Methods, Moments, and Ethnographic Spaces in Asia

Asia is changing, with socio-political shifts, technological advances, and post-colonization projects creating an emerging Asia that is confident and assertive of its place in the geopolitical sphere. This changing environment leads to emerging challenges for anthropologists working in the region, and this volume considers these changes and the implications for their practice. The contributors discuss tensions and opportunities arising in their ethnographic fieldwork in light of a changing Asia and consider how fieldwork is being negotiated within the changing dynamics of anthropology in the region.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 314 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2024
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Asia is undergoing significant changes, driven by socio-political shifts, technological advancements, population movements, and post-colonization projects. This has led to the emergence of a confident and assertive Asia in the contemporary geopolitical sphere. As political and economic powers assert Asian sovereignty against perceived Northern dominance, and rapid development transforms the region's relationship between the center and the periphery, new renderings and imaginations of hierarchies of identity and power emerge. This changing environment presents challenges for anthropologists working in the region, both those who have been working there for years and new scholars entering the field. This volume explores these changes and their implications for anthropological practice. By focusing on Asia as a site of enquiry, the contributors discuss the tensions and opportunities arising in their ethnographic fieldwork in light of a changing Asia. Drawing on personal reflections on Asia's global positioning in this contemporary moment, the contributors consider how fieldwork is being negotiated within the changing dynamics of anthropology in the region. This book is a discussion on the shifting landscape of field sites and the resultant emerging research methodologies, aimed at both those who are already deeply immersed in fieldwork and those who are seeking ways to undertake it.

Weight: 494g
Dimension: 228 x 151 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538152652