIA S -N IA S FELLOWS Selected by the Asia Committee o f the European Science Foundation (ESF-AC) and attached to the HAS, partly within

(NIAS) in Copenhagen, the Shanghai

the fram ework of and financed by the

I September 1998 - 30 November 1998

Academy o f Social Sciences (SASS),

IIAS-NIAS Strategic Alliance.

the Australian National University (ANU), Prof. Eddy M asinam bow (Indonesia)

and the UniversitatW ien regularly send

D r Giovanni V itie llo (Italy)

‘The Cultural Concept in Studies

scholars to the Netherlands to do

'Exemplary Sodomites: pornography,

on Indonesian Societies'

research fo r a period from I to 6 months.

homoeroticism and sexual culture in

IS September 1998 -

Contacts w ith many oth er institutes

late imperial China’

IS December 1998

promise to develop into a more regular

Until I January 1999

exchange in the near future. D r M a rtin R am stedt (Germany)

Prof. M icheal G odley (Australia)

‘Hindu Dharma Indonesia - the Hindu-

‘Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in

DUTCH VISITING

Until I August 2000

Southeast Asia’, within the research

EXCHANGE FELLOW:

movement in present-day Indonesia

program ‘International Social

Prof. R e im a r Schefold

and its influence in relation to the

‘Three sources o f Ritual Blessings

development o f the indigenous culture

Prof.W.J. Boot (Leiden University)

D r H anne de Bruin (the Netherlands),

Organization in East and Southeast

Prof. P Kloos (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

stationed in Leiden and Amsterdam

Asia: Qiaoxiang ties in the twentieth

D r G.K. Lieten (University o f Amsterdam)

‘Kattaikkuttu and Natakam: South

century’

D r P.J. Nas (Leiden University)

Indian theatre traditions in regional

IS September 1998 -

D r E.Touwen-Bouwsma (RIOD, Amsterdam)

perspective' w ithin the programme

IS December 1998

D r E.B.Vermeer (Leiden University)

'Performing A rts of Asia:Tradition and

Prof. E.J. Zlircher (Leiden University)

Innovation' (PAATI). Until IS July 2001. D r M a tth e w Cohen (USA)

in Indonesian Tribal Traditions’ February - April 1999

‘Narrating the Gate and the Path: place

(P O S T -P H D LEVEL) The HAS can offer office facilities

Health and Illness in the C ontext of

financial support and who would like

Chinese Culture. Interactions with

to do research in the Netherlands for

social facts (illness prevention and

a particular period.The HAS is host to

Human reality o f AIDS)’

the following affiliates:

I July 1998- I July 2000

‘Ethnolinguistics with a focus

Memory, tradition and community’

‘Maritime Anthropology and Cultural

on Southeast Asia’

w ithin the programme ‘Performing A rts

H istory o f Nusantara: the

I September 1 9 9 8 - I September 2 001

of Asia:Tradition and Innovation’

Bugis/Malay/Bajo connection'

(PAATI).

I November 1998 - / December 1998

D r C hristian Pelras (France)

Prof. G. Bongard Levin (Gonda-Fonds) ‘Eastern Turkmenisan’ (preliminary) November 1998 ( I month)

Until I January 2001

D r F reek C o lom bijn (the Netherlands),

D r A n drew S tra th e rn (Australia)

7. D U T C H SENIORS Max. tw o Dutch seniors per year can apply fo r this position o f max. 6 months

D r P am ela S te w a rt and

stationed in Leiden and Amsterdam

‘Practices and Representations of

I October 1998 - 3 1 December 1998

Gegesik, N o rth West Java, Indonesia:

A N D PROJECTS

D r Evelyne M ico llier (France), stationed at the Amsterdam Branch Office

to fellows who have found th e ir own

Special chair at Nijmegen University,

- CLARA:‘Changing Labour Relations

Sulawesi’

and precedence in South West Tim or'

‘The Shadow Puppet Theater of

RESEARCH PR O G R A M M ES

of theToraja (AlukTodolo) in South

I December 1997 —30 November 2000

5. A F F IL IA T E D FELLOWS D r A n d rew M c W illia m (Australia)

D r Hein Steinhauer (the Netherlands).

D r Tho m as de Bruin (NWO)

each at the HAS. A Dutch senior should

'East Meets W est:‘Indonesia’

'Nayi Kahani: New Stories and

have obtained a PhD degree more than

‘The Road to Development. Access to

and ‘Melanesia’

New Positions in the Literary Field

five years ago, and be academically very

(in co-operation with NIAS-Copenhagen,

natural resources along the transport

I November 1998 - 3 1 December 1998

o f Hindi Literature after 1947’

productive.The stay at HAS (not abroad!)

ANU-Canberra, and the International

axes of Riau Daratan (Indonesia),

IS June 1 9 9 8 - IS June 2001

can be used fo r fu rth e r research. Funds

Institute o f Social History- Amsterdam

1870-2000’, individual fellow.

D r David Ip (Australia), stationed at

as the executing body; Programme

Until I October 2001

the Amsterdam Branch Office

in Asia’

- 'International Social Organisation in East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang

are made available to finance the D r Joost C o té (Deakin University)

tem porary replacement fo r teaching

‘Diaspora Chinese Capitalism and

‘The Modern Colonial City: Semarang,

activities o f a senior at his/her home

D r C en Huang (Canada),

the Asian Economic Crisis’ within

Society and Culture, 1875 - 1925'

university.

stationed in Leiden and Amsterdam

the research program ‘International

2 / August 1998 - 2 1 February 1999

Co-ordinator: Dr R. Saptari)

The N ordic Institute fo r Asian Studies

I November 1 998— I May 1999

fellow.

Prof. B.Arps (Leiden University)

SPECIAL C H A IR

cipate in international exchanges.

Methodology ofTibetology in Europe’

history o f Austronesian Languages

Speculations Regarding a Post-Mortem

| Prof. B.N.F.White - Chairman

‘The General Situation and 4. V IS IT IN G E X C H A N G E FELLOWS

fieldwork, and organizing an international

long term research fellows. Hereunder

Prof. J.L. Blussé van Oud Alblas

Prof.Yang Enhong (CASS/KNAW)

2. S E N IO R V IS IT IN G FELLOWS

J.A.H.Trel (Secretary)

(Nijmegen University)

D r Guo W u (NWO)

Shen is the second Chairholder, and will

I August 1998 - I August 2001

They are attached to the International

BO ARD

I October 1997 - I September 1999

Chair fo r Chinese Studies. Prof. Vincent

Indonesia', individual fellow

C.Titahena (Database Assistant)

Prof. F. Hiisken - Chairman

The HAS has established the European

(CLARA), in collaboration w ith IISH

D r C.J.M.A. Smeets (Project Officer)

3. PROFESSO RIAL FELLOWS

D r Leo D o uw (University o f Amsterdam,

Ties in the Twentieth Century'

‘Structure and Social Organization of

Social Organization in East and

(Programme Directors: Dr LM. Douw

Transnational Enterprises and

Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang ties in

and Dr F.N. Pieke)

Entrepreneurship in East and Southeast

the twentieth century'

‘The Use o f Migration and Trading

‘International Social Organization in

Asia’ w ithin the programme

I January 1999 - IS February 1999

Routes in the Interior o f Borneo’

East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang Ties

20 November 1 9 9 8 - IS January 1999

in the Twentieth C entury’

(preliminary)

September 1998 - March 1999

PAATI:'Performing A rts o f Asia:

‘International Social Organization in

Tradition and Innovation: the expression o f identity in

East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang ties

D r Pancha M aharjan (Nepal)

D r C ris tin a E g henter (ESF)

a changing w o rld ’

in the twentieth century’

‘Problems o f Democracy in South Asia:

(Programme Director: DrW. van Zanten)

Until I November 1999

A Case Study o f Nepal’

Prof. Chris H ealey

3 January 1 9 9 9 - 16 February 1999

(Nothern Territory University)

- ABIA-Project: Key to South and Southeast Asian A r t and Archaeology

D r John Knight (Great Britain) 'A Social Anthropological Study of

Index

Easter Peak (Dongyue miao) in Beijing’ I September 1998 - I March 1999

Contem porary Japanese Forestry: commercial and environmental

D r Elizabeth Lam bourn

perspectives’, individual fellow.

(British Academy) ‘A H istory o f the Sultanate of Samudera-Pasai from the Region's Islamic Cemeteries’ 5 October 1998 - 3 1 November 1998

has n e w s l e t t e r

N? 17 • December 19 9 8

‘Stele Inscriptions o f the Temple o f the

I February 1 9 9 9 -1 March 1999

(Project Co-ordinator: Prof. K. van Kooij;

42 •

Prof. Rik Schipper (Leiden University)

‘Eastern Indonesian Livelyhoods’

Editors: Dr E. Raven and Dr M. Klokke)

Until I September 1999

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

I I AS

NEWS

2 >- 3 J U L Y 1 9 9 8 LEIDEN

N om ads in th e S edentary W orld An international colloquium was held in Leiden, July 1998, on the role which nomads have played in the history o f the seden tary world. The idea for this colloquium emerged from the ob servation that the influence o f sedentary societies on the no mads has been extensively studied but that the reverse, the im pact o f nomads on the sedentary world, has to a large extent been the subject o f speculation. The intention o f this collo quium therefore was to study this issue in a systematic and comparative framework and raise questions at a general level. A book on the subject, containing most o f the contributions and a few additional articles, is in preparation. ANATOLY M. KHAZANOV & ANDRÉ WI NK

■

he keynote o f the colloquium was set by Anatoly Khazanov in his general reflections on ‘Nomads in the History o f the Sedentary World’. The main conclu sion which he advanced was that al though in some periods the nomads played a very im portant role in po litical, ethno-linguistic and, to a

lesser extent, in socio-economic and cultural developments in many parts o f the sedentary world, no where or almost nowhere was the nomadic factor on its own the deter m ining one among many factors that defined regional historical de velopments o f long duration. This means that the impact o f nomads cannot be isolated from the general internal dynamics o f sedentary soci eties. Correspondingly, we see that even the short- and middle-term ef fects o f nomadic involvement vary a

IIAS

[Travel]

[Recent]

G ra n ts

Publications

achyear the HAS makes available a r lim ited number o f grants for outstanding (Dutch) scholars, in order to do research abroad. The grants are given for a maximum o f two months and should be used to cover the costs o f accommodation, travel and/or research.

he following HAS publications can be ordered from: Kegan Paul International, London, tel: +44-1-5805511, fax: +44-1-4360899.

K urtW . RadtkeJoopA. Stam, John Groenewegen, Leo M. van der Mey

In order to be eligible for an IIAS travel grant, an application should at least meet the following require ments: - Applicant has to be employed by a Dutch institute and/or be the holder o f a permanent Dutch resi dence permit, - The stay abroad and the activities must be compatible w ith the aims and the activities o f the HAS (post doctoral research only). - Travel costs and costs o f accommo dation for Dutch scholars can be made available only after the per son concerned has obtained partial funding from his/her institute and when he/she does not qualify for other means o f funding (NWO/WOTRO). Application forms for the travel grants can be obtained at the IIAS secretariat. ■

and Takuo Akiyama (eds),

■;— ^

great deal in different parts o f the sedentary world. Nine papers were presented which dealt w ith various regions from Hungary to West Asia, Iran, India and China, in periods that ranged from the first m illennium BC to the early modem period. Excepting the paper by André W ink on long-term developments in India, all papers ad dressed issues relating to the short term and middle-term impact o f no mads. The conclusions o f most au thors were remarkably sim ilar but showed the different ways in which the nomadic impact varied accord ing to factors at work in the seden

IIAS R esearch P a rtn e rs (he HAS signs MeI moranda o f UnderJL standing (MoUs) w ith research institutes in the field o f Asia Studies all over the world, in order to stimulate further co operation in this field, and to improve the m obility o f scholars through the exchange o f research fellows at a postPh.D. level. The HAS mediates in establishing contacts w ith the Insti tute’s MoU partners.

Short News

f I

DYNAMICS IN PACIFIC ASIA 1998, ISBN 0 -7 103-0598-2, 287 pp.

P.J. Moree, (ed.);

A CONCISE HISTORY OF DUTCH MAURITIUS 1598-1710 1998, ISBN 0-7103-0609-1, 127 pp.

Dick Van der Meij, (ed.)

INDIA AND BEYOND 1997. ISBN 0-7103-0602-4, 696 pp.

Paul van der Velde, P. and Alex McKay (eds)

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ASIAN STUDIES 1998, ISBN 0-7103-0606-7, 376 pp.

W/m Stokhof and Paul van der Velde (eds)

THE ASEM PROCESS: A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY 1998, ISBN 0-7103-0622-9.

tary societies under review. Those nomadic institutions, such as the ‘sharing system’ o f the Mongols which was analysed by Thomas A ll sen or the notions o f charisma and divine mandate to rule bestowed upon a chosen clan as analysed by Peter Golden, that were at odds w ith sedentary ones and were sim ply im posed on sedentary societies, did not last long. On the contrary, even the victorious nomads had to a signifi cant degree to adjust to or adopt the socio-political institutions o f the conquered, sedentary population. It was also demonstrated by the partic ipants o f the colloquium that the

The HAS has signed MoUs w ith the follow ing institutions: 1. Nordic Institute for Asian Studies (NIAS), Copenhagen, Denmark 2. East-West Center in Hawai’i (EWC), USA 3. Research School o f Pacific and Asian Studies o f the Australian National University (RSPASANU), Canberra, Australia 4. Division o f Social Sciences and Humanities, Indonesian Institute o f Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta, Indonesia 5. In s titu t fiir K u ltur und Geistesgeschichte Asiens der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, Austria 6. Institute o f Oriental Studies (IOS) o f the Russian Academy o f Sciences, Moscow, Russia

people o f the nomadic world o f the Eurasian steppes sometimes played an im portant role in the armies and ru lin g elites o f the Middle East or India, but not as nomads. In this context, a distinction was drawn be tween genuinely nomadic and ‘postnomadic’ traditions and in s titu tions ■

Anatoly M. Khazanov was an HAS research fellow in July and August 1998 and is the Ernest Gellner Professor o f Anthropology. André W ink is a Professor o f History and is attached to the University ofWisconsin, Madison, USA.

A gendA DECEMBER

7. Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU), Hanoi, Vietnam 8. University Grants Commission (UGC)/Ministry o f Education o f Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan 9. Shanghai Academy o f Social Sciences (SASS), Shanghai, P.R. China 10. l ’Ecole Franchise d’ExtremeOrient (EFEO), Paris, France 11. Academia Sinica, Taiwan, ROC 12. Korea Research Foundation (KRF), Seoul, Korea 13. National Science Council, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 14. Mongolian Academy o f Sciences, Mongolia 15. In s titu t de Recherche sur le SudEst Asiatique, Aix-en-Provence, France 16. Bureau o f International Cultural & Educational Relations, M in istry o f Education, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 17. Centre d’Études et de Recherches Internationales, Paris, France

1998

New Thoughts on Old Frontiers in Southeast Asia: State Spaces, Non-State Spaces Pro/J. Scott Utrecht, The Netherlands IIAS

1 7 -l8 ‘Third Workshop on ABIA South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology’ Leiden, the Netherlands Dr Martjke Klokke / Pro/ Karel van K o oij/D r Ellen Raven IIAS / ABIA

‘Searching for Cross-Regional Comparative Themes from Mythology to History in East ern Indonesia and New Guinea’ Leiden, The Netherlands Dr Pamela Stewart / Pro/ Andrew Strathem HAS

ADVERTI SE! IN THE MAS NEWSLETTER D ecem ber 1998 • i i a s n e w s l e t t e r 39517 •

I I AS

N E WS

Performing Scholarship R.G. CoIIingwood, in an essay on how philosophical reflec tions arise upon contemplation o f subjects including history and art, draws an important contrast between views o f art held by philosophers and artists. For philosophers, CoIIingwood says, art by definition is a transcendental concept. Artists, in contrast, view art empirically: they are interested in particular works o f art as far as they are good and beautiful. A celebrated architectural atrocity (CoIIingwood gives the example o f the Randolph Hotel) can be for philosophers not only a work o f art, but a good one in the sense that it obeys architectural norms o f what constitutes a class o f buildings. CoIIingwood imagines a dialogue between a philosopher and an artist. The artist, upon hearing such an outrage as the Randolph Hotel being described as a good work o f art, ‘will probably leave the room, banging the door.’ By MA T T H E W C O H E N

he research pro gramme of the International In stitute for Asian Studies (HAS), ‘Performing Arts of Asia: Tradition and Innovation’ (PAATI), which began in October 1997, is an effort to raise a ruckus: banging (though never shutting) the doors, pounding on the ceilings, and hammering on the steam pipes of the halls of learning. Academic distinctions between art ists and scholars of Asian performing arts have been breaking down for decades. The transcendental-empiri cal contrast between philosopherscholar and artist outlined by CoI Iingwood has been radically chal lenged in the last decades. In the Netherlands, Arnold Bake and sever al students of Jaap Kunst (considered by some as the founder of ethnomusicology), including Bernard IJzerdraat and Mantle Hood, long ago practised as well as preached about music. For such scholar-musicians, their instruments were their pass ports to musical cultures and socie ties of the world. As PAATI board member Ernst Heins suggested, however, performing scholars have potentially new and important roles to play as cultural mediators in a rapidly changing world. Abilities of scholars to play instruments, dance, sing, act, tell stories, clown, juggle, or animate puppets should ideally not only be means towards acquir ing data. Such abilities, and the leng thy processes of training associated with their acquisition, are also po tentially creatively subversive of se dimented distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ ‘consumers’ and ‘pro ducers,’ ‘scholars’ and ‘artists,’ ‘Eu ropeans’ and ‘Asians.’ The year since the PAATI pro gramme began has been a turbulent one internationally. Economies world-wide have been heavily im pacted by what was first character ized as an Asian economic crisis that began in late 1997. The thirty-year regime of President Soeharto of In donesia has ended. Tensions be tween India and Pakistan mounted over India’s nuclear weapons tests.

Research Project

D r M a tth e w Isaac Cohen is a Research Fellow for th e PAATI Programm e at th e HAS.

