The great majority of books on religious diversity forgo an analysis of religious materials in favour of a focus on doctrine, scripture and governmental policy. This paper argues that the material aspects of religion — from statues and monuments of deities, to revered religious artworks, to talismans, amulets, and even sacred cars — are absolutely […]

In September 2006, a coalition of political forces spearheaded by the army removed the Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, by overthrowing parliamentary democracy. Elections which restored parliamentary government fourteen months later were a contest between the coup generals and the man they had overthrown. The generals argued that a return of a pro-Thaksinite government was

Conceptual shift from “gentry” to “local elites” fail to respect the internal relations of gentry and the renouncer, which complementarily constitutes the literati in the imperial Chinese value of “the literati’s vocation is the Way”. Examining the renouncers assessed in The Analects and depicted in the Official Histories, I argue that by keeping the literati’s

The implementation of new national laws on decentralisation and self-determination in Eastern Indonesia provides the case study to examine the various dilemmas resulting from the human right to culture such as integration versus exclusion, cultural flexibility versus codification, and re-empowerment of local cultures versus the re-emergence of feudal structures. The contribution first discusses the challenges

This paper, originally the 15th James C. Jackson Memorial Lecture, argues the case for considering Malaysia and Singapore as immigrant societies, and analyzing their dynamic by comparison with New World countries such as Australia rather than with Asian neighbours. The historical demography of the two countries over the past two centuries puts them at the