Thai South and Malay North examines the history of ethnic, religious, social, economic, and political pluralism in the unique zone where Mainland and Maritime Southeast Asia meet. Sections focused on politics, religion, Chinese populations, and historiographic traditions provide background information and a range of perspectives on the longstanding conflicts afflicting southern Thailand. The book represents …

Thai South and Malay North: Ethnic Interactions on a Plural Peninsula Read More »

This is a fully revised edition of a book that may fairly claim to have re-opened the sociology of the body as a legitimate area of inquity. Providing an unparalleled guide to all aspects of the subject, each chapter has been revised and updated while the book contains new material that reflects both recent changes …

The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory (3rd Edition) Read More »

The essays reprinted here trace the history of Chinese emigration into the Pacific region, first as individuals, traders or exiles, moving into the ‘Nanyang’ (Southeast Asia), then as a mass migration across the ocean after the mid-19th century. The papers include discussions of what it meant to be Chinese, the position of the migrants vis-à-vis …

The Chinese Diaspora in the Pacific/ The Pacific World: Lands, Peoples and History of the Pacific, 1500-1900; Vol. 16 Read More »

This study analyses the various types and stages of conflict that have been experienced by diverse groups and generations of Karen over the six decades of armed conflict between the Karen National Union (KNU) and successive Burmese governments. Instead of focusing on those who are internally displaced, those in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma …

The Karen Revolution in Burma: Diverse Voices, Uncertain Ends Read More »

Analysis and pundits from across the American political spectrum describe Islamic fundamentalism as one of the greatest threats to modern, Western-style democracy. Yet very few non-Muslim would be able to venture an accurate definition of political Islam. Mohammed Ayoob’s The Many Faces of Political Islam thoroughly describes the myriad manifestations of this rising ideology and …

The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World Read More »

This collection brings together for the first time 22 short stories by nine Muslim Filipinos written over nearly seven decades, beginning in the 1940s. Muslims are a minority in the predominantly Catholic Philippines and the integration of Muslims into this nation has been uneven. As the stories in this anthology reflect, there is no simple …

The Many Ways of Being Muslim: Fiction by Muslim Filipinos Read More »

This New Companion brings together leading scholars to provide a comprehensive guide to the principal traditions of social theory – including classical sociology, the philosophy of the social sciences, functionalism, structuralism, ethnomethodology, rational choice theory, pragmatism and social interactionism, phenomenology, and conversation analysis. In addition it explores recent trends such as actor network theory, social …

The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory Read More »

Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR are among the very lowest-fertility countries in the whole world, and even China has reached fertility levels lower than those in many European countries. If these levels continue over long periods East Asia will soon face accelerating population decline in addition the changes in age distributions …

Ultra-low Fertility in Pacific Asia: Trends, Causes and Policy Issues Read More »

In this timely book, Marranci critically surveys the available theories on Islamic fundamentalism and extremism. Rejecting essentialism and cultural reductionism, the book suggests that identity and emotion play an essential role in the phenomenon that has been called fundamentalism.  

Since January 2004, a violent separatist insurgency has raged in southern Thailand, resulting in more than three thousand deaths. Though largely unnoticed outside Southeast Asia, the rebellion in Pattani and neighboring provinces and the Thai government’s harsh crackdown have resulted in a full-scale crisis. Tearing Apart the Land by Duncan McCargo, one of the world’s …

Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand Read More »