4 4 ’ IIAS

newsletter

With all of these developments, there is an accompanying danger of falling back upon primordial defen sive positions, reifying ‘Asian values’ or ‘the Western tradition of capital ist democracy.’ The ability not only to write about Asian art forms vis a vis European scholarly models, but also to produce these art forms in ways similar to how they are per formed in Asia is de fa cto a strong counter-argument against such pri mordial sentiments and essentialisms. Art does not make people more humane. But interacting with the people we study as artists, and being seen by others as participants in gen uine exchange might help in pre venting too-rigid barriers across cul tures from being constructed or de fended. And representing the prod ucts of this creative exchange not only as written texts but as artistic performances opens up the esoterica of scholarship to a larger public. Doors can be banged on entering as well as leaving a room.

The PAATI Program m e The PAATI programme is an ini tiative to research and represent con temporary and historical Asian per formance grounded in a theory of practice and the praxis of theory. Three postdoctoral research fellows Hanne de Bruin, Matthew Isaac Cohen, and Hae-kyung Um - with Wim van Zanten as programme di rector and an executive board com posed of Ben Arps, Joep Bor, Ernst Heins, Wilt Idema, and Saskia Ker senboom, have recently completed the first year of a planned four-year investigation into Asian perfor mance. Each of the three research fellows has come to the study of Asian per formance from different back grounds and with distinct theoreti cal and disciplinary orientations. Dr De Bruin is by training an Indolo gist, with a background in philology, comparative linguistics, and relig ious studies. She is also a producer and costume designer for theatre, and has organized social relief efforts for actors and musicians involved in Kattaikkuttu, a folk theatre of Tamil Nadu. Dr Cohen is a cultural anthro pologist specializing in Indonesian performance, literature, art, and re ligion. He is a practicing puppeteer as well, and during the five years he has lived in Indonesia he has fre

Tsl? 17 • December 1998

quently performed wayary kulit (shadow puppet theatre) for village audiences in Java, extemporizing di alogue in Javanese in a traditional style associated with the Cirebon re gion of north-coastal West Java. Dr Um is an ethnomusicologist, but was first educated as a performer of Korean classical music. She not only writes about classical and popular Korean music, she also performs and has given lecture-demonstrations throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. More than anything, it is a shared interest in combining practi cal work as participants with schol arship that brings the fellows to gether in dialogue.

Kattaikkuttu in Europe The PAATI programme’s official opening was marked with a perfor mance by a Kattaikkuttu theatrical performance of the play ‘Arjuna’s Pe nance’ on 23 October, 1997, at Leiden University under the sponsorship of the IIAS. The performance was part of a tour of the Tamil Nadu Kattaik kuttu Kali Valarcci Munnerra Sangam under the direction of P. Rajagopal. This event was not only an op portunity for the PAATI programme to present the spectacle of this littleknown Asian art form to a public au dience, it also provided an opportu nity for Hanne De Bruin, whose works focuses upon Kattaikkuttu and related Tamil theatrical forms, to investigate European audience re ception of an Asian theatre and the creative choices made by performers in adapting their art to novel set tings. The results of this investiga tion were presented in an article co written by Dr De Bruin and Dr Wim van Zanten entitled ‘Negotiating Cultures,’ published in Oideion On line. (More about Kattaikkuttu on page 15).

E ducation through perform ing Education is a performative pro cess, involving the establishment of a common framework, the assump tion of roles, dialogue, and trust. Performances are likewise educa tional: conveying information, eval uating skills, instilling values. Re ciprocal processes of learning and teaching take place not only in class rooms, conferences, and scholarly journals, but also on radio, in trade fairs, at museums, on-line, and th-

Matthew Isaac Cohen, performing a matinee wayang kulit show/or a village audience in north-coastal W estjava

rough artistic performances. The complex relation of performance and education is not only a central re search topic for PAATI; it also consti tutes an area for deep practical in volvement. The research fellows have consult ed for a radio programme on Korean music and an exhibition on Indone sian performing objects; given lec ture-demonstrations of Korean music and impersonation tech niques in Kattaikkuttu theatre; given six lectures for a class on the performing arts of Asia, presented a course on music and politics in East Asia, and delivered numerous guest lectures in universities and mu seums in the Netherlands and abro ad: all within the course of the first year of the project. During the com ing years, the fellows plan to sponsor a theatre festival in India, assist in bringing an Indonesian theatrical troupe to the Netherlands for work shops and performances, and pre sent courses on Korean and Indone sian theatres including acting work shops.

Project presentation The first major collaborative pres entation of the PAATI fellows took place at the Agnietenkapel of the University of Amsterdam on 26 May, 1998. It was an opportunity for the fellows to voice some of their plans for the coming three years and to en gage in discussion with interested scholars and members of the per forming arts community of the Netherlands. The presentation took place at a particularly tense moment in Asian political and economic affairs: the Soeharto regime was in the process of collapsing; the South Korean economy ailing from ‘the Asian flu,’ and Pakistan and India apparently at the brink of a nuclear conflict. Many researchers interested in artistic as pects of Asian cultures were forced during the months around the pres entation to justify the importance and relevance of studying art in these dire circumstances. Different solutions have been reached. Dr Heins spoke in his opening com

ments in Amsterdam about gamelan musical groups around the world presenting benefit concerts for fi nancial assistance to Indonesian counterparts and raising public awareness of and sympathy for Indo nesia’s economic and political tribu lations. Professor Stokhof developed a contrast between the playful na ture of the PAATI programme and HAS programmes focussing upon ap plied scholarship. In moments of darkness, play is not simply an es cape valve, but also a source of strength, hope, and determination.

ICAS Panel The major collaborative event of the first year of the programme was a panel at the International Confer ence of Asian Scholars in Noordwijkerhout on 27 June 1998, addressing the theme of performing arts of Asia and the methodology of practice. Talks were presented by the three re search fellows, with Dr van Zanten acting as moderator and Dr Kersen boom as discussant. The free-ranging talks and the dis cussions that followed focused upon the applicability of practice theory as developed by French sociologists Pierre Boudieu and Michel de Certeau to Asian performance, the de velopment of methodologies that ac count for live performance’s ‘live ness’ and detailed particularity, the locus and focus of scholarly observa tion and participation, the utility of a scholar training in a particular tra dition herself, and the significant roles that new technologies such as CDs and the internet can play in fu ture scholarship. It is planned that the next issue of Oideion Online will contain versions of the presentations given at the ICAS conference, with audio-visual examples.

Future Directions An important initiative taken on the part of the PAATI programme has been the institution of post-doc toral level master classes on themes related to the study of Asian perfor mance. The first three-day long ses sion was given in July by Dr Stuart Blackburn from the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and fo cused on South Asian performative traditions, the concept of perforContinued on page 45

I I AS mance itself, and research ethics. The coming years will see more mas ter classes and the generation of much more dialogue. A research seminar on popular theatres of Indo nesia is being taught by Dr Cohen and Mr Wartaka, a sandiwara masres theatre impresario from West Java, in the autumn of 1998, under the auspices of the PAATI project. An in ternational conference on the theme of patronage, spectatorship, and per formance is planned for 2000. A jointly authored volume entitled Performing Asia Abroad, focusing on the experiences of Asian artists per forming and teaching in Europe and the United States, is in the pipeline. Finally, there are embryonic plans for the development of a European research centre or department with a focus on the performing arts of Asia. Such departments exist in Asia, and the United States, but no compara ble institutions are to be found in Europe. The combined focus on scholarship and practice of Asian performing arts provides fertile ground for new approaches to per forming scholarship. ■

VACANCY The Department o f Asian Studies at Cornell University invites applications for a

TENURETRACK POSITION AT THE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR LEVEL IN PRE-TWENTIETH CENTURY CHINESE LITERATURE Specialization open, including cultural studies, to teach an undergraduate education course on the China area in addition to specialized undergraduate and graduate-level courses. Position will start July I, 1999. Evaluation of applications will begin December 15, 1998. Send letter of application, cv, three letters of reference, and writing sample(s) to:

EDWARD GUNN, Chair, Chinese Literature Search Committee, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University, 388 Rockefeller Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853-2502.

N E WS

A Case o f the Overseas Chinese Business N etw ork

The Tai Yi Firm in Nagasaki and its Documents In recent years the Chinese have been m aking extensive use o f network analysis to explain their business activities. Chinese networks have played an unusually prom inent role am ong the East and Southeast Asian Chinese and have made a great con tribution to their econom ic success in this region. However, the concept o f network is used largely as descriptive technique and is extremely loose. The study o f Chinese networks is still at a relatively prim itive stage and needs to establish itse lf more firmly in both case study and theoretical construction. The discovery o f the Tai Yi docum ents contributes a very inter esting opportunity to explore the Chinese business networks around the China Sea in greater depth. ■ By DAI YI F E NG

-r n the late 1840s or I early 1850s the Chinese trader Chen Guoliang moved to Nag asaki and there devoted himself to the trade be tween China and Japan. With seven of his fellow townsmen, he set up the Tai Chang Firm in 1861. Tai Chang’s main business was the ex port and import trade as a wholesal er and agency. Exactly how many companies had business relations with Tai Chang is unknown, but a hundred and sixty traders were named in its account books. Most of these were Fujianese, and they dis tributed in Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore. Tai Chang thus represented a fairly large-scale business network around the China Sea. In 1901 Chen Guoliang left Tai Chang and set up a new company in Nagasaki, Tai Yi. He handed over the business to his son, Chen Shiwang. Before taking over his father’s posi tion, Chen Shiwang had worked in Tai Chang for many years. The ac count books show that in Tai Yi’s early years (1901-1905], it inherited several businesses from Tai Chang and Tai Yi put his shoulder to the wheel to extend its business net work. Letters show that Taiwan was the area where Tai Yi’s business made most rapid progress. In its first five years there were fifty-five firms in Taiwan with business relations with Tai Yi. After 1906, business began to boom for Tai Yi (1906-1915]. It had 249 customer firms and Taiwan, where more than half were located, still continued to be the most rapid ly developing area. Southeast Asia was another area of development. There were 47 customer firms, most of which were concentrated in Sin gapore. In this period, because of the change in trading port, many over seas Chinese, among them Tai Yi, moved from Nagasaki to Kobe. Tai Yi established relations with twentytwo firms in Kobe, a business net work that laid a solid foundation on which Tai Yi’s business could flour ish. It enjoyed an eleven-year period of prosperity (1916-1927]. A victim of worsening relations between China and Japan about

1928, Tai Yi went into decline. In 1928, Tai Yi made its first loss. In 1938, Tai Yi had to suspend business owing to the Sino-Japanese war and it finally closed down in 1939. In its forty years of existence, Tai Yi pre served a large number of documents which consists of four parts as fol lows: 1. Documents relating to Tai Yi’s business, consisting of more than fifteen thousand volumes of ac count books, such as Huashary Zhory bu (General Book for Chi nese Traders], Taishary Zhoiybu (General Book for Traders in Tai wan), Peizhi Chachun (General Cash Book) andjuecai Feryyiry (Final Account Book), and forty thou sand letters. 2. Documents relating to other com panies in Nagasaki. They cover 368 volumes of documents concerned with thirteen companies. These companies had close relations with Tai Yi. They were mostly (South) Fujianese, which shows that Tai Yi was the leader of the Fujianese group in Nagasaki dur ing the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. 3. Documents relating to Fujianese associations in Nagasaki. There are forty-five volumes documents consisting of records of meetings, account books, lists of members, etc, mainly relating to the Fujian Guild in Nagasaki. The Fujian Guild in Nagasaki, Bamin Huisuo, was set up in 1868 and Tai Chang was one of its sponsors. Chen Guoliang became its President in the 1880s. He rebuilt the guild and changed its name to Fujian Huiguan. The number of mem bers grew from sixteen to twentythree companies. As soon as Tai Yi was established, in 1901, it joined the Fujian Huiguan. Ten years later, Chen Shiwang, then manag er of Tai Yi, became chairman. His son, Chen Jinzhong, took this po sition before he died in 1940. The documents reveal that the chief activities of the Fujian Huiguan were (a) organizing memorial cer emonies for ancestors; (b) subsi dizing the overseas Chinese schools; (c) giving financial aid to poor villagers from south Fujian; (d) organizing social and diplo matic activities; (e) collecting do nations for China; and (f) admin

istering the temple and public graveyard. 4. Documents relating to various in stitutes in Nagasaki. These consist of nearly five hundred volumes of material from the Nagasaki Over seas Chinese School, of which Chen Shiwang was a board mem ber, eighty-five volumes of docu ments relating to the Chinese temples in Nagasaki; and three volumes of material from the con sulate of the Republic of China, the American consulate and the Kuomintang organization in Nag asaki. The Tai Yi documents attracted the attention of Japanese scholars when they came to light in the early 1980s. In 1984, Professor Ichikawa, joined by some Japanese and Chinese scholars, started to sort out and study the material. Some research re ports have been published. It is very surprising that as a medium-to-small company, Tai Yi had a wide business network. There are some forty thousand letters on which addresses and postmarks can be distinguished and these show that four thousand companies had had business dealings with Tai Yi be tween 1901 and 1938. They distribut ed in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Main land China, Hong Kong, and South east Asia. Tai Yi’s business network consisted of four interlinked trade zones: the North China Sea (Huanghai) trade zone, the East China Sea (Donghai) zone, the South China Sea (Nanhai) zone, and the China coastal zone. The most fascinating point is that, as a family-managed trading compa ny, the structure of Tai Yi’s business network can be analysed in terms of concentric circles working, from in side to outside, from core manage ment, through basic customer com panies and general Chinese custom er companies to Japanese customer companies. The core management of Tai Yi was composed of members of Chen Shiwang's family and more distant relatives. In the early days of Tai Yi these family members and rel atives made up more than seventy percent of all the salesclerks and were the main force of Tai Yi. It is worth mentioning that there were certain customer companies that had special relations with Tai Yi. These core customers not only did a lot of business with Tai Yi, they also acted as transfer traders. Tai Yi would deliver goods to these core companies, which then transferred the goods to various consumer com panies. They served as an intelli gence network being responsible for collecting local news and sending it to Tai Yi, and assisted with funding and dealing with remittances. Tai Yi also had many general customers, but, these companies only had tem

porary business relations with Tai Yi and the trade value they generated was generally small. Before a busi ness relationship could be estab lished, companies needed an intro duction from Chen Shiwang’s clan or a fellow villager before such a con nection could be considered. The credit of these firms could offer was the most important factor when they were introduced. Although Tai Yi’s business net work consisted predominantly of Chinese merchants, generally, Chi nese merchants and Japanese mer chants tended to operate in their own exclusive spheres, but Tai Yi also had business dealings with a few Japanese merchants, mainly wholesalers. The Japanese customers were however regarded as inferiors. An important conclusion is that Tai Yi established its business net work through personal relation ships. This network started with rel atives and later included clan mem bers and villagers and finally general Chinese merchants. This personal relationship network went far be yond the transportation of goods, it was the basis for other special func tions such as the exchange of news, meditating, the co-ordination of loans and the introduction of sales clerks, and much more ■

References: -

The documents of Tai Yi.

- Dai Yifeng, The Overseas Chinese Busi ness network: A Case Study on Tai Yi Firm in Nagasaki (1901-1938), Asian Culture, Singapore, 1998. - Nobuchika Ichikawa and Dai Yifeng (eds), Jindai liri huaqiao yu dongya yuanhai diqu jiaoyuquan (Overseas Chinese and the Trade Zone on the East Asian Coast in Modem Times), Xiamen Daxue Chubanshe, 1994. - Zhu Delan, Meijiki ni okeru Nagasaki kasho Taishogo to Taiekigo to no boeki netto waku no keisei (The Form of the Business Network o f the Chinese Traders Tai Chang and Tai Yi in Nagasaki, Minji era), Kyushu kokusai daigaku shakai bunka kenlyusho kiyo, No.35,1994. - Yuka Yamaoka, Nagasaki kasho no keieishi teki kenkyu: Kindai Chugoku shonin no keiei to chobo (A study on the History Management o f Chinese Traders in Naga saki: The Management and Account Book o f Chinese Trader in Modern Times), Mineruba shobo, 1995.

Dai Yifeng was an HAS research fellow in between June and September 1998 and is currently attached to Xiamen University as a Professor o f History at. He is the director o f the Centre for Chinese Customs Studies. E-mail: yfdai@xmu.edu.cn.

D e c e m b e r 1 9 98 • HAS N E W S L E T T E R TsEl7 •

HAS

NE WS

Progress Report Q iaoxiang T ies Programme

The Chronicle Development of the IIAS-Xiamen Joint Research Project ■ By CEN H U A N G & LEO DOUW

he IIAS-Xiamen project was laun ched in Decem ber 1997 for the purpose of establishing interna tional research collabo ration on the topic of qiaoxiang studies, to conduct joint research, and to exchange research data and archive materials. The project has been running smoothly, and made good progress since then. - In December 1997, the project was launched in Xiamen. Dr Cen Huang delivered a lecture on re search methods to the Xiamen re search team. - In February and March 1998, fieldwork was carried out under the joint research agreement. The Xia men research team conducted more

Research Project

NEW

BOOKS

investigations into the relationship between overseas Chinese invest ment, qiaoxiang development and qiaoxiang enterprises. Forty more enterprises were surveyed looking at the aspects of investment, structure, organization, management, marketing, production, profit, etc. - In June 1998, the Xiamen team completed the first draft of research data files and theses based on the Jinjiang qiaoxiang survey. Three re search theses cover: (t) the dynamics of the Jinjiang private enterprises, t970-i99o; (2) overseas Chinese and qiaoxiang education, a case study of Jinjiang; and (3) the role of remit tance and donations in Jinjiang’s so cial and economic development. Re search data files include: (1) investi gation reports on individual villages; and (2) compiled data files of sur veyed households and enterprises. The research parties have worked

BY K I T L V

H.A.J. Klooster

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE INDONESIAN REVOLUTION Leiden: KITLV Press 1997,666 pp. ISBN 90-6718-089-0 (Bibliographical Series 21) Herman C. Kemp

BIBLIOGRAPHIES ON SOUTHEAST ASIA Leiden: KITLV Press 1998, I 128 pp. ISBN 90-6718-121-8 (Bibliographical Series 22) Helen Creese

PARTHAYANA: THE JOURNEYING OF PARTHA. AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BALINESE KAKAWIN Leiden: KITLV Press, 1998, 504 pp. ISBN 90-6718-117-X (Bibliotheca Indonesica 27) William A. Collins

THE GURIOTAN OF RADIN SUANE: A STUDY OF THE BESEMAH ORAL EPIC FROM SOUTH SUMATRA Leiden: KITLV Press, 548.pp. 1998 ISBN 90-6718-1 15-3, (Bibliotheca Indonesica 28) David Rulbeck, Anthony Reid, Lay Cheng Tan andYiqiW u (comp.)

SOUTHEAST ASIAN EXPORTS SINCE THE 14TH CENTURY. CLOVES PEPPER COFFEE, AND SUGAR Leiden: KITLV Press, Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 195 pp. 1998 ISBN 981-3055-67-7 (Data Paper Series. Sources for the Economic History of Southeast Asia no. 4) Gregory Forth BENEATH THE VOLCANO. RELIGION COSMOLOGY AND SPIRIT CLASSIFICATION AMONG THE NAGE OF EASTERN INDONESIA Leiden: KITLV Press, 1998, 369 pp. ISBN 90-67I8-I20-X (Verhandelingen 177) M.J.C. Schouten

LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL MOBILITY IN A SOUTHEAST ASIAN SOCIETY. MINAHASA 1677-1983 Leiden: KITLV Press, 1998, 334 pp. ISBN 90-6718-109-9 (Verhandelingen 179)

4 6

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has n e w s l e t t e r

N9X7 • December 1998

jointly on the issues of the selection of data files for further analysis. - In August 1998, Dr Cen Huang vis ited Professor Zhuang Guotu at Xiamen University. They discuss ed the progress of the joint project and its future plans. The HAS re search party received the first set of research data and reports of the Jinjiang qiaoxiang investigation. - In October 1998, the Xiamen team will hold an international confer ence on the topic of ‘Qiaoxiang Studies.’ Dr Cen Huang will orga nize an IIAS/European panel as part of the conference, which will be held on 28-31 October 1998 in Jinjiang where the qiaoxiang sur vey took place. It will mark the conclusion of Phase I of the IIASXiamen joint project. About fifty scholars from ten different coun tries will present papers at the conference. The Xiamen research

team and the Jinjiang government will be host and organizer of the conference. An edited volume based on the Jinjiang empirical data is planned to be published as an outcome of the joint project.

Other News The programme panel: ‘Chinese Transnationalism: cultural and eco nomic dimensions’ was successfully held on 25-26 June 1998 in Noordwijkerhout as a panel at the ICAS confer ence. Twelve papers were presented and the panel attracted a fair amount of academic attention from the ICAS audience. Dr Leo Douw, Dr Cen Huang and Dr Michael Godley have been working on the edited volume based on the panel papers since then. Dr Michael Godley has been select ed as a senior visiting fellow to join the Qiaoxiang Ties Program from 15 September to 15 December 2998. He

will continue to work on the ICAS panel volume. Dr Leo Douw and Professor Dai Yifeng have established another joint research project: ‘The Role of Over seas Chinese Invested Enterprises in the Development of Labour Markets in South China, 1978 - Present.’ To get the project off the ground, Pro fessor Dai held a senior HAS fellow ship from June to September 1998. ■ Dr Leo Douw has begun an HAS senior fellowship ( I Septem ber 1998 to I March 1999), entitled ‘Transnational Entrepreneurship and the Establishment o f Free Market Institutions in South China, 1900 - Present'

Dr. Cen Huang took a field trip to south China. She interviewed foreign investors and government officials on the issue o f the Asian crisis and foreign economy and enterprises in Guangdong. She also visited the Center o f Asian Studies at the University o f Hong Kong.

The ASALFA Network Organizes a Course on MERCOSUL, Asia and the EU n 1995 the European Union constituted the Alfa Programme for the exchange of stu dents at the postgradu ate and undergraduate level between universities in the Eu ropean Union and in Latin America. This Programme of forty million ECU’s also included the possibilities of professionalization courses for Latin American university teachers, and improvement of the administra tion of Latin American Universities and their relations with local private enterprise. Within the frameWORK of the Alfa Programme, the University of Leiden proposed in 2997 to consti tute a network of European and Latin American universities, to orga nize a professionalization course for postgraduates and teachers at Latin American universities interested in processes of integration in Asia and Europe. About eighteen postgradu ates and junior teachers at the MERCOSUL universities of Cordoba (Ar gentina), Porto Alegre, (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile) will, together with students from the universities of Mainz and Trier (Germany), Stock holm (Sweden) and Leiden (Nether

lands), attend an intensive pro gramme of courses and tutorials during six months. The University of Leiden, co-ordinator of this programme, will be the host. Courses will be given by guest professors from all participating universities of the Asia-Latin Ameri ca (ASALFA) network, and by our Amsterdam associates, the Interna tional Institute of Social History and the Centre of Latin American Studies and Documentation. The Interna tional Institute of Asian Studies has an important logistical role in the organisation of this very first pro gramme in which European univer sities make use of the exchange pos sibilities offered by the European Union to offer their high level spe cializations in Asian cultures, poli tics and economics to Latin Ameri can universities with a strongly emerging interest in Asia. Because of this strongly emerging interest in Asia among MERCOSUL countries and its associated partner Chile, the focus of the programme will be on the development of inte grative processes in the extended MERCOSUL, Asia and the European Union. Moreover, the developing re lations between Asia and Latin

America and the consequences of these relations for the European Union will be analysed. Close atten tion will be given to the comparison of developments within Asia, the MERCOSUL and the European Union, so as to provide students with the necessary knowledge for understanding the different process es of integration taking place in these three areas. After having fol lowed thirteen courses given by Eu ropean, Latin American and Asian specialists, students will write a final paper in June X999. ■

DR MARIANNE WIESEBRON has

P.O. Box 9515 2300 RA Leiden Tel.:+31-71-5272227 Fax.:+31-7 1-5274162 E-mail: iias@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

INTERNATIONAL N o v e m b e r 1998

14-16 D e c e m b e r

CONFERENCE

AGENDA 15-18 J u n e

1998

A u g u s t 1999

1999

Bandung, Indonesia

Heidelberg, Germany

2 5 - 2 7 N o v e m b e r , 1998

Entrepreneurship and Education in Tourism

The 600th Anniversary o f Kabir’s Birth

Seoul, Korea

Dr Heidi Dahles, c/o HAS, P.0 . Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands, e-mail: H.Dahles@KUB.nl

Prof. Monika Boehm-Tettelbach, Dept, o f Modern Indian Studies,

5th Asian Congress o f Sexology: Sound Society in Sound Sexuality Frank Tedesco, Sejong University, 98, Kunjadong, Kwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea, tel./fax: +82-2-997-3954, e-mail: tedesco@uriel.net 27-29 N o v e m b e r

1 998

Reggio Calabria, Italy First International Conference on Philippine Studies Domenico Marciano, Italy-Philippine Cultural Association, Via San Francesco da Paola 102, 89127 Reggio Calabria, Italy, tel.: +39-965-594111, fax: +39-965-893611 30 N o v e m b e r 1 December

1998

Stockholm, Sweden Interdependence in Asia pacific: a multidisciplinary perspective Dr Bert Edström, Center for Pacific Asia Studies, Stockholm University, S 10691 Stockholm, Sweden, tel: +46-8-162897, fax: +46-8-168810, e-mail: bert.edstrom@ orient.su.se

XXII Indian Social Science Congress: Democragr, Peoples’ Development

fax: +49-6221-545998 e-mail: m91@ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de

19-24 D e c e m b e r

1 998

Pune, India 4th Himalayan Languages Sym posium Dr Suhnu Ram Sharma, Dept, o f Linguistics, Deccan College, Pune 411 006, India, tel: +91-212-668858, fax: +91-212-660104, e-mail: deccan.college@gems.vsnl.net.in 7 - 11 D e c e m b e r

1998

New Delhi, India 9th International seminar on IndoPortuguese History on Discoveries The coordinator, History o f Science programme, Indian N ational Science Academy, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002, India

and Culture: The Emerging Challenges and Initiatives Indian Academy o f Social Sciences,

8 - 10 D e c e m b e r

1998

Penang, Malaysia The First International Conference on Islamic Development M anagem ent Secretariat, Islamic Development M anagem ent Conference, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia, tel: +60-4-6577888 ext. 3904/2284/3632/3443, fax: +60-4-6584820, e-mail: idmp@usm.my 1998

Manila, The Philippines Internationa! Congress on Womens’ Role in History and Nation Building: History Herstory International Congress Secretariat, The Philippine Women’s University, Development Institute For Women in Asia-Pacific, 1743 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004, The Philippines, tel.: +63-2-5368648, fax: +63-2-5524002, e-mail: diwa@pwu.net

Jun e

28-30 D e c e m b e r

The Fourth ASEAN Inter-University Seminar On Social Development ASEAN ISSD4 Secretariat, Division of Academic Affairs, Prince o f Songkla

19 9 8 22-25 Mar ch

Madras, India International Seminar on Skanda-Murugan International M urukan Seminar Committee, Institute o f Asian Studies, Sholinganallur, Chennai 600 119, India, e-mail: ias@xlweb.com, fax: +91-44-4960959, tel: +91-44-4961662

1 99 9

University, Pattani 94000, Thailand, tel.: +66-73-312238, fax: +66-73-313485, e-mail: issd4@bunga.pn.psu.ac.th

Steyning, Great Britain Managing the Global Economy in the Light o f the Asian Crisis W ilton Park Conference, Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3DZ, GB, tel.:+44-1903-817755 fax: +44-1903-815931 e-mail: admin@ wiltonpark.org.uk

Ja n u a r y 1999 A p r i l 1999 • 8 - 1 2 Ja n u a r y

1 6 - 1 8 , 1999

Pattani, Thailand

Iswar Sarah Ashram Campus, Allahabad 211004, India, tel: +91-532-645170, fax: +91-532-645170

1999

Ju n e

1 9 - 2 1 , 1999

Ann Arbor MI, USA International Conference on China Geoin/ormatics and Socioinformatics Dr Shuming Bao, Suite 3630,1080 S. University, China Data Center, University o f Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106, USA, tel: +1-734-6479610, fax: +1-734-7635540

East Asia Program, Social Science Research Council, 810 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor, New York, NY 10019, USA, tel.: +1-212-3772700, fax: +1-212-3772727, e-mail: winther@ssrc.org 15-17 Ja n u a r y

The 65th IFLA Conference: Libraries as Gateways to an Enlightened World Prof Khunying Maenmas Chavalit, president IFLA 1999 Organising Committee, c/o SEAMEO-SPAFA, headquarters Building, 81/1 Sri-Ayutthaya Road, Sam-sen Theves, Bangkok 10300, Thailand, tel: +66-2-2804022-9 fax: +66-2-2804030 e-mail: exspafa@external.ait.ac.th 23-27 Au g u s t

25-27 Ju n e

The 9th International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia Centre for Advanced Studies, 6th Level, Shaw Foundation Building, N ational University o f Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260 tel: +65-8743810 fax: +65-7791428 e-mail: cassec@nus.edu.sg

O c t o b e r 1999

Leiden, the Netherlands

1999 AKSE Conference AKSE Secretary, Prof Werner Sasse, University o f Hamburg, Dept. Korea,

4th ES/O conference: Asia in the Pacific ESfO oprganizing committee, ISIR, N onnensteeg 1-3,2311 VJ Leiden, the Netherlands, fax: +31-71-5272632, e-mail: isiresfo@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

Charlottesville VA, USA

2 3 - 2 5 A p r i l 1999

38th annual meeting o f the SEC/AAS: Asia 2000 and Beyond Professor Brandy Womack (SEC/AAS), East Asia Center, 224 M inor Hall, University o f Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA, e-mail: bwomack@virginia.edu

Seventh ASIANetwork Annual Conference M arianna Mcjimsey, ASIANetwork, The Colorado College, 14 East Cache La Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, USA, tel.: +1-719-3897706, e-mail: mmcjimsey@cc.colorado.edu

Tacoma, Washington, USA

South Asia: How Can Greater Economic and Other Co-operation Be Achieved? Wilton Park Conference, Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3DZ, GB, tel.:+44-1903-817755

fax: +44-1903-815931 e-mail: admin@wiltonpark.org.uk

28 J u n e - 2 J u l y 1 9 9 9

Moscow, Russia

1999

Steyning, Great Britain

1 99 9

Hamburg, Germany

D-20146 H am burg, Germany tel: +49-40-41233296 fax: +49-40-41236484 e-mail: 0r5a007@rrz.uni-hamburg.de

1999

Singapore

4-7 O c t o b e r 7 - 1 1 A p r i l 19 99

1999

Bangkok, Thailand

e-mail: geoim99@umich.edu

Monterey CA, USA

N o v e m b e r 1999

11th ECIMS: The Indonesian and Malay World: Milestones o f the Second Millennium Dr Eugenia Kukushkina, Institute of Asian and African Countries, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 11, Mochovaya St., Moscow 103009 Russia fax: +7-95-9547622

8-11 N o v e m b e r

1999

Steyning, Great Britain China Beyond 50 Wilton Park Conference, Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3DZ, GB, tel.:+44-1903-817755

fax: +44-1903-815931 e-mail: admin@ wiltonpark.org.uk

M ay 1999

Jul y 1999

1 2 - 1 5 M ay 1 999

5 - 9 Ju l y 1999

Boston MA, USA

La Paz, Bolivia

Leiden, the Netherlands

AAS A nnual Meeting AAS, 1021 E. H uron St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA, tel.: +1-734-6652490 fax: +1-734-6653801,

‘Alternative’ Histories & Non-Written Sources: new perspectives/rom the South

15th International Conference on South Asian Archaeology The European Association o f South

The Portuguese and the Socio-Cultura!

Asian Archaeologists, Prof. K.van Kooij, Fax:+31-71-5274162 e-mail: IIAS@rullet.leidenuniv.nl (please m ention SAA 99)

Changes in India: 1500-1800 Dr K.S. Mathew, D epartm ent of History, Pondicherry University Pondicherry 605 014, India

5 - 8 J u l y 19 99

tel.: +91-413-65177 fax:+91-413-65211 e-mail: bioinpu@ iitm .ernet.in

M a r c h 1999

D e c e m b e r 1999 11-14 Mar c h

8-12 D e c e m b e r

1998

A n n u a lfa p a n Studies Dissertation Workshop

D e c e m b e r 1998

7 -9 D e c e m b e r

Pondicherry, India

South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheim erfeld 330, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany tel: +49-6221-548926

20-28 Au g u s t

1999

Sephis secretariat, Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT Amsterdam, the Netherlands, e-mail: sephis@iisg.nl

e-mail: annmtg@ aasianst.org Ju n e 1999 18-20 M a r c h

1998

Charleston SC, USA The Evolution o f Portuguese Asia. Quincentenary Reflections, 1498-1998

Ju n e

1999

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Seoul, Korea

7th International Conference on Thai Studies

Prof. Tim othy Coates, dept, o f History, College o f Charleston, 66 Gearge Street, Charleston SC 29424-0001, USA,

Political Economy o f Rapid Modernization

(ICTS-7) HAS Branche office, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185

e-mail: coatest@cofc.edu

University o f Leiden, Doelensteeg 16, 2311VL Leiden, The Netherlands fax: +31-71-5272652 e-mail: lindblad@ rullet.leidenuniv.nl

18-21 M a r c h

1999

Avignon, France

in Contemporary East and Southeast Asia Dr J.Th. Lindblad, Dept, o f History,

Avignin, 74 rue Louis Pasteur, case no. 19,84029 Avignon cedex 1, France, tel: +33-490162718 fax: +33-490162719 e-mail: gcampb3195@aol.com

1999

Pondicherry, India

1012 DK Amsterdam, the Netherlands, fax: +31-20-5253658 e-mail: thaistud@pscw.uva.nl 1 2 - 1 6 Ju l y 1999

Migration and Countries o f the South Gwyn Campbell and André Ulpat, Centre for the Study and Research of N orth-South Relations, University o f

6-11 D e c e m b e r

7 - 1 0 Ju n e

1 99 9

Steyning, Great Britain A Changingjapan? W ilton Park Conference, W iston House, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3DZ, GB, tel.:+44-1903-817755 fax: +44-1903-815931 e-mail: admin@ wiltonpark.org.uk

Oxford, Great Britain Women Organizing in China Joanna Chils, Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women, University of Oxford, Queen Elisabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford OXi 3LA, UK tel: +44-1865-273644 fax: +44-1865-273607 e-mail: cccrw@qeh.ox.ac.uk

December 1998 • HAS n e w s l e t t e r N? 17 • 4 7

C L A R A N E WS 26 J UNE 1 998 NOORDWIJKERHOUT,

THE

NETHERLANDS

ICAS Panel on ‘Changing Industrial Lab our Relations in Asia At the International Convention o f Asia Scholars in June this year, the CLARA programme organized a panel consisting o f four speakers who highlighted the diversities shaping the var ying scenarios for labour relations in Asia. ■ By R AT NA S APTARI •T ^

ernard Thomann (Institut d’Asie Oriëntale, Lyon) focused on changes in Japanese-style manage ment as a result of eco nomic recession. In the past, the Jap anese economy was based on a uni que form of regulation between the interests of the labour and those of the capital based on a ‘micro-corporatist’ compromise. This Japanesestyle ‘micro-compromise’ can be characterized as creating job stabili ty but with flexible labour condi tions; promoting identification of workers' interests with those of the employer. Secondly, there is a large peripheral workforce which is ex cluded from the micro-corporatist compromise and therefore can be easily adjusted to help preserve the job stability of the core workforce. Thirdly, the labour movement has been dominated by entreprise un ions which only defended the inter est of the core employees and were not able to develop a horizontal soli darity and a class struggle ideology. However, with the oil crisis and the more recent monetary crisis, some very careful reforms of the Japanesestyle management have been taking place in order to adapt the system to those new challenges. The question is what this would mean for labour relations? Sun Wen-Bin (Centre for Asian Studies, Hongkong) looked particu larly at labour disputes in South China. Labour disputes have in creased dramatically since the begin ning of the economic reform in 1987. According to the data from the Min istry of Labour in China, in 1996 there was a 264 per cent increase in labour disputes compared to the pre vious year’s figure. Examining the working conditions in Shenzhen, there should be more disputes on dangerous working conditions, long working hours with extremely low pay, and harsh work regulations and punishments, but, these are seldom the causes for the registered labour disputes. Wen Bin discussed this phenomenon in the light of institu tional constraints, official under standing of economic development as well as worker’s choices. Karin Kapadia (Christian Michelsen Institute, Norway), focused on the changes occurring within the synthetic gem industry, when the domestic-oriented gem industry in Tamil Nadu, India was marginalized by the rapidly expanding exportoriented manufacture. These chang

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es were most tangible in the chang ing composition of the workforce. A bonded labour force consisting of evenly divided numbers of men and women aged between six to sixty was replaced by a preponderantly young female workforce aged between fif teen to twenty-three, largely from lower middle-class families. Expla nations of this change in the labour force are among others: unstable markets requiring a flexible work force, new technology and the trans formation of caste and kinship rela tions in the local labour-supplying areas. Ratna Saptari (International Insti tute of Social History/International Institute for Asian Studies) focused on the dilemmas of resistance in the Javanese cigarette industry and the nature and form collective action which may be coloured by collabora tion and accommodation at the same time. This condition reflects the na tional and workplace level dynamics, as well as the historical background to the industry in the area. Contra dictions emerge because of the com petition between companies, the local labour markets, and the nature of cigarette-manufacturing employ ment, which on the one hand is ex ploitative but on the other hand pro vides a better source of income than other jobs in the locality. Therefore these structures may serve as a con straint on the emergence of regular and continuous collective action, but at the same time they may pro vide social and political space for women workers. In response to these papers, discussions focused particu larly on the nature of capital which constitutes different interests and which in the past tended to be looked upon as homogeneous; and on the nature trade unions that managed to survive taking into ac count the fragmented labour force and the flexibility often linked to uncertain markets. ■

“N? 17 • December 1998

1 2 >- 1 4 J U L Y , 1 9 9 8 BANDUNG, INDONESIA

Economic Impact of the Crisis on Labour A Workshop on ‘The Economic Impact o f the Crisis on Labour’ was organized by AKATIGA, (Research Centre for Social Analy sis) based in Bandung, CLARA (Amsterdam), and CASA (Am sterdam) and was held in July 1998 in Bandung. The Nether lands Ministry o f Foreign Affairs provided financial support. ■ By RATNA S APTARI

'Studies on labour relations

cannot be divorced fro m studies on strategies

su rviva l’

he workshop was held with three aims in mind, namely: a) to bring to gether concerned schol ars and socially commit ted activists so as to come to a better understanding of the direct and indi rect impact of the current economic crisis in East and Southeast Asia. The focus should be on workers, social and economic conditions in the various sectors; b) the workshop should serve as a preliminary step towards a more in-depth research on various dimen sions of the crisis; c) to think of strate gies to improve the bargaining posi tion of workers in the urban and rural areas. The workshop brought together a good mix of activists and scholars from Indonesia and the region, name ly Malaysia and the Philippines. Al though initially our plan was to in vite no more than twenty-five acti vists and researchers, ultimately we ended up with a total of forty-three participants from Asian NGOs, uni versities and scientific institutions, and from international agencies. Rep resentatives from the Indonesian, Dutch, and United States govern ments were also present. Seventeen papers were presented in the two-day sessions. Because of the large number of participants and the limited time available, after the introductory and general overviews the sessions were divided into two working groups. The languages spoken were Indonesian and English. The bulk of the programme was spent in identifying the issues and problems faced by the researchers and activists alike, who work in the urban and rural areas of Java, North Suma tra, and Eastern Nusa Tenggara. The presentations showed commonalities but at the same time differences in ex periences of and responses to of the urban/rural poor in Indonesia; and the organizations facilitating them. Considering the complexity of the is sues it was felt that there was too lit tle time to compare notes and to re flect on each other’s experiences. The breaking up of the workshop into two groups helped to focus the issues slightly. It was felt that many more discussions were needed to tackle each point raised. Since the crisis in Indonesia for the working classes is experienced pri marily in high food prices and the dramatically high level of unemploy ment, or underemployment, discus sions on the workers’ situation con centrated on what the crisis has meant for levels of consumption and employment and how workers have reacted to the situation. Studies on la

bour relations therefore cannot be di vorced from studies on strategies of survival. This also has significant im plications for organization. The comparisons with other coun tries in the region (i.e. Malaysia and the Philippines) showed that the ef fect of the crisis was not the same. Not only the nature of each country’s integration into the global market, but also the internal workings of the state, differed. In the Indonesian case, it could be seen how the higher de gree of state corruption and political repression in Indonesia exacerbated the nature of the crisis. This also af fected the kind of civil society that has emerged which is quite different from that in Malaysia and the Philip pines. The issue of migrant labour brought up the problem not only of distinct government policies, regard ing immigration and emigration but also of the commonalities and differ ences among Asian migrant labour, in this case Philippine and Indone sian. It also brought up the integrat ed nature of village level dynamics, government policies and interna tional markets. The drastic increase in unemployment raised the issue of return migration and its impact on the village economy; also important is the extent to which the village economy can support those without an income. Therefore the nature of urban - rural links and how this has developed in the economic crisis was another issue we knew too little about as organizers and as research ers. Workers’ activism varied in the dif ferent regions and there was no clear analysis on how and why these varia tions existed. Should this be linked to the nature of the labour market in the respective areas, the nature of wor kers’ organizations existing prior to the crisis, or the level of repression en acted by the local apparatus? There was still no knowledge of sectoral dif ferences in industrial workers’ plight. Do we know enough of the diverse community structures to formulate appropriate strategies for mobiliza tion or provide recommendations for policy makers? The discussion on the rural areas brought the same kind of questions. In the rural areas, al though protests occurred against vil lage heads, no parallel level of acti vism could be found. This brought up the question of social institutions available in the village. After 30 years of Suharto’s top-down rule, what are left of village institutions that could provide some form of social security for rural people? From these discus sions, the need to bridge the gap be tween researchers and activists was also felt as activism cannot be well planned and formulated if knowledge of an issue or an area is based on su perficial information; on the other hand research cannot be useful enough if not sensitized and put into perspective by political activism. ■

CLARA

N E WS

4 ► 5 S E P T E MB E R 1 9 9 8 H A MB U R G , GE RMANY

EUROSEAS Conference Panel on 'Chan^in^ Labour Relations Eleven speakers from Australia, the Philippines, Great Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands formed a panel at the Euroseas Conference. Their research covered the areas o f java, South Su matra, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and o f South East Asia as a region. Four overlapping themes could be discerned. By RATNA SAPTARI

ne theme con cerned the na ture of labour. Thus Jonathan Rigg (University of Durham) gave a broad picture of changing labour markets where the rural-urban divide has become less sharp, where non-farm employment has become much more significant, and doubt has been cast on ‘house hold strategies’. Amarjit Kaur (Uni versity of New England) discussed the

different conjunctures shaping la bour demand in the mining and plan tation systems resulting in an ethical ly and gender-differentiated labour force in these respective systems de riving initially from the colonial sys tem. Daniel Arghiros showed the rapid changes in the labour composi tion of the brickmaking workforce and the export-industries located in Thailand. The changes in the brick making industry particularly came about as a response to changes in the local labour supply. Labour, at first, was composed of local landless and

land-poor, then consisted mainly of migrant workers from the Northeast, and later these were replaced by ille gal immigrant workers. Another theme concerned the na ture of labour relations as found in specific industries or specific locali ties. Jennifer Alexander and Paul Alex ander concentrating on the exportoriented furniture industry in Java, Indonesia, examined the extent in which the commercial interests of the furniture industry have redefined kin-based relations and terms and vice versa, how kin-based relations utilized relations of production. Ar ghiros also examined changes in sys tems of labour control in the work place following the changes under gone by the brick-making industry. The third theme was on workers’

Labour Studies at Other Institutes

politics and the trajectories of trade unions (the two not necessarily analo gous to one another). Becky Elmhirst (University of Brighton) referring to the Lampungese women migrants who went to the factories of Tangerang, West Java, showed how relations outside the workplace, rather than in the workplace itself, influenced the political behaviour of the Lampun gese women workers. In exercising its moral supervision over young mi grant women in Tangerang the eth nic and kin-based Lampungese social network also curtailed their possibili ties for political participation. Ratna Saptari highlighted the contrasting phenomena of labour politics in two diverse industrial cities in East Java. Labour activism in Surabaya and nonactivism in Malang in this period of

economic crisis should not be ex plained by modern-traditional di chotomies or by locational differenc es. Explanations should be sought in the interplay of various factors, but particularly in state and NGO inter vention, industrial structure, and community-level dynamics. Irene Norlund (Nordic Instirute of Asian Studies, Denmark) looked at the changing perceptions of the Vietna mese state on the definition of work ers. The fourth theme concerned the issue of the construction or categori zation of labour. Focusing on child la bour, Ben White (Institute of Social Studies) pointed out the selective na ture of the international discourse on children’s work and how this con trasts with the reality of children’s work. Since such a discourse is exer cised in policy-making circles, it very strongly shapes the legal definition of child labour and children’s work and the political positioning of govern ment and non-government organiza tions regarding this issue - irrespec tive of whether it reflects children’s realities and needs. ■

2 4 A P RI L 1 9 9 8 A M S T E R D A M , THE N E T H E R L A N D S

Centre of Asian Studies, One-Day University of Hong Kong Seminar The Centre o f Asian Studies was established in November 196y. It functions as a Centre in which all departments o f the University with interests related to contemporary and tradi tional Chinese studies, Hong Kong studies and East and Southeast Asian studies may bring together their research and their post-graduate students in interdisciplinary and other seminars. Its other functions include: serving as a Hong Kong base for overseas scholars in these field; supporting doctoral and post-doctoral research; publishing and sponsoring the publication o f journals and the results o f research in the field o f Asian Studies; and engaging in other activities in the pro motion o f East and Southeast Asian Studies. By SUN WEN-BIN

team of research ers comprising a director, deputy director, three research officers and two post doctoral fellows conducts independent research in the Centre’s prescribed field of interest. Research activities of the Centre also include the projects of many University staff who have been appointed centre fel lows. At present there are forty centre fellows. In addition, at all times there are a number of local and oversears scholars holding honorary appoint ments at the Centre, and engaged in research related to topics of interest to the Centre. The research work and other activities of the Centre are sup ported by eleven administrative and secretarial staff members. Current materials from China and Southeast Asia are housed in the Centre’s library. A collection of refer ence materials essential to scholar ship is being built up, and these in clude the FBIS Daily Report from the PRC, Xinhua News Bulletins, Asian

Studies journals and newspapers. Many of these materials are not readi ly available elsewhere. The publica tions of the Centre include a Mono graphs and an Occasional Papers Se ries, a Research Guide and Bibliogra phies Series, the Journal of Oriental Studies and the East Asian Tertiary/Qua ternary Newsletter. The Centre also publishes its bi-monthly Newsletter, which aims to network the Centre’s scholars and to keep the readers informed of the on-going Centre activities. The Centre’s research work is defi nitely heading in two directions. One is on the drastic changes in the PRC since the beginning of the reform in 1978. This includes research on the de velopment of Chinese entrepreneurship, business tradition, and chang ing labour relations in China. The on going study on labour relations focus es on the issue of labour disputes and the status quo of the Chinese working class in Post-Mao China. By collecting both qualitative and quanriative data in the Chinese mainland, the re searchers are trying to examine sever al major problems: 1) individual and

collective bargaining over wages and various social welfare benefits; 2) workplace regulations and grievance procedures; 3) internal cleavage and differential reward practice within enterprises; 4) informal social ties among workers, 5). the role of trade unions; and 6) the role of government. Related to this, the Centre’s fellows have been doing research on the im pact of legislation on trade unions in Hong Kong, and the development of labour relations in Hong Kong (la bour’s responses to industrial devel opment and the transformation of in dustrial structure). The other direction of research is on the study of China and the ASEAN countries. The aim is to link institutes in China and Southeast Asia to stimu late co-operative projects, collabora tion in data collection, wider regional research, and to encourage research in this area in Hong Kong. The Centre holds an annual China-ASEAN aca demic conference and is going to pub lish a quarterly - China-ASEAN Re view. The Centre also has experts run ning projects on Hong Kong Studies, in both historical and contemporary perspectives. It is in the process of es tablishing a centre of excellence on Hong Kong history and culture stud-

For further information please contact:

DR SUN WEN-BIN C entre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong tel: (8S2) 2859 2460 fax: (852) 2559 3185 e-mail: wbsun@hkucc.hku.hk.

The main aim o f the One-Day Seminar was to bring together labour scholars to exchange information on ongoing research. Since an increasing number o f scholars in the Netherlands is studying work processes, industrial relations, labour migra tion etc. in Asia, past, and present and many o f them have not had the opportunity to get to know o f the work o f others out side their respective research schools, this seminar was meant to serve this function. The second aim was to look at the diver sities in labour relations in different Asian countries. The sem inar was attended by Ph.D. students, post-docs, university staff, and researchers. By RATNA SAPTARI

he areas covered were China, In dia, the Philip pines, and Indonesia. Since the topics were quite varied, discussions were more of an informative nature rather than focusing on one com mon issue. However as a first at tempt such a meeting was extremely useful for general exchange. Jan Lucassen gave an introduction to the International Institute of Social His tory and Paul van der Velde to the In ternational Institute for Asian Stud ies. The keynote speakers were Rajnavaran Chandavarkar (Dept, of His tory, Cambridge University) on ‘Ap proaches to Labour Historiography’ and Jan Breman (CASA) on ‘the Infor malization of Labour’. Research presentations were given by Miran da Engelshoven (Amsterdam School of Social Science Research, Univ. of Amsterdam) on ‘Labour in the Dia mond Industry, India’; Cen Huang (International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden) on ‘Transnational ism and Labour in China’ Peter

Keppy (Amsterdam School for Social Science Research, Amsterdam) on La bour Activism in the 1930s in Java, Indonesia’, and the last speaker was Rosanne Rutten (Amsterdam School for Social Science Research, Amster dam) on ‘Claim-making and labour rights in a Philippine plantation re gion’. The participants in this one day seminar came from various re search institutions in the Nether lands and forms were distributed to expand the CLARA database on re searchers working on the theme of labour in Asia. ■

Dr Ratna Saptari is the Programme Coordinator o f the Research Programme 'Changing Industrial Labour Relations in Asia. She can be reached at

THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL HISTORY Cruquiusweg 31 10 19 AT Amsterdam The Netherlands tel: + 3 1-20-66.858.66 fax:+ 3 1-20-66.541.8 1 e-mail: chlia@iisg.nl

December 1998 •

h a s n e w s l e t t e r tm? 17

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THE

ES F A S I A

COMMI TTEE

N E WS ESF OFFICE

£ /?

As i a E U R O P E A N

Commi t t ee S C I E N C E

F O U N D A T I O N

I quai Lezay-Marnésia 67080 Strasbourg Cedex France Tel:+33-388 76 71 00 Fax: +33-388 37 05 32 WWW: http://www.esf.org

Negotiating identities

'Hinduism' in modern Indonesia M odernity has by now reached all Indonesians in the guise o f both rationalised world religion and Indonesianization. Thus, the old and rather self-evident reference points o f individual and ethnic identity as well as social solidarity have been chal lenged by new constructs and lifestyles. Nowadays, we talk about globalisation resulting in an intensification o f local identities as i f it were an axiom. However, few authors have bothered to describe concrete social processes, which would examplify and thus help to understand this seem ingly paradox axiom. A nthropologist Dr. Martin Ramstedt investigates the dicourse and discursive practice o f ‘Indonesian H ind uism ’ visa-vis individual, ethnic as well as national and thereby global interests in a three-year project which entails fieldwork in dif ferent parts o f Indonesia and India as well as archive work in the Netherlands. ■ By MARTIN RAMSTEDT

{ ~r ~r induism’ as I

it is underin The European Science Foundation contemporary Indonesia (ESF) acts as a catalyst for the devel has in fact evolved out of opment of science by bringing to a religious reform move gether leading scientists and funding ment which had started in Bali agencies to debate, plan and imple around 1917. At that time, Dutch coment pan-European scientific and I lonial rule as well as Islamic propa science policy initiatives. ganda and Christian missionary The ESF is an association of more work had prompted Balinese intel than sixty major national funding lectuals to redefine Balinese tradi tion in order to reassert the status of agencies devoted to basic scientific Balinese religious practices as ‘reli research in over twenty countries. It represents all scientific disciplines: gion’ rather than as rites based on physical and engineering sciences, life customary ethnic beliefs and to adapt Balinese customary rules of and environmental sciences, medical conduct (called ‘adat’ by the Dutch) sciences, humanities and social sciences.The Foundation assists its to the demands of modernity. When Member Organisations in two main Bali was integrated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1950, the Indonesian ways: by bringing scientists together Ministry of Religion dominated by in its scientific programmes, networks and European research conferences, representatives of Islam and Chris to work on topics of common con tianity rejected ‘Balinese religion’ on the grounds of its definition o f‘reli cern; and through the joint study of gion’. issues of strategic importance in According to the Indonesian Min European science policy. istry of Religion, ‘religion’ implies a The ESF maintains close relations universal, monotheistic creed based with other scientific institutions with on a holy book which was conceived in and outside Europe. By its activi by a holy prophet whereas Balinese ties, the Foundation adds value by co rites and rituals appeared to be eth operation and co-ordination across national frontiers and endeavours, nic and polytheistic in character. Moreover, those practices were ap offers expert scientific advice on stra parently connected to different ge tegic issues, and provides the Europe nealogical traditions and thus to an an forum for fundamental science. cestor worship. In an enhanced pro cess of religious reform, Balinese in ESF OFFICE tellectuals reformulated the central I quai Lezay-Marnésia doctrines of ‘Bali Hinduism’ by 67080 Strasbourg Cedex, France turning to neo-Hinduistic currents Tel:+33-388 76 71 00 of modern India for inspiration. Fax: +33-388 37 05 32 Complying with the requirements of WWW: http://www.esf.org the Ministry of Religion, they pre sented Sanghyang Widhi Wasa as the SECRETARIAT OF Balinese equivalent to the ‘God’ THE ESF ASIA COMMITTEE: (Tuhan) of Indonesian Islam and International Institute for Asian Studies Christianity with the lesser Balinese att. of: Drs Sabine A.M. Kuypers deities and deified ancestors corre or Drs Marieke T. te Booij sponding to the angels of Islam and P.O.Box 9515,2300 RA Leiden Christianity. ‘Sanghyang Widhi The Netherlands Wasa’ can be translated either as ‘Al Tel:+31-7 1-527 22 27 mighty, Divine, and Supreme Ruler Fax:+31-71-527 41 62 of the Universe' or as ‘Divine, Power

