Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline, Second Edition: Factory Women in Malaysia (SUNY series in the Anthropology of Work)

In the two decades since its original publication, Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline has become an ethnographic classic in the fields of anthropology, labor studies, and gender and globalization studies. Based on anthropological field work in an agricultural district in Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, Spirits of Resistance captures a moment of profound transformation, illustrated by the disruptions, conflicts, and ambivalences in the lives of Malay women during the rapid industrialization associated with Malaysia's rise as a tiger economy. Aihwa Ong's nuanced approach to the Malay women factory workers'experiences of the contradictions of modern globalized capitalism has inspired subsequent generations of feminist ethnographers in their explorations of key questions of power, resistance, femininities, religious community, and social change. With a new critical introduction by anthropologist Carla Freeman, this new edition of Spirits of Resistance continues to offer an exemplary model of sophisticated analysis of culturally based resistance to the ideology, surveillance, and institutional authority of globalized corporate capitalism. In The Two Decades Since Its Original Publication, Spirits Of Resistance And Capitalist Discipline Has Become A Classic In The Fields Of Anthropology, Labor, Gender And Globalization Studies. Based On Intensive Fieldwork, The Book Captures A Moment Of Profound Transformation For Rural Muslim Women Even As Their Labor Helped Launch Malaysia's Rise As A Tiger Economy. Aihwa Ong's Analysis Of The Disruptions, Conflicts, And Ambivalences That Roiled The Lives Of Working Women Has Inspired Later Generations Of Feminist Ethnographers In Their Study Of Power, Resistance, Religious Upheavals, And Subject Formation In The Industrial Periphery. With A Critical Introduction By Anthropologist Carla Freeman, This New Edition Upholds An Exemplary Model Of Anthropological Inquiry Into Cultural Modes Of Resistance To The Ideology, Discipline, And Workings Of Global Capitalism. This Work ... Remains Powerful For Its Refusal To Over-simplify The Complexities Of Export Industrialization As A Model For Economic Development, And For Its Demonstration Of The Intimate Dialectics Of Culture, Economy, Gender, Religion, And Class, And The Meaningfulness Of Place Amid The Swirling Forces Of Global Capitalism ... [it] Opened Up Many Of The Questions That Should Continue To Inspire Our Analyses Of Globalization Today. Indeed, These Questions Are Equally Compelling For The Reader Returning To This Work After Twenty Years And For The Reader New To This Text And To The Intriguing And Complex Puzzles Of Globalization.--the Introduction By Carla Freeman --book Jacket. Spirits And Discipline In Capitalist Transformation -- Malay Peasants From Subsistence To Commodity Production -- Tropical Confluences : Rural Society, Capital, And The State -- Sungai Jawa : Differentiation And Dispersal -- Domestic Relations : The Reconfiguration Of Family Life -- Marriage Strategies : Negotiating The Future -- The Modern Corporation : Manufacturing Gender Hierarchy -- Neophyte Factory Women And The Negative Image -- Spirits Of Resistance -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Glossary. Aihwa Ong ; Introduction By Carla Freeman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.