Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Prehistory, History, and Ethnography (Michigan Papers On South And Southeast Asia) (Volume 13)

Economic behavior is governed by two major sets of boundary conditions: environmental and technological factors on the one hand, and conditions of social organization on the other hand. Indeed, social scientists are often particularly interested in the framework of exchange relationships: exchange of goods, services, personnel, and information. Economic exchanges lend concrete manifestations to social relations that themselves may transcend the economic realm and that otherwise are often difficult to trace. Yet in social science research in Southeast Asia, the area of economic studies has lagged behind, despite the great study potential represented by the tremendous diversity of its physical and human environment. Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia attempts to take advantage of that opportunity. As a number of the contributions to this volume show, many if not most of the systems organized on very different levels of integration interact with each other. Taken as a whole, they provide evidence of the incredible diversity of economic and social systems that may be investigated in Southeast Asia. Based on a series of case studies of globally distributed media and their reception in different parts of the world, Imagining the Global reflects on what contemporary global culture can teach us about transnational cultural dynamics in the 21st century. A focused multisited cultural analysis that reflects on the symbiotic relationship between the local, the national, and the global, it also explores how individuals' consumption of global media shapes their imagination of both faraway places and their own local lives. Chosen for their continuing influence, historical relationships, and different geopolitical positions, the case sites of France, Japan, and the United States provide opportunities to move beyond common dichotomies between East and West, or United States and "the rest." From a theoretical point of view, Imagining the Global endeavors to answer the question of how one locale can help us understand another locale. Drawing from a wealth of primary sources-several years of fieldwork; extensive participant observation; more than 80 formal interviews with some 160 media consumers (and occasionally producers) in France, Japan, and the United States; and analyses of media in different languages-author Fabienne Darling-Wolf considers how global culture intersects with other significant identity factors, including gender, race, class, and geography. Imagining the Global investigates who gets to participate in and who gets excluded from global media representation, as well as how and why the distinction matters Economic behavior is governed by two major sets of boundaryconditions: environmental and technological factors on the onehand, and conditions of social organization on the other hand.Indeed, social scientists are often particularly interested in theframework of exchange relationships: exchange of goods, services,personnel, and information. Economic exchanges lend concretemanifestations to social relations that themselves may transcendthe economic realm and that otherwise are often difficult to trace.Yet in social science research in Southeast Asia, the area ofeconomic studies has lagged behind, despite the great studypotential represented by the tremendous diversity of its physicaland human environment. Economic Exchange and Social Interactionin Southeast Asia attempts to take advantage of thatopportunity. As a number of the contributions to this volume show,many if not most of the systems organized on very different levelsof integration interact with each other. Taken as a whole, theyprovide evidence of the incredible diversity of economic and socialsystems that may be investigated in Southeast Asia Edited By Karl L. Hutterer. Bibliography: P. 275-318