J. JL stood

5 0

• h a s n e w s l e t t e r NS 17 • December 1998

ful Cosmic Law’. Hence, the term in fact accommodates both the Muslim-Christian as well as the Indian Hindu (sananta dharma) notion of the Supreme Principle. Furthermore, it was claimed that certain Hindu texts like the Indian Bhagavad Gita or the Old Javanese Sarasamuccaya are divine revelations conceived by holy seers and are therefore equiva lent to the Al Quran and the Bible. ‘Hinduism’ was finally recognised by the Ministry of Religion in 1959. In i960, a kind of religious council called Parisada Dharma Hindu Bali was established as the official repre sentative of Bali Hinduism. This council discouraged the Balinese tinge in favour of a much more Indianised version of official Hinduism and consequently changed its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma in 1964. The advent of Soeharto’s ‘new order’ resulted in an increasing Indonesianisation of both Hindu Dharma and Parisada Hindu Dhar ma, partly due to the fact that every Indonesian citizen was now required to be a registered member of one of the five acknowledged religious communities (Islam, Christianity [i.e. Protestantism], Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism). Inspired by the glorious Hindu Javanese past imagined by the Indonesian nation alists, a large number of Javanese converted to Hinduism in the 1960s and 1970s. When the adherents of the ethnic religions Aluk To Dolo (Sa’dan Toraja) and Kaharingan (Ngaju, Luangan) claimed official recogni tion of their traditions, the Ministry of Religion classified them as Hindu variants in 1968 and 1980. Due to Hindu missionary work by Balinese and Indians living in Medan, several members of the Karo in North Su matra started to embrace Hinduism in 1977. Having become a truly na tional representative of Hinduism, the Parisada Hindu Dharma chan ged its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia in 1984. The physical Indonesianisation of Hin duism was paralleled by an ideologi cal Indonesianisation when in 1978 the Indonesian Ministry of Educa tion and Culture introduced the pancasila-indoctrination program P4. In 1983 the pancasila-philosophy became the sole philosophical base (asas tunggal) of all recognised social organisations including the official ly acknowledged religious commu nities. The research project addresses the topic by differentiating between three predominantly top-down lev els of discourses: (1) the hegemonic discourse of the Indonesian govern

ment on religion and culture; (2) the discourse of the official representa tives of Hindu Dharma Indonesia succumbing to the hegemonic gov ernmental discourse by redefining the Hindu doctrines in the light of the pancasila-philosophy; (3) the dis courses of the local adherents of Hindu Dharma Indonesia which partly succumb to and partly try to influence the previous two levels of discourses in favour of local interests by redefining and reasserting local tradition. Each of the three levels of discourses as well as the accompany ing discursive practices are analysed in a historical as well as social psy chological perspective. ‘Discourse’ is defined as ‘an institutionalised way of speaking about certain things which represents certain interests and which structures the habitus and thus the perception, emotion, motivation and action of people’. ‘Discursive practice’ is understood as ‘those institutionalised regulations which determine the effects of a cer tain discourse in favour of certain in terests’. The hegemonic governmental dis course has been strongly influenced by the Islamic as well as Christian notion of ‘religion’. Moreover, the governmental priorities of Indone sianisation as well as economic glo balisation intrinsic to the pancasilaphilosophy of the ‘new order’ have been decisive factors for the cultural and religious policy of the Indone sian state, resulting in the imple mentation of certain values which reflect not only the values of the socalled Protestant work ethic and Jap anese bushido, but also the values of the ‘Asian Renaissance’. Thus, ‘Is lamic and Christian notions of reli gion’, ‘Indonesianisation’ and ‘eco nomic globalisation' have become parameters of the official Hindu dis course. The current political and ec onomical crisis in Indonesia is not likely to change these parameters. It might even enhance their impact on the ongoing rationalisation of Hindu Dharma Indonesia. The local discourses of the Balinese, the mod ern Hindu-Javanese, the adherents of Hindu-Aluk To Dolo, the HinduTengger, the adherents of HinduKaharingan and the Hindu-Karo are not ‘equal’ in the sense that they are equally represented by the official representatives of ‘Indonesian Hin duism’. The Balinese discourse dom inating the two decisive bodies with in the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indo nesia (the Paruman Sulinggih and the Paruman Welaka), the Direktorat Jenderal Agama Hindu-Buddha as well as the Universitas Hindu Dhar

ma Indonesia, has most successfully influenced ‘Indonesian Hinduism’ to the disadvantage of the various other local discourses. The Balinese discourse itself, however, is not so homogenous as it might appear, since it is the ‘battle field’ of various cultural-religious factions, e.g. the pasek-movement, the Satya Sai Baba movement, the Peradah, the Forum Cendekiawan Hindu Dharma Indo nesia, the Forum Pemerhati Hindu Dharma Indonesia etc. ‘Ethnic identity’ has been a recur rent concern of the local discourses. Ethnic’ or ‘local identity’ seems to crystallize in the local adat. Howev er, the Hindu members of the Sa’dan Toraja, the Karo, the Tengger or the Ngaju etc. cannot easily claim to be ‘guardians’ of their specific ethnic traditions on the grounds that ‘Hin duism’ is ‘more accommodating’ than Islam or Christianity since adat is exposed to rationalisation by ‘In donesian Hinduism’, too. Local adat is both rationalised and defended by adherents of all recognised creeds. Furthermore, the term ‘adat’ itself is a highly ideologized product of the Dutch indological as well as the offi cial Indonesian discourse, despite its primordial connotations. One, therefore, has to ask why a certain individual - i.e. a Javanese, a certain member of the Karo, the Tengger, the Toraja, the Ngaju or the Luangan - embraces Hinduism rather than Islam or Christianity. How does he or she negotiate his or her various identities to which ends? Within the general Indonesian dis course ‘Hinduism’ seems to be asso ciated with ‘backwardness’, ‘ancestor worship’, ‘trance’, and ‘magic’. This has inspired me to formulate the fol lowing hypothesis: members of eth nic traditions on the fringe of the modern Indonesian state favour ei ther Islam or Christianity when they are socially and economically ambi tious whereas those who defend a ‘traditional’, ‘anti-capitalist’ lifestyle convert to Hinduism. Within ‘Indo nesian Hinduism’ the popularity of the Satya Sai Baba movement or the various forms of Indian yoga practic es seem to hint to a similar and growing rejection of a rationalised religion and a ‘disenchanted world’ ruled on the terms of modern econo my. ■

Dr Martin Ramstedt is a research fellow selected by the ESF Asia Committee and stationed at the HAS. He is also affiliated with NIAS.

ESF A S I A C O M M I T T E E

N E WS

Reconstitution of the ESF Asia Committee In 1997 the ESF Executive Council decided to continue the Asian Studies Programme for another period o f three years, follow ing the recom m endations o f an external review panel. The contents o f the new programme, which have been pub lished in the previous HAS New sletter, were the result o f a de bate between the Standing Com m ittees for the H um anities and the Social Sciences. That is why it has taken a w hile before the programme could be restarted. The Asian Studies Pro gramme w ill focus on contemporary issues in Asia, w hile tak ing into account the cultural and historical context. By MAX SPARREBOOM

n the mean time, the ESF Member Or ganisations that have a potential interest in Asian Studies have been approached with a suggestion for a financial contribu tion. They were also requested to make nominations for membership of the new Asia Committee that will be responsible for the execution of this programme. Presently, most re search organisations have replied. At their October meetings (this is writ ten before the meetings had taken

ASSOCIATION FOR KOREAN STUDIES IN EUROPE, AKSE P ro f. D r B .C .A .W a lr a v e n ( p r e s id e n t ) L e id e n U n iv e r s ity

place), the Standing Committees will take a decision on the proposed com position of the new Asia Committee. Thirteen European countries will be represented on this Committee. The composition should take account of a fair spread of disciplinary and re gional expertise and is subject to careful scrutiny by the two Standing Committees of ESF. If the Standing Committees come to an agreement and if the proposed new Asia Com mittee members accept their nomi nation, the Committee will be estab lished in November. A first meeting could then in principle take place in December 1998.

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR JAPANESE STUDIES, EAJS

The total budget for 1999 to be rai sed through a-la-carte contributions from ESF Member Organisations, national governments and private foundations amounts to FF 2.820.000. The amount of money re quested from the ESF Member Or ganisations is FF 1.450.000. At pre sent, some seventy-five percent of this amount is secured; further com mitments are awaited or are under discussion. Private foundations are being approached for further contri butions. In the mean time, the workshops selected in 1997 are taking place, and the fellows selected by the Asia Com mittee in June 1997 have started work in Leiden. Attached is an up date on activities of the Asian Studies Programme. These activities are being paid from remaining funds of 1997 and from an extra contribution to the workshop scheme in 1997 by the government of the Netherlands. More about the activities of the new Asia Committee will be published in the next HAS Newsletter. ■

Workshops S E L E C T E D F OR F U N D I N G BY T H E ESF A S I A C O M M I T T E E

The Asian Mediterranean Sea in the ‘Longue Durée’ Paris, 3-5 March 1997 Prof D. Lombard, École Fran$aise d’Extrême-Orient / École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales

The Place o f the Past: The Uses o f History in South Asia London, 16-18 April 1997 Dr Avril Powell, Dr Daud Ali, London University, Dept, of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK

A Critical Examination o f the Uses and Abuses o f Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and its Transformations Kent, 8-10 May 1997 Prof. R. Ellen, Dept, of Anthro pology and Sociology, University of Kent at Canterbury, Eliot College, Canterbury, Kent, UK

Forgeries o f Dunhuang Manu scripts in the Twentieth C. London, 3oJune - zjuly 1997 Dr S. Whitfield, The International Dunhuang Project (IDP), Oriental and India Office Collections, The British Library, London, UK Prof Lewis Lancaster, Department of East Asian Languages, Uni versity of California at Berkeley

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES, EUROSEAS

D r P. K o r n i c k i ( p r e s i d e n t )

P ro f T h . S v e n sso n (p re s id e n t) N o r d ic I n s tit u te o f A sia n S tu d ie s

P .O . B o x 9 5 1 5 , 2 3 0 0 R A L e i d e n

F a c u lty o f O r i e n t a l S tu d ie s

T h e N e th e rla n d s

S id g w ic k A v e n u e

L e ifs g a d e 3 3 , 2 3 0 0 K o b e n h a v n S

T e l:+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 5 4 1

C a m b rid g e C B 3 9 D A , U K

D e n m a rk

F a x :+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 2 1 5

T e l: + 4 4 - 1 2 2 3 - 3 3 5 1 7 3

T e l: + 4 5 - 3 15 4 8 8 4 4

E -m a il: w a l r a v e n @ r u l l e t . l e i d e n u n i v . n l

F a x : + 4 4 - 1 2 2 3 - 3 3 5 1 10

F ax: + 4 5 -3 2 9 6 2 5 3 0

Bihar in the World Patna, 16 - 19 December 1997 Dr Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff, State Resource Centre ADRI, Patna, India Dr Arvind Das, Asia Pacific Communication Associates, Delhi, India Dr Shaibal Gupta, State Resource Centre ADRI, Patna, India Drs Paul Streumer, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

E -m a il: p k l 0 4 @ h e r m e s . c a m . a c . u k S e c r e t a r i a t , c / o P r o f . D r P. B o o m g a a r d

S e c r e ta r ia t, c /o D r R. W e r n e r S a sse U n iv e r s it a t H a m b u r g , A b t. K o r e a

S e c re ta ria t, c /o P ro f. D r W . P a sc h a

R o y a l I n s t i t u t e o f L in g u is tic s a n d

B in d e rs tra s s e 34

E a s t A sia n E c o n o m ic S tu d ie s

A n t h r o p o l o g y , K IT L V

2 0 1 4 6 H a m b u rg , G e rm a n y

D u is b u r g U n iv e r s ity

P .O . B o x 9 5 1 5 , 2 3 0 0 R A

E - m a il :o r 5 a 0 0 7 @ r r z . u n i - h a m b u r g . d e

4 7 0 4 8 D u is b u rg

T h e N e th e rla n d s

G e rm a n y

T e l:+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 6 3 9

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CHINESE STUDIES, EACS

T e l/F a x + 4 9 - 2 0 3 - 3 7 9 2 0 0 2

F a x :+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 6 3 8

E -m a il: e a j s @ u n i - d u i s b u r g . d e

E -m a il: E U R O S E A S @ R u lle t.L e id e n U n iv .n l

P ro f. D r R. W a g n e r (p r e s id e n t) U n i v e r s i t a t H e id e lb e r g , S in o lo g is c h e s S e m in a r

L e id e n

EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR CENTRAL ASIA STUDIES, ESCAS

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES, EASAS

A k a d e m i e s t r a s s e 4 - 8 , D - 6 9 1 17

D r E .A . C h y l i n s k i ( p r e s i d e n t )

H e id e lb e rg

T a a s in g e v e j 19, 6 7 1 0 E s b je r g V

P ro f. D r D. R o th e r m u n d (p re s id e n t)

G e rm a n y

D e n m a rk

U n iv e rs ita t H e id e lb e rg

T e l:+ 4 9 - 6 2 2 1 - 5 4 2 4 6 5

T e l:+ 4 5 -7 5 1 2 3 7 4 4

S ü d a s ie n I n s tit u t

F ax: + 4 9 -6 2 2 1 -5 4 2 4 39

F a x : + 4 5 - 7 5 4 5 2 7 .0 1

Opting out o f the ‘Nation’, Identity Politics and Labour in Central, South and West Asia, 1920s - 1990s

Im N e u e n h e i m e r F e ld 3 3 0 6 9 1 2 0 H e id e lb e rg , G e rm a n y

S e c r e t a r ia t, c / o D r T. A ta b a k i

T e l:+ 4 9 -6 2 2 1 -5 4 8 9 0 9 / 0 0

C e n tr e fo r D e v e lo p m e n t a n d th e

U n iv e rs ity o f U tr e c h t

F a x :+ 4 9 -6 2 2 1 -5 4 4 9 98

E n v i r o n m e n t (S U M )

V a k g r o e p O o s t e r s e T a le n

U n iv e rs ity o f O s lo

D rift 1 5 ,3 5 1 2 BR U tr e c h t

S e c r e t a r i a t , c / o P r o f . D .H .A . K o lff

P .O . B o x 1 1 1 6 B l i n d e r n

T h e N e th e rla n d s

K e rn In s titu te

N -0 3 1 7 O slo

T e l:+ 3 1 -3 0 -2 5 3 6 1 3 2

P .O . B o x 9 5 1 5 , 2 3 0 0 R A L e i d e n

N o rw a y

F a x :+ 3 1 -3 0 -2 5 3 6 1 3 8

T h e N e th e rla n d s

T e l: + 4 7 - 2 2 8 5 8 9 5 4 ( - 0 0 )

E - m a il :T u r a j . A t a b a k i @ L e t . R u u . n l

T e l:+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 6 2 2 / 2 5 0 3

S e c r e ta r ia t, c /o P ro f. H . B o e k m a n

F ax: + 4 7 -2 2 8 5 8 9 2 0

F a x :+ 3 1 -7 1 -5 2 7 2 6 1 5

E -m a il: h a r a l d . b o c k m a n @ s u m . u i o . n o

E -m a il: K o l f f @ R u l l e t . L e i d e n U n i v . N L

Dr Cristina Eghenter (Jakarta)

Dr Martin Ramstedt (München)

Dr Ines Zupanov (Paris)

S ta tio n e d a t: C e n t r e f o r S o u t h e a s t A s ia n

S t a t i o n e d a t : H A S, L e i d e n , T h e N e t h e r l a n d s

S ta tio n e d a t: S c h o o l o f O r i e n t a l a n d

S t u d i e s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f H u ll, U K P e rio d :J u n e 1 9 9 7 - J u n e

1999

T o pic: T h e U s e o f M i g r a t i o n a n d T r a d i n g R o u t e s in t h e I n t e r i o r o f B o r n e o

P e rio d : D e c e m b e r 1 9 9 7 - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 0 R e s e a r c h to p ic : H i n d u D h a r m a I n d o n e s i a -

A fric a n S tu d ie s L o n d o n , U K P e rio d : N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 6 - N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 8

T h e H i n d u - M o v e m e n t in P r e s e n t - D a y

T o p ic :J e s u i t M i s s i o n s in I n d i a ( 1 6 t h - 1 8 t h

I n d o n e s i a a n d i t s I n f l u e n c e in R e l a t i o n

C e n t u r y ) . E th n o g r a p h y ,T h e o lo g y a n d

t o t h e D e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e In d ig e n o u s

S o c ia l E n g i n e e r i n g

Dr Cecilia Milwertz (Copenhagen)

C u l t u r e o f t h e T o r a j a ( A l u k T o d o l o ) in

S ta tio n e d a t: I n s t i t u t e f o r C h in e s e S tu d ie s

S o u t h S u la w e s i

in O x f o r d , U K

Dr Evelyne Micollier (Aix-en-Provence)

P e rio d : A u g u s t 1 9 9 6 - A u g u s t 1 9 9 9

Dr Giovanni Vitiello (Rome)

S ta tio n e d a t: H A S, L e id e n , T h e N e t h e r l a n d s

T o pic: E s t a b l i s h i n g C iv il S o c i e t y in

S ta tio n e d a t: H A S, L e id e n , T h e N e t h e r l a n d s

P e r io d : J u ly 1 9 9 8 - J u ly 2 0 0 0

P e rio d : A u g u s t 1 9 9 7 - A u g u s t 2 0 0 0

T o p i c : ‘P r a c t i c e s a n d R e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f

t h e P e o p l e 's R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a

R e s e a r c h to p ic : E x e m p l a r y S o d o m i t e s :

Antalya, i4-i6November 1997 Prof. Dr W. van Schendel, University of Amsterdam, International Institute of Social History Prof E. Ziircher, International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam, the Netherlands Dr G. Rasuly-Palaczek, University ofVienna, Austria Dr I. Baldauf Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin, Germany Dr T. Atabaki, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

H e a l t h a n d I ll n e s s in t h e C o n t e x t o f

P o rn o g ra p h y , H o m o e ro tic is m a n d

C h in e s e C u lt u r e . I n te r a c ti o n s w ith

S e x u a l C u l t u r e in L a t e I m p e r i a l C h i n a

s o c ia l f a c ts (Illn e s s p r e v e n t i o n a n d

Sustainable Urban Develop ment in Southeast Asia Liverpool, 17-19 September 1997 Prof. D. Drakakis-Smith, The University of Liverpool, Department of Geography, Liverpool, UK Dr Ooi giok Ling, Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore

From Kaifèng to Shanghai Jews in China Sankt Augustin, z z z6 September 1997 Dr Roman Malek, Institut Monumenta Serica and China-Zentrum Sankt Augustin, Germany

Religion and Economy in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) Biaubeuren, i6-i9March 1998 Prof Dr H.U. Vogel, Seminar für Sinologie und Korean istik, Univ. Tübingen Prof. Dr V. Eschbach-Szabo, Dr G. Leinss, Seminar fair Japanologie, Univ. Tübingen Prof Dr D. Eikemeier, Seminar für Sinologie und Koreanistik, Univ. Tübingen

Asian concepts o f compre hensive security and their implications for Europe Zushi,Japan, 23-25January 1998 Dr. Kurt W. Radtke, Leiden University, Faculty of Arts, Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies, the Netherlands Dr Raymond Feddema, University of Amsterdam, Modern Asian History, the Netherlands

Co-Management o f Natural Resources in Asia: A Comparative Perspective Caba^an, Philippines 1618 September 1998 Dr G.A. Persoon, Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, the Netherlands Dr P. Sajise, SEARCA, UPLB Campus, Laguna, the Philippines

The Economies o f Southeast Asia in the 1930s Depression London, 2-4 Apnl 1998 Dr Ian Brown, Department of History, SOAS, University of London, UK

Time and Society in Modem Asia Copenhagen, 18-zoJune 1998 Prof. R. Cribb, Dr I. Reader, Dr B. Bakken, NIAS, Copenhagen S, Denmark

Religious Diffusion and Cultural Exchange Hamburg University, 7-9 September 1998 Dr. B.J. Terwiel, Universitat Hamburg, Seminar für Sprache und Kultur Chinas, Abteilung Thailand Burma u. Indochina, Germany

First International Workshop on the Hmong/Miao in Asia Aix-en-Provence, 11-13 September 1998 Dr J. Michaud, University of Hull, Centre for South-East Asian Studies, Hull, UK Dr C. Culas, IRSEA-CNRS, Aix-en-Provence, France

H u m a n r e a lity o f A ID S )'

December 1998 •

has n e w s l e t t e r

04517 • % 1

ES F A S I A

COMMI TTEE

Practices and R epresentations o f H ealth and illness in the C ontext o f Chinese Culture.

Illness Prevention and Social and Cultural Aspects of the AIDS Issue In Dr Micollier’s project, the lines o f study are related to AIDS education and prevention, health-care policies, social change, migrants or foreigners as illness vectors, strategies and dis courses o f health workers (professional, traditional, and local), patients and families, and practices and perception o f the body-self. These last have an impact on practices and represen tations o f sexuality in the context o f the HIV/AIDS epidemic remarkable for its social, cultural, and psychological implica tions as well as for its economic, and demographic aspects. By EVELYNE MI COL L I E R

he research pro ject is related to three main topics - the AIDS issue, illness prevention, and aspects of religious and social change in contemporary Chinese so cieties (PR China, Taiwan) linked to health practices. The individual project is integrat ed into a teamwork project: the AIDS issue in an intercultural and multi disciplinary perspective is a priority line of study of the CNRS (Thematic programme on HIV/AIDS, French National Centre for Scientific Re search, Social Sciences Dept). The aim is to study the human and social di mensions of AIDS in P.R.C. and Tai wan. In 1997 fieldwork was conduct ed in PR China (Beijing, Kunming, and Yunnan province) and in Taiwan (Taipei) for a period of six months. Among the thirty million people estimated to be infected with HIV/AIDS in the world, five to seven million live in Asia. Among the eight and a half thousand new infections per day, two to three thousand are re lated to the Chinese world. The peo ple concerned are ethnic Chinese (from PR China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and diasporas huaqiao) or non-ethnic Chinese citizens (ethnic groups living in PR China or Tai wan). In 1998, China has entered a phase o f‘fast growth’ of HIV/AIDS cases ac cording to the Ministry of Health. Although the number of HIV-posi tive patients at the end of last year was estimated at four hundred thou sand by UNAIDS-China, only 9,970 HIV/AIDS cases had actually been re ported nationwide by March 31, 1998. Since the beginning of 1990s, Yunnan province, with a population of forty million has been the epi demic epicentre: this southwest province bordering Burma, the world’s foremost producer of opium, is severely affected by drug abuse and trafficking. Before 1997, seventy per cent of the people officially iden tified as having HIV had been detect ed in Yunnan. Now, the rate is re duced to fifty per cent as the epidem ic spread from the border to inland and coastal southern provinces and northwest Xinjiang following drug trafficking routes and, more recent

Research Project

52 •

HAS N E W S L E T T E R N?

ly, children and women trafficking routes. Showing the same patterns as in Thailand, Vietnam, and Burma, HIV first spread in South China through drug injections then through heter osexual contact. The commercial sex trade is booming along two routes: one running in the direction of the coastal regions (Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian), which are de veloping economically at a great rate and Hongkong; the other reaches Thailand from Yunnan through Burma. The commercial sex trade and trafficking women are becom ing very urgent and alarming human and social issues, which need to be addressed. Migration (a mass-

movement putting about ten per cent of Chinese population on the move) as a risk factor for the spread of HIV/AIDS has long been underes timated, a fact that has hindered prevention of the incidence of AIDS and affected the efficacy of the con trol programme. Dr Micollier will explain the im plications of anthropological under standing in the context of the HIV/AIDS. Anthropological analysis as a form of knowledge bridging gaps between cultures can help in the process of networking and col laborating between local organiza tions and their foreign counterparts; adjustment of global projects to the local cultural context cannot be un dertaken without taking into ac count qualitative data collected using anthropological methodology. Popular, traditional, and modern (linked to the introduction of West ern medicine) practices and repre sentations of health and illness have to be investigated before launching development projects dealing with public health, particularly with sen

SEALG

SEALG Meeting in Hamburg On Wednesday September z, 1998, members o f the South-East Asian Library Group from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ger many, and France met at the University o f Hamburg for their Annual Conference. ■ By ROS E MAR Y R O B S O N MC K I L L O P

here had been no important devel opments since the last meeting, so the main issue was the Newsletter. Its subscription fee had formerly been the chief source of SEALG’s income, but now SEALG news, reports and papers presented at The Annual Meetings appear in the SEALG column in the pink pages of the HAS Newsletter. The final issue of the old newsletter has yet to appear, which will happen as soon as technical prob lems with the SOAS scanner have been overcome. In future, if people have re ports, book reviews, or articles which they think would be of interest to SEALG and could be published in the IIAS Newsletter, they should contact me at the address given below.. One important topic which was broached was the further develop ment of the SEALG directory in

17 • December 1998

which we would like to publish as much information as possible about libraries in various European coun tries with South-East Asian hold ings, whether these are public or private. Dr Lieu Cao Thi from IRSEACNRS (Aix-en-Provence/Marseille) has already compiled a directory for France. Although this is as yet in complete, it already contains more than a thousand entries, with a heavy emphasis on Indo-China col lections. By about the beginning of October the provisional printed ver sion should be available for sale. Dr Lieu can be contacted at Caothi@romarin.univ-aix.fr. The cost of the publication will be 120 French francs plus postage. For the work we have in mind it is essential to have a means of publica tion which is easily updatable, as there is always the possibility that we can come across new sources. The best way of achieving this is to have our own Home Page on the Internet

sitive issues like the HIV/AIDS epi demic. This means understanding the components and working meth ods of medical pluralism. The fieldwork focuses on various groups in the population: HIV positive/AIDS patients and their fami lies; professional health workers (medical institution); traditional and popular healers involved in STDs and eventually AIDS healing; social organizations (official, non-official, religious) involved in social work and welfare on the HIV/AIDS issue (care and prevention); the gen eral population. The methodology is one frequent ly used in the social sciences: quanti tative data (epidemiological figures and trends) will be used; qualitative data will be collected by participant observation (in-depth interviews, in-depth ethnographic description), the biographical method (life-stories of main informants); and biblio graphical references dealing with the subject of research. A second line of study about ill ness prevention is in progress. Pre-

ventive patterns (traditional, local, and modern epidemiological-like) intersect with each other and largely overlap health belief models. Preven tive beliefs and behaviours will be analysed to understand the underlying logic of these patterns in the context of Chinese culture. The third topic is about ‘New reli gions’ Xinxing zonqjiao in Taiwan, re ligious and social change in contem porary Chinese societies (PR China, Taiwan), realignments in religion: practices in ‘New religions’ are lin ked to health practices; these relig ious activities give a perspective on the cultural identity in Taiwan. Work in progress is related to the impact of migration, to sexuality, and social change (increase of commercial sex as well as increase in casual sex with peer partners), to vulnerability of local ethnic groups. The case of Chinese Yunnan province and com parative perspectives in Mainland Southeast Asia allow for a focus on South China and Southeast Asia links in the context of the HIV/AIDS epi demic. Representations of the AIDS ‘medical situation’ are highlighted through images and discourses. In Taiwan, recent trends in health poli cies to do with health and social is sues such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, drug abuse, alcoholism among Austronesian people, etc. are approached, providing an original way to shed light on social change. ■

Dr Evelyne Micollier is an ESF-IIASINIAS Alliance Research Fellow stationed at the IIAS Branch Office in Amsterdam. For more information on Dr Micollier’s, check her web page on the web-site http://iias.leidenuniv.nl.

N E WS and negotiations are under way with the HAS to allow us to do so on their Web-site. At the meeting it was agreed that the Library of the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (kitlv ) in Leiden, the Netherlands, would take the responsiblity for the organ ization. So if you have any com ments, ideas, or any other sugges tions please do no hesitate to get in touch. We shall have to ensure that we encourage colleagues in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Russia, and the Scan dinavian countries to join in. In Spain and Portugal there must be a wealth of archives of missionary or ders, not to mention early official re cords of contact with South-East Asia. Many unexpected countries have had trading contacts with the region and the archives of various import-export businesses may very well still be extant, not to mention diaries or memoirs of the people who ran them. To any of you who might think we are suffering from delusions of grandeur, I hasten to reassure you that we are not planning to throw the catalogues of such libraries on the Internet (many of thems are still enshrined on ordinary, cardboard catalogue cards). Our simple aim is to record the libraries and their like ly potential so that people who are interested can contact them them selves.

At this 1998 Annual Meeting of SEALG in Hamburg, the 1998/1999 Committee was elected as follows: - Chairman: Drs Rahadi S. Kami (KITLV, The Netherlands) - Secretary/Treasurer: Ms Margaret Nicholson (U of Hull, Great Britain) - Member, France: Ms Dr Lieu Cao Thi (IRSEA-CNRS) - Member, Germany: Ms Christine Grune (Staatsbibl. Berlin) - Member, Germany: Ms Stella Schmidt (U Hamburg) - Member, The Netherlands: Dr Roger Tol (KITLV) - Member, Great Britain: Dr Henri Ginsburg (OIOC) - Member, Great Britain: Dr Nicholas Martland (SOAS) The Committee has proposed IRSEA-CNRS in Marseille as host for the Annual Meeting of SEALG in Sep tember 1999, and this was accepted by both host and members. ■

Rosemary Robson-McKillop, Royal Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology, Postbus 9 5 IS, 2 3 0 0 RA Leiden,The Netherlands. Email: Robson@rullet.leidenuniv.nl.

GENERAL

N E WS

V'w+cUicJh, 6c

Remembering andforgetting

Political and Social Aftermath of Intense Conflict in Eastern Asia and Northern Europe

^PeAJuiceA I NF ORMATI ON CARRIERS Asian Rare Books 175 W. 93rd Street, Suite 16-D New York, NY 10025-9344, USA

everal countries in Asia have a history which has been punctuated by an episode of extreme violence and intense conflict. China underwent brutal occupation by Japan and then suffered, perhaps even more deeply, at the hands of its own rulers during a succession of political campaigns in the t950s and 60s; Cam bodia experienced three years of terror under Pol Pot; perhaps half a million people were massacred in Indonesia in the anti-communist purges of 1965-66; Mongolia lost a large propor tion of its educated classes in the Sta linist purges; and other cases could be added. The causes of such events are often very difficult to investigate, because of problems of evidence and ulterior motive, but the impact which they have on their societies is also difficult to fathom. Because intense violence often has the goal of radically trans forming society, scholars have been reluctant to suggest that it might be a successful, effective strategy. Moreover, although there has been considerable research on the impact

* >

of trauma at an individual, psycho logical level, there has been remarka bly little work on the longer-term so cial and political legacies of trauma. Does the past experience of violence beget further violence, or does it in some way immunize against it? The topic is one in which the moral implications of research are particu larly obtrusive, because of the unre solved question of whether societies heal or improve themselves better by confronting the memory of past vio lence or by forgetting and concealing it. There is a common contemporary belief that societies can free them selves of the burden of the past only by confronting it, and that tensions which are unspoken will always in tensify. On the other hand, it may be argued that silence and even amnesia is the best solution for putting the past aside. Progress towards an answer to these questions is likely to be faster and more certain when scholars are able to draw on more than one case. Despite Tolstoy’s dictum, ‘All happy families are alike, but an unhappy family is unhappy after its own fas hion’, unhappy countries share at

least some experiences and under standing those experiences is likely to be promoted by comparison. For the sake of comparison, there fore, this workshop will juxtapose two regions seldom considered to gether in terms of political violence: Eastern Asia and Northern Europe. Eastern Asia’s experience is men tioned above; Northern Europe’s cur rent image of peace and calm is belied by its history, in particular by the bit ter Finnish civil war of 1918. A centre piece of the workshop therefore will be a consideration of the ways in which Finnish society has dealt with the memories of that violence. It is hoped, however, that the discussions will include one or more of the fol lowing: the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War, and the Highland clearances in Scot land in the eighteenth and nine teenth centuries. The aim of workshop is to examine the approaches which different socie ties have used to confront the memo ry of difficult episodes in the past and to consider the consequence of those approaches for the political and social

system. The workshop will be held in Lund, Sweden, on 15-17 April 1999 and will be jointly organized by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and the Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Lund. The organizers expect to be able to provide accommodation for paper givers and may be able to make a contribution to the travel costs of some participants. ■ Prospective paper-givers are invited to

send

Tel. + 1 212 316 5334 Fax +1 212 316 3408 Email: arbs@erols.com Http://www.erols.com/arbs/

The Asian Experts Books about South and Southeast Asia PO Box 497, Richlands Queensland 4077, Australia Tel.+61 7 3278 7587 Fax +61 7 3278 7507 Email: asiabook@gil.com.au Http://www.asiabooks.gil.com.au

an abstract (300-500 words), preferably by 20 December 1998, to either:

G ert Jan B e steb re u r tje Brigettenstraat 2

Robert Cribb

(Corner Nieuwegracht 42)

Nordic Institute o f Asian Studies

P.O. Box 264, 3500 AJ Utrecht

Leifsgade 33, DK-2300 Copenhagen-5

the Netherlands

Denmark

Tel.+31 30 231 9286

Phone: +45 32 54 8844

Fax+31 30 234 3362 Http://www.nvva.nl/bestebr/

Fax: + 45 329b 2530 Email: cribb@ nias.ku.dk or

C h arb o’s Antiquariaat

Michael Schoenhals Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies Lund University P0

Box 792, SE-22007 Lund, Sweden

Phone:+45 222 3013

Koninginneweg 79 1075 Cj Amsterdam the Netherlands Tel.+31 20 676 1229 Fax +31 20 676 1726

Fax:+45 222 3041

Http://iias,leidenuniv.nl/books/charbo/

Email: Michael.Schoenhals@ace.lu.se

C ollection Makara Continuedfrom page 5:

In Australia there was a widespread view in the expansive 1970s and ‘80s, that we could mark our suc cess as Asianists by the extent to which a separate ‘Asian Studies’ dis cipline ceased to be necessary. Asia should be ‘mainstreamed’ or ‘Infu sed’ into the core curriculum of every discipline. Yet despite much politi cally correct rhetoric, and special, government funding, there are fewer Asianists in Departments of History and Politics in Australia today than there were 10-15 years ago. The underlying causes are prob ably of a global nature. In the older disciplines, which once served as windows to the diversity of the world, there is now an alarming dominance of theory, in practice North American - driven and anti thetic to regional expertise. Dethron ing the canon of European classics written by dead white males has led not to a courageously pluralist explo ration of the world’s cultural and so cial diversity, but to a new (if swiftly changing) canon of self-referential theory. The current globalization means you can stay at home and read Kompas or the Mainichi Shimbun in English on the net without much specialist study at all. Since Asians too are buying hamburgers and read ing Foucault, do we still need special ists to understand them?

That is the bad news, but the good news is more important. Asian lan guages have flourished - meaning especially Chinese, Japanese, and In donesian, all now present in the ma jority of Australian universities. They are taught better, with more direct exposure to the societies in question, than was the case when French and German held sway. Sec ondly, Asian Studies Centres have proliferated, often built around the teaching of languages and some as sociated ‘studies’ courses. This emphatically does not mean that Asia has again become exotic and separate from mainstream edu cation. In all sorts of ways young people do know their neighbours better than previous generations. They want to study the languages as the indispensable key to another so ciety, but they are combining this with disciplines far beyond the old core of history, politics, literature, and anthropology, such as law, ar chitecture, accounting and business studies, health sciences, psychology, fine arts and film. Asianists will be endangered only if they fail to react imaginatively to this broadening of their agenda. To conclude, I see three reasons for confidence: 1 ‘Asians’ are discovering each other in a phase of globalization, which encourages a quest for regional al lies. In a manner parallel to many anti-colonial nationalisms, the

imagined communities first gen erated by European colonizers or dreamers are having their most powerful effects among the ob jects of that discourse. These glo balizing trends will make Asian Studies in the Asian region ever stronger and better inserted in the world-dominant literature. From an intellectual point of view one might argue that the most important sub-groups of what I earlier called ‘Eurasian Stu dies’ might be European Studies, Slavic Studies, Middle Eastern or West Asian Studies, South, South east, Northeast, and Central Asian Studies. Each of these are more promising fora for genuine inter nationalization in their managea ble environmental, intellectual and historical coherence. In the long run it may be the case that international congresses will arise around some of these foci, but in the shorter run the political ob stacles are substantial to genuine ly equal and open discussions in these hot-houses of historic ani mosities. 2 The tendency of the older disci plines to become more theoretical, self-referential and impenetrable to outsiders is dangerous, not only to themselves but to stu dents who must negotiate a fast changing, plural world. Area stud ies operations are increasingly precious as reservoirs of cross-dis-

ciplinary new ideas fashioned out of direct contact with difference. 3 Asia will remain the most impor tant source of otherness for the dominant world culture in gener al. The debates over ‘Asian values’, ‘Confucian ethic’, or ‘Islamic so ciology’ have already been of this type - inadequate, essentializing attempts to select ideas from the rich storehouse which is ‘Asia’ only in the sense of an alternative to the dominant and often mis guided world culture. Plunging into this bank of experience will continue to provide the richest vein for understanding ourselves, and stretching our ability to cope with the challenges of constant change in the contemporary world. ■

Old books on Asian art & culture free list - fair price Spreeuwenstraat 141 3815 SR Amersfoort the Netherlands Tel.+31 33 472 7779 (24 hours)

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References

Email: tamarind@greensboro.com

- Samuel P. H u n tin g to n , The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World

Http://www.abebooks.com/home/ tamarind/

Order. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996 - Edward Said, Orientalism, New York: Random Books, 1979 - Suehiro Akira, ‘Bodies o f Knowledge: How T hink-tanks have affected Japan’s Postwar Research on Asia,’ in Social Snence Japan, February 1997

Professor Anthony Reid, President o f the Asian Studies Association o f Australia, held a keynote speech at the International

A d vertise now in the Products and Services! 3 placings (I year) for only US$ 100 Please contact Marianne Langehenkel IIASN Advertising Sales P.O.Box 9515 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands Tel.:+31-71 527 22 27 Fax:+31-71 527 41 62 Email: langehenkel@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

Convention o f Asia Scholars,June 1998.

December 1998 • has n e w s l e t t e r

N S17

•

GENERAL f r Continuedfrom p age 4:

stress such a self-coherence one often has to draw a clear divide be tween ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Samuel Hun tington’s anticipation for a possible ‘clash of civilizations’ is another narcissistic syndrome. But total self-coherence is at best illusory. Ling speaks disdainfully about the European desire for ‘a co herent universe’, and he is right, not because of his scorn at all things ‘European’ but because his sensibili ty to see the failing (ifnot the malig nance) of such a desire. Despite Marlaux’s vision, his novel cannot claim a hundred per cent congruity (as a matter of fact, no interesting novel can). Despite its recurrent Orientalist cliches, it opens its doors to issues that many later postcolonial critics take up. Ac tually it should be expected. How could you write a novel about a young Chinese meeting a French man without sounding ‘post-colo nial’? Let us read Ling’s scathing comment on European tendency to explain reality. ‘Carefully, you label, classify and limit other people, as well as yourselves’, he writes. The seventh letter even suggests an early awareness of the relationship be tween power and representation of the ‘Orient’ - as if he was joining the endless debate on the subject: I used to enjoy speculating on what a man could become. Today I like doing so even more; fo r the antipathy Ife el toward Europe does not always protect me from her, and I also become eager to sketch my portrait, even if I mustfin a lly destroy it. How can I fin d m yself except in an ex amination o f yo u r race? I am not sure how many ofyou re main engaged, with different levels of intensity, in the polemics on rep resentation. But speaking from this podium, I cannot help finding Ling’s last line a reminder of my own position. For one reason or an other, the organizer of this confer ence gave me the honor to talk to a gathering of distinguished Asia scholars. I regard it as an unusual privilege. There is, however, a cer tain feeling of nervousness. Let me be honest about it. I am both a little bit excited and self-conscious to speak to you who do research and produce scientific papers on people and places you meet in a large area called ‘Asia’. As someone who writes poetry in one of the ‘unusual’ Asian languages (unusual because it is neither Chi nese, nor Japanese, nor Arabic, nor Hindi; it is Indonesian) I like to ima gine that one of you, a student from an American or European universi ty, comes to interview me. I imagine myself sitting excitedly on my chair, mumbling one or two lines of ob scure poetic words to my visiting scholar. I will probably make a dis appointing research project. After all, I am not a Salman Rushdie nor Pramoedya Ananta Toer; I am not a jailed author or a dissident writer whose works are banned or burnt. There is nothing in me relevant to broader social issues good enough for a Ph.D. dissertation. Or should I expect that some other day another scholar knocks at my door and take 5 4

me as a genuine ‘post-colonial sub ject’? How can I be the ‘native Other’? What if I turn out to be the Other that is not Other after all? Once more, I hear the echo of Ling’s question: 'How can I find myself, ex cept in an examination of your race?’ In short, my anxiety is that of a cognitive object, an anxiety in front of ‘academic gaze’. I sense that the trouble with ‘academic gaze’ is that it has a long history of being an in tegral part of a difficult ‘conversa tion’ that has been taking place be tween two different ‘cultures’. To be more specific, it is a ‘conversation’ between ‘Asia’ and ‘Europe’. In an essay published in 1955, the Indonesian writer Asrul Sani ques tions the actuality o f‘a conversation with Europe’. To him this ‘conversa tion’ is something out of balance, because we (the ‘non-Europeansj had reached ‘the stage of muteness' (tingkatan membisu). Let me quote Asrul Sani further: We never return the call, because we are in no position to answer it, let alone become a partner or adversary in a con versation... The Europeansjrequently try to keep us in one permanent position and in that way believe that they will be able to predict how we would react to different things, based on their knowledge o f our old books. Asrul Sani’s complaint is, like Ling’s, a subtle rejection o f coloniza tion not only as a system of rule, and exploitation, but also as ‘a system of knowledge and representation’. In an essay Stuart Hall suggests that colonization works, as a system, by relying on a mechanism of ‘other ness’. It generates alterity and exclu sion, using ‘the tropes of fetishism and pathologisation’. The outcome is an identity fixed and consolidat ed, to be set as ‘a constitutive out side.’ But can you really be free from the process, in a world shaped by Euro pean colonialism and modernity? Or, to put it in more general terms, can you escape the need to ‘label, classify, and limit other people,’ the very moment you step into a space where you encounter, observe, and experience ‘cultural differences’? From the perspective of the cogni tive object, like Ling under the ex amination [of the European ‘race’], like Asrul Sani in his ‘stage of mute ness’, there are always positions to defy the ‘mechanism of'otherness'. One of them is to displace the power that puts the ‘mechanism’ at work altogether. No doubt, it requires a revolution of historical proportion. There is also of a more subversive kind. As Hall sees it, the ‘outside’ can always slip back ‘across the por ous or invisible borders to disturb and subvert from the inside’. Such a stance necessarily implies a self-con scious posture, a resistance and a commitment. It is like what Ling does: he eagerly sketches his own portrait, after succumbing briefly to the European persuasion, and final ly he destroys it. It is a political act at the symbolic level. However, it is not the only thing that Ling does. He stays in the novel until the end. The European, as an epistemic subject, may ‘label, classi fy, and limit’ him, but ultimately he is no longer a foreigner, an Oriental

‘ IIAS n e w s l e t t e r N? i 7 • December 1998

NEWS

walking on the streets of Rome, looking at its porticos and stalls. As I said before, he has become inter changeable with A.D. In which case, the label, the classification, and the limit fail to exclude him. His very presence is a testimony that power, conquest, and knowledge, or ‘aware ness’, which he perceives as things Europe cherishes, lead only to disil lusion and death. ‘Total awareness of the universe is death - you have understood the fact', Ling writes. Total conceptualization of the Other is violence. As if speaking from a Levinasian ethical perspective, as if maintaining ‘the alterity of the Other’, or the priority of difference over identity, Ling claims that ‘we’ (the Orientals) are more capable to ‘proceed to irreconcilable differen ces’. But I must hasten to add that Ling is an incongruent creature, thanks to Malraux’s imagination. ‘Let no one find in Mr. Ling a symbol of the Far East,’ Malraux warns his readers in the foreword. ‘Such a symbol could not possibly exist.’ And yet al most at the same breath the author says: 'He is Chinese and as such, dominated by Chinese sensibility and thought, which not even the books of Europe are able to destroy’. The otherness of Ling may be inde structible, or better, incomprehensi ble, but he is obviously a fixed, pre determined identity all the same. It is also interesting to see, that while he scraps his own image as ex amined, and represented, by the West, he eagerly puts Europeans into a compact essentialist cage at their expense. He shifts from being a protesting object of European gaze to a coherent subject who puts Eu ropean as a ‘constitutive outside’. Probably he is not even interested in having a conversation with Europe. It is not clear whether he does it as a kind of revenge. ‘I observe Euro peans, I listen to them; I don’t be lieve they understand what life is.' Curiously we sense in his words the cadence of European boredom. And A.D never refutes them. All in all, it seems that one must admit that there is a haphazard plu rality of relationship in a moment like this, when an ‘I’ observes and listens to a ‘They’. Especially when it takes place under the shadow of co lonialist conquests, especially when the encounter is between a French man and a native coming from the Far East. What makes Ling’s obser vation special is that he acknowl edges his own slant. On no account Ling’s perspective is a good case for ‘being disinteres ted’ in relating to the Other. But it is surely not a case of indifference. What I am trying to propose is that in our discourse of the Other more is involved than just the famous ‘power-knowledge’ matrix. I believe there is a feeling of anxiety lurking behind most ‘Orientalist’ theses. I call it an anxiety ofpurity (and of in fluence, for that matter). For this reason let me take up one point suggested in an essay by Naoki Sakai. Discussing what he calls ‘the politicalness of practice in Asian Studies’, Sakai drives home the issue of academic gaze when he speaks of ‘a displacement of anxiety’ per formed in the name of theory. Let me quote him:

Theoiy is often turned into something that does not trouble us or make us fee 1ill at ease. Instead o f disclosing the sites o f anxiety in our supposedly epistemic rela tionship to Asia, theory would then serve to neutralize or silence the questions that might incite us to/urther inquiry about the enunciative positionality o f experts in Asian Studies. To make it possible to disclose ‘the sites of anxiety’ in the ‘supposedly epistemic relationship to Asia’, one has to abandon ‘the lure of the uni versalist pretension of theory’. Sa kai’s suggests a way out. To abandon ‘the universalist pretension of theo ry’, he argues, is to rely more on the operative materiality of the ‘subject’ that is shutai. One cannot depend solely on shukan, ‘the epistemic sub ject.’ Shukan is ahistorical, while shu tai is ‘in history’. Shutai is essentially open and incomplete. What Sakai aims is (if I understand him correct ly) to reach out to the ‘singular’ other, not the ‘particular’, let alone ‘the universal.’ In other words, he recognizes the imperative to concre tize. Or, to put it differently, a com mitment to ‘proceed to irreconcil able differences’. I do not think this an exceptional ly outrageous suggestion; around two decades ago Merleau-Ponty had a word for it, i.e. ‘hyperdialectic’. In fact, ‘the good dialectic’ is a healthy thing in the study of this formless, indefinable, space called ‘Asia’. Espe cially because ‘Asia’, as we all know, is just a shorthand used by people as diverse as an ancient Greek play wright and a Wall Street fund man ager to denote anything that is not ‘us.’ So, cannot we stop imagining Asia? Especially now, after the disas trous crisis? After nobody talks about ‘the Asian miracle’ anymore? After the withering away of the much publicized, albeit hazy, idea of ‘Asian values’ blamed for the moral hazard of crony capitalism and the ensuing economic meltdown? But then we also know that it is the ‘West’, this indistinct, imposing entity called ‘West,’ that has yet to do away with its old narcissism. Let me borrow from Sakai’s insight

again when he speaks o f ‘schema of cofiguration’. The desire for identity is a mimetic one, he says. The East has to be figured out so the West can establish its putative unity and de fine its ‘self. In short, the East and the West has to be ‘configured’. This is obviously a political project that runs against the need to ‘proceed to irreconcilable differences’. So when, or if, the ‘East’ disappears from being the Other, will the ‘West’ have to im agine another ‘East’? Most probably it (or better, ‘they’) will. In the story of Ling and A.D, the death of China as they know fits perfectly in with Europe’s disillusion. It is important to remember that the hidden charac ter behind Ling’s Chinese faqade is A.D, a Frenchman going to the East to find the Other slipping into the Same. But in the end, perhaps it does not really matter. The Orient, whatever that is, will survive (so will several research projects put collectively under ‘Asian Study’). What is in a name, after all? I have a friend at the University of Tokyo. He is a profes sor at the School for Oriental Study. He entrusted me that most of the countries labeled ‘Oriental’ by the School are thousands miles away to the West. ■

Go enawan Mohamad, the renowned Indonesian journalist and former editor-inchief ofTempo Magazine, delivered a keynote address at the International Convention of Asia Scholars, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, on l b June 1998.

1 8 > 21 M A R C H 1 9 9 9 AV I G N ON , FRANCE

Migration and Countries of the South T

he Centre for the Study and Re search of NorthSouth Relations at the University of Avignon is holding a conference in English on ‘Migration and Countries of the South’ from 18 to 21 March, 1999. Those interested in participating should send the organizers a title and one page (four hundred word) abstract of their proposed paper be fore 12 December. 1008. ■

Gwyn Campbell and André Ulpat Organizers

Avignon University

Centre for the Study and Research o f NorthSouth Relations 74 rue Louis Pasteur, Case No. 19 84029 Avignon Cedex I

France Tel:+33-04 90 16 27 18 Fax:+33-04 90 16 27 19 E-mail: gcampb3195@aol.com

E I A S N E WS

Views on the Asian Financial Crisis The financial crisis in Southeast and East Asia has raised fun damental questions about Asia and the world economy. Was Asia’s ‘miracle’just a ‘mirage’? Is a reassessment o f the Bretton Woods approach to liberalization and deregulation now need ed? Is there not a need for new institutions to supervise global finance? The European Institute for Asian Studies, a thinktank in Brussels sponsored by the European Union, has been at the cutting edge o f the debate and analysis o f these ques tions. Some insights were offered at recent meetings o f the In stitute in Brussels. By WI LLEM VAN DER GEE S T

ontrary to what one may think reading the in ternational press, there is not a great deal of dis agreement amongst eco nomic analysts about what has cau sed the Asian crisis. Dr Ngiam from the National University of Singa pore, expressed this with singular clarity. In particular he stressed the appreciation of the real exchange rates, current account deficits, pri vate capital inflows consisting large ly of volatile portfolio investment, and imbalances in the private sector as the four causes of the slowdown in export and therewith of GDP growth. The appreciation of real exchange rates was primarily the result of do mestic inflation in Southeast Asia being well above the world average. However, the appreciation of the US dollar and the depreciation of the Japanese yen both taking place against the background of the deval uation of the Chinese yuan in 1594 provided an unstable environment. The ‘pegged’ currencies of Southeast Asia simply could not cope with these momentous changes. The current account deficits were partly triggered off by the apprecia tion of the real exchange rates. They were compensated by foreign capital inflows, which often went to ‘unpro ductive’ investments, as real estate, generating little by way of exporta ble goods, while increasing costs in the economy. An asset price bubble evolved, with companies overvalued and simple apartments priced astro nomically. The private capital in flows were mostly portfolio invest ment and transmitted via the bank ing sector rather than direct Green field investment. The inflows were caused by the perception of a huge growth potential of the Asian econo mies and an increased globalization of the capital markets. A large amount of foreign capital went to corporations and banks as short-term US dollar and yen loans that the domestic banks in turn lent to local companies in long-term loans in domestic currencies. Implic it government guarantees led to a sharp deterioration in the quality of banks’ loan portfolios and to invest ment and asset bubbles. In a context of decreasing foreign reserves, these guarantees became increasingly du bious. Without them, overvalued prices collapsed which led to loan de faults and losses for the banks. In

short, the overvaluation of domestic currencies and the growing competi tion on exports and to attract direct investment, especially from China, led to a slowdown in export and GDP growth across Southeast Asia. Hence, at the heart of the crisis is a failure of financial governance of the South east and East Asian economies. It is also quite evident now that globali zation means that contagion is also global.

Did nobody foresee the Crisis ? On 2 July, 1997, the Thai baht fell seventeen per cent as its peg with the dollar had to be dropped. The fall of the baht sparked off contagious re sponses engulfing most of the coun tries of Southeast and East Asia, in particular because Japanese banks panicked and halted lending across the region. Weaknesses in the econo mies of Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia had already been noted by the Asian Develop ment Bank and the OECD. Never theless, the extent of the falls in their stock markets and of their ex change rates during the last quarter of 1997 came as a surprise to most analysts - a dream scenario turning

‘Globalization means that contagion is abo global’

into a nightmare. However, it is not fair to say nobody had seen the warning signs. Prof Brian van Arkadie, speaking at the Institute in May 1997 before the eruption of the prob lems had noted that ‘High levels of investments sustained growth in a year marked by a sharp decrease in export growth. The underlying jus tification for such investments was that it should lead to continuing ex port-led growth. It is clear that in vestors will not sign a blank cheque if export growth is not restored.’ Another leading analyst, Yilmaz Akyuz (UNCTAD, Geneva), had also predicted a slow-down of the South

East Asian economies, a particular reason being the ‘high degree of short term borrowing which had characterized South Korea and Thai land’s expansion.’ But, with the ben efit of hindsight, we know that at the time these analysts were lone voices assumed to be overly pessi mistic. It is now abundantly clear that they were fairly mild in their questioning and warnings and that there was a systemic reluctance to accept any bad news about Asia from business, governments and in ternational financial institutions alike.

and government policies are sound.’ Any country with a pegged ex change rate system or a currency board system should be extremely careful to ensure that its economic fundamentals are consistent with the level of the exchange rate that it fixes. If discipline or credibility is lacking, it is better to maintain a more flexible exchange rate regime. By building a deep, liquid, and ma ture debt market, corporations will be able to borrow long-term in order to reduce maturity mismatches and Asian economies will have a wider range of instruments to invest.

What should be done about Bretton Woods? Perhaps the most important les son from the Asian crisis concerns the architecture of the global finan cial system. Mr Masaya Miyoshi, a former Director General of the Keidanren, the Japanese confederation of industries, said that the recent ex-

Lessons In Dr Ngiam’s opinion, the best way to cope with the crisis will be floating exchange rates. In such a context borrowers would have to balance the risk of possible deprecia tion against the benefit of lower US$ interest rates themselves. Currency boards seem questionable because they are not very flexible and require a strong banking sector plus a very strict monetary policy. Even Hong Kong, notwithstanding its restric tive monetary policy and massive fi nancial reserves, has found it very difficult to cope with speculative at tacks on its currency. A review of several proposals noted that Chile’s system of controlling short-term capital offered some op portunities as well as Soros’ proposal for an International Credit Insu rance Corporation. Controls on capi tal inflow would slow the invest ment boom as they would push up domestic interest rates. Another im portant task for the Asian economies is to strengthen their banking sec tors and to improve the regulation and the supervision of the financial system. As short-term remedies, one has to look at the IMF bailout pack ages, stabilization funds, and re gional surveillance. However for the longer term, Asian countries should try to hold more of each other’s as sets and increase the use of each ot her’s currency for trade within the region - monetary integration such as the Euro may be part of the long term solution. A general lesson to be learnt from the crisis appears to be that coun tries have to build up strong macroeconomic fundamentals (such as current account surplus, high saving rates, and low external debt) and to adopt sound policies (e.g. sound banking supervision, transparency, and a neutral government). To avoid over-reliance on short-term capital inflows, it will be necessary to reduce the risk of capital outflows and the excesses in borrowing and lending. It is essential for a country to main tain a high growth rate and a heal thy banking sector, to be able to withstand high interest rates in order to defend its currency against speculative attacks. As the IMF Di rector General Michel Camdessus said: ‘I have never seen a speculative attack, when an economy is strong

‘Monetary integration such as the Euro may be part of the lon^-term solution’

seconds, these funds can travel around the world. Given these reali ties, the question is how to prevent financial crises in the small and weak economies of the world, and how to minimize the scale of any cri sis that may occur. For the short term, there is a need to create an international organiza tion charged with the surveillance and regulation of the huge capital movements mounted by interna tional institutional investors. Mr George Soros, the financier and owner of a major hedge fund, pro posed this at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

European leaders On October 1, the Institute orga nized a Round Table Discussion in the European Parliament in Brussels to review EU-Asia relations in times of crisis. Sir Leon Brittan, Vice Presi dent of the European Commission and the EU chief negotiator in the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization, was one of the speak ers. He said that the European Union would concentrate on five areas of action: first, maintaining confidence in Europe by pursuing the credible launch of the Euro; second, keeping European markets open to Asian goods and services; third, providing direct assistance and advice in help ing Asia to rebuild its financial sys tem; fourth, intensifying our politi cal and economic relations with China and Japan - the two lynchpins in the region and fifth, stimulating co-operation between the EU and the US on co-ordinated interest rate policies, and deepening the commit ment to multilateralism, including reform of the IMF and the World Bank.

S h areyour views

periences in East Asia have fostered a growing discussion of functional limits to the ability of the IMF to prevent financial crises in the newly emerging economies. Two reasons are commonly given for this obser vation. Firstly, it is argued that the IMF arrives to help only after the for eign exchange market of the country in trouble has already collapsed. As such, it is incapable of preventing a financial crisis. Secondly, it is fre quently argued that the IMF does not have the requisite flexibility to cope effectively with the unique fea tures of the countries that it is trying to help. The IMF does not investigate the details of the political and eco nomic structures of individual coun tries and is not well-versed in the special features of the crisis that it is trying to address. It has a single for mula and a single programme, which it attempts to prescribe to all. The time is now ripe to seriously consider how to rise above these lim itations of the IMF. This is a shared challenge for all nations across the world. What one has to contend with is the enormous powers of the inter national financial markets which today are about twenty-six times larger than the size of the trade vol ume worldwide. What is more, these funds are not bound by the rules of time and space, which govern the movement of goods. In a matter of

The EIAS cyberforum website dis plays information about seminars and conferences organized by the In stitute. Appositively, the full report of the Round Table on the Asian Cri sis was put on the Internet the same day as the meeting took place in Brussels. An exciting and important debate regarding the various presen tations made at the Round Table and the diverging views on desirable and adequate international responses is ensuing. Please visit the Institute’s Cyberforum website and contribute to this important debate: http:// www.eias.org. ■

Dr Willem van der Geest is Research Director o f the European Institute for Asian Studies.

December 1998 •

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NEWSLETTERS A D iT i News Contort:The National Organisation of South Asian Dance, | Fax: +44-171-831-5299 La L e ttre de I’Afrase Organization: Association Francaise pour la Recherche sur I’Asie du Sud-Est Contort: Muriel Charras (Paris). Fax:+33-1-46078833. E-mail: charras@idf.ext.jussieu.fr AKSE N e w s le tte r Orgonization:Association for Korean Studies in Europe Contact: Koen de Ceuster, Centre of Japanese and Korean Studies (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-7 1-5272215, E-mail: deceuster@rullet.leidenuniv.nl. A N DA Organization: Centre d'Edtudes Mongoles et Sibéeriennes, University o f Paris X Contact A N D A Secretariat (Paris). Fax:+33-1-47028016. E-mail: even@u-parisio.fr A S E A S U K News Organization: Association fo r Southeast Asian Studies in the United Kingdom Contact Pauline Khng, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (Hull, UK). Fax: +44-482-465758. E-mail: p.khng@seas.hull.ac.uk N e w s le tte r of the Asia Research C e n tre o f the Copenhagen Business School Contact Susan Aagaard Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark). Fax: +45-38152500. E-mail: insusan@cbs.dl

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China Nieuw s Organization: Stichting China Nieuwsbrief Contact:AMPEK Secretariat (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-20-5236732. N e w s le tte r o f th e C ircle of In n e r Asian A r t Contact Madhuvanti Ghose, C lA A .A rt and Archaeology, SOAS (London. UK). Fax: + 4 4-17 1-4363844 (state: CIAA), E-mail: ciaa@soas.ac.uk C N W S N e w s le tte r Contact Research School CNW S (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax: +31-71 -5272939 ‘C o m m o n G ro u n d ’, N e w s le tte r on Philippine en v iro n m e n t and D e v e lo p m e n t A ctio n Contact Philippine Resource Centre (London, UK). Fax: + 4 4-17 1-4033997.

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IA T S N e w s le tte r Organization: Finnish Association of East Asian Studies Contact: Jouko Seppanen, Helsinki University ofTechnology (Finland). Fax:+358-0-4513293

BAKS N e w s le tte r Organization: British Association fo r Korean Studies ContactJames E. Hoare (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-2106304.

E A A N n o u n cem en ts Organization: East Asian Archaeology N e tw o rk [EAAN] Contact Gina Barnes (Durham UK). Fax: +44-191-3743242. E-mail: Gina.Barnes@durham.ac.uk

B IT IG Contact: SOTA Research Centre for Turkestan and Azerbaijan (Haarlem.The Netherlands). Fax:+31-23-5292883. E-mail: mtutuncu@inter.nl.net B oletin de la Asociación Espanola de Estudios del Pacifico Contact: Florentino Rodao (Madrid, Spain). Fax:+34-1-5540401 N ieu w sb rief B u rm a C e n tru m N ed erlan d (B C N ) Contact: Burma Centrum Nederland (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Fax:+ 3 1-20-6713 5 13, E-mail: bcn@xs4all.nl Bulletin d’ ln fo rm atio n du C D IL Contact: Centre de Documentation et d’lnformation sur le Laos (Metz, France). Fax: +33-387372709 N e w s le tte r o f the Canon Foundation Contact Richard Burke (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-7 1-5 157027. C a ra k a ,‘th e M essenger’. A N e w s le tte r fo r Javanists. Contact Caraka (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1- 7 1-5272615, E-mail: CARAKA@RULLET.LeidenUniv.NL C E A O N e w s le tte r Organization:Centro de Estudio de Asia Oriental Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Contact: Centro de Estudio de Asia Oriental, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, fa x:+ 3 4 -1-3975278, e-mail: ceao@uam.es

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has n ew sletter

European N e tw o rk fo r Bangladesh Studies N e w s le tte r Contact.The European N etw ork for Bangladesh Studies, School o f Social Science, (Bath, UK). Fax: +44-1225-826381. E-mail: m.a.ellison@bath.ac.uk European N e w s le tte r o f Southeast Asian Studies Organization: EUROSEAS (European Association for Southeast Asian Studies) and KITLV (Royal Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology) Contact Kees van Dijk (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+31-71-5272638

D U JA T N ieu w sb rief Organization: Dutch Japanese Trade Federation, DUJAT Contact.A.G. Karl (Sassenheim, the Netherlands). Fax:+31-252-266202

BASAS Bulletin Organization: British Association for South Asian Studies Contact:Yunas Samad, Dept, o f Social and Economic Studies (Bradford, UK). Fax: +44-1274-385295, E-mail: a.y.samad@bradford.ac.uk.

ASIA

N e w s le tte r of th e C e n te r fo r Pacific Studies, Stockholm University Contact Katharina Soffronow, (Stockholm, Sweden). Fax: +46-8-168810

La L e ttre d’Asie C e n tra le Organization: I’Association de Recherche et d’lnformation sur l’Asie Centrale (ARIAC) Contoct:ARIAC (Paris, France). Fax:+33-1-45488353

Baruga-Sulawesi Research B ulletin Contact S. Koolhof, Research CNW S (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-7 1-5272615

EACS N e w s le tte r Organization: European Association o f Chinese studies Contact Marja Kaikkonen, Institute o f O riental Languages (Stockholm, Sweden). Fax: +46-8-155464, E-mail: Marja.Kaikkonen@orient.su.se Bulletin o f th e EAJS Organization: European Association fo r Japanese Studies Contart:Anja Radegast, EAJS Office (Duisburg, Germany). Fax: +49-203-3792002, E-mail: eajs@uni.duisburg.de East and Southeast Asian New s Organization: Lund University Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies Contact Gun Lauritzon, (Lund, Sweden), Fax:+46-46-222 3041. E-mail: LU.Asiacentre@ekh.lu.se E C A R D C N e tw o rk N e w s le tte r Organization: European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development, Contact A. Bielfeldt, Giessen University, Ludwigstrasse 21, Giessen, Germany T h e European In s titu te o f Japanese Studies N e w s le tte r Contoct:The European Institute o f Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden). Fax: +46-8-313017, E-mail: japan@hhs.se ESEM Info Contact: European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, ESEM (Toulouse, France).Tel: +33-6162-3584 ESF C om m unications Organization: European Science Foundation Contact: Sabine Schott, (Strasbourg, France). Fax: +33-88-370532. L e ttre d ’in fo rm atio n Etudes Chinoises Organization: Association Francaise d’Études Chinoises,AFEC Contact:Vincent Goossaert (Paris, France). E-mail: Goossaer@exLjussiev.fr

NS 17 • December 1998

IC S N e w s le tte r Contact Institute o f Commonwealth Studies (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-2552160. ID P A D N ew sB rief Organization: Indo-Dutch Programme on Alternatives in Development Contact: Anne van Marrewijk, P.O. Box 93138,2509 AC Den Haag, the Netherlands ID P News Organization.The International Dunhuang Project Contact. Susan W hitfield, The British Library (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-4127858, E-mail: susan.whitfield@bl.uk HAS N e w s le tte r Organization: International Institute o f Asian Studies Contact Paul van der Velde (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-7 1-5274162, E-mail: IIAS@Rullet.Leidenuniv.nl

EUROPE

Kaibauk — B oletin de Inform acao T im o ren se Organization: ALTIC — Associacao Luso Timorense de Informacao e Cultura Contact Fatima Cruz (Portugal), Fax:+35-1-14198521.

S t.-P etersbu rg N e w s le tte r on Southeast Asia & O cean ia Studies Contact: Oriental faculty, University of St.-Petersburg (Russia). Fax: +812-2181346, E-mail: vladimir@orient.lgu.spb.su

K anam e Q u a rte rly B ulletin o f Japanese Studies Organization: Instituto de Japonologia, Madrid Contact: Maria R. del Alisal (Madrid, Spain). Fax:+34-1-5350197. E-mail: alisjip@ibm.net

Philippines In fo rm atio n Exchange Contact: Philippine Resource Centre (London, UK). Fax: +44-17 1-2515914, E-mail: PRC@GE02.poptel.org.uk

K IT N e w s le tte r Organization: Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam Contact: Inge Pit (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Fax:+31-20-6684579. K K T I B ulletin Organization: Institute fo r Oriental Communication and Further Training (Külkereskedelmi Föiskola) Contact: D r Judit Hidasi, (Budapest, Hungary). Fax:+ 3 6-1-2 6 14301 D ie Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens im deutschsprachishen Raum Contact: Kunsthistorisches Institut der Universitat Heidelberg,Abteilung Ostasien, Redaktion Mitteilungsblatt, fax:+49-6221-543384, e-mail: oakg@gw.sino.uni-heidelberg.de C e n tra l Asia Q u a rte rly ‘L ab yrin th ’ Contact: Central Asia Research Forum, SOAS (London, UK). Fax: +44-71-4363844, E-mail: ab8@soas.ac.uk (please designate the subject as labyrinth) M e m o ria de Asia Organization: Instituto Complutense de Asia Contact: Florentino Rodao (Madrid, Spain). Fax:+34-1-3942488. E-mail: iasia02@sis.ucm.es

Science and Em pire Organization: NISTADS (New Delhi) and REHSEIS (Paris) Contact: Patrick Petitjean, REHSEIS (Paris, France). Fax: + 3 3-1-45807847, E-mail: ppjean@paris7.jussien.fr SE A LG N e w s le tte r Organization: South East Asia Library Group Contort: Patricia Herbert, British Library (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-4127641. S E P H IS N e w s le tte r Organization: South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the H istory of Development (SEPHIS) Contact: Ulbe Bosma, (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Fax:+31-10-4524503, E-mail:bosma@sephis.fhk.eur.nl

Society fo r Japanese A rts N e w s le tte r Contact Society for Japanese Arts (Bergeyk, the Netherlands). Fax:+31-497-573657

N e e d h a m Research In s titu te N e w s le tte r Content: Editor c/o Needham Research Institute, 8 Sylvester Road, Cambridge CB3 9AF, UK.

Nonesa N e w s le tte r OrgonizotiomThe Nordic Association for South East Asian Studies, NASEAS Contact: Ingela Palmgren (Lund, Sweden). Fax: +46-46-131585

JRC News Contact Japan Research Centre, SOAS (London, UK). Fax: + 4 4-17 1-4363844, E-mail: jrc@soas.ac.uk

S A L G N e w s le tte r Contact The South Asia Library Group, c/o O IO C , 197 Blackfriars Road. London SE I 8NG, UK

N A S A N e w s le tte r Organization: N ordic Association o f South Asian Studies Contact: Finn Madsen, H istory o f religions, fax: +45-35328956, e-mail: fmnmad@dorit.ihi.ku.dk

Indonesian E n viro nm ental H is to ry N e w s le tte r Organization: Ecology, Demography and Economy in Nusantara EDEN Contocf.D.E.F. Henley, KITLV (Leiden, the Netherlands). E-mail: Henley@rullet.leidenuniv.nl

Japan A n th ro po log y W o rksho p N e w s le tte r (JA W S ) Contact: Roger Goodman, Nissan Institute o f Japanese Studies (O xford, UK). Fax: +44-865-274574, E-mail: rgoodman@vax.ox.ac.uk

Punjab Research G roup N e w s le tte re Organization:The Punjab Research Group Contact: Shinder Thandi, Dept, of Economics, Coventry Business School (Coventry, UK). Fax: +44-203-838251

Vereinigung fü r Sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung New sl. Orgarazat/omVereinigung für Sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung Contact: Angelika Ernst (München, Germany). Fax: +49-89-7902210

India Nu Contact: Landelijke India Werkgroep (U tre ch t the Netherlands). Fax:+31-30-2322246

ISIR N e w s le tte r Organization: Irian Jaya Studies a programme fo r Interdisciplinary Research Contact: J. Miedema, (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+ 3 1-7 1-5272632, E-mail:projdi@ rullet.lei denuniv.nl

PRUS N e w s le tte r Contact: Poverty Research Unit, School o f African and Asian Studies, University o f Sussex (Brighton, UK). Fax: +44-1273-623572, E-mail: m.j.farlow@sussex.ac.uk

NA JA KS N e w s le tte r Organization: N ordic Association of Japanese and Korean Studies Contact: Arne Kalland, NIAS (Copenhagen, Denmark). Fax: +45-32-962530

N IA S N y tt, N o rd ic N e w s le tte r of Asian Studies Contact: N ordic Institute fo r Asian Studies, NIAS (Copenhagen, Denmark). Fax: +45-32962530, E-mail: sec@nias.ku.dk

IN IS N e w s le tte r Contact Indonesian-Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies INIS, (Leiden, the Netherlands). Fax:+31-71-5272632. E-mail:projdi@ rullet.leidenuniv.nl

Unless otherwise stated, the language used In the newsletters is English)

O ceania N e w s le tte r Contact: Centre fo r Pacific Studies, University o f Nijmegen (the Netherlands). Fax: + 3 1-24-3611945 O C IS N e w s le tte r Organization: O xford Centre fo r Islamic Studies Contact: Mrs Lynn Abdel-Haq, (O xford, UK). Fax: +44-865-248942 O N S N e w s le tte r Organization: Oriental Numismatic Society Contact M r S. Goron (Surrey, UK).Fax: +44-181-4051539. E-mail: sgoron@msn.com O rie n ta l C e ra m ic Society N e w s le tte r Contact: The Oriental Ceramic Society (London, UK). Fax: + 4 4-17 1-5806749 Ö stasiatiska Museets V a n n e r N yhetsbrev Organization: The Friendship Association of the Museum o f Far Eastern A r t & Antiquities in Stockholm Contact: Carin Balfe, (Stockholm, Sweden). Fax: +46-8-6609351 O xfo rd Asian T extile G roup Contact: Phyllis Nye, (Oxon, GB). Fax: +44-1865-351607

South Asia N e w s le tte r Contact Centre o f South Asian Studies, SOAS (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-4363844. T h e N e w s le tte r o f the ‘S ta te and Society in East Asia’ N e tw o rk Contact: Kjeld Erik Brodsgaard o r Mette Mathiasen, East Asian Institute, (Copenhagen, Denmark). Fax: +45-31-546676 Sri Lanka N e w s le tte r Contact: Stichting Nederlands-Sri Lanka (The Hague, the Netherlands). T el:+ 31-70 3252381 Südostasien In fo rm atio n en Contact: Southeast Asia Information Centre (Essen, Germany). Fax: +49-201-8303820. E-mail: seainfo@geod.geonet.de Teaching W o rld Music. T h e In te rn a tio n a l N e w s le tte r Education in N o n -W e s te rn Music in th e W e s t Contact: Huib Schippers.The Netherlands Institute fo r A rts Education (LOKV), te l:+31-30-2332328. fa x:+31-30-2334018, e-mail: lokv@lokv.nl T h e T ib e t Society o f the U n ite d Kingdom N e w s le tte r Contact: John Billington, (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-3837563 T h e T ib e t Foundation N e w s le tte r Contort:Tibet Foundation (London, UK). Fax: +44-171-4042366 U ltra m a rin e s Organization: Amis des Archives d’O utreMer (AMAROM) Contact:A. Cécile Tizon Germe, (Aix-enProvence. France). Fax: +33-42-268459 Please send all information concerning Newsletters on Asia in Europe to the HAS Office, attention o f Elzeline van der Hoek