Sites of Asian Interaction: An introduction

Abstract

AND SUNIL S. AM RITHRecent work in history, anthropology, and related disciplines has opened up new ways of thinking about inter-Asian connections. The contributors to this issue aim to ground these themes in a concerted focus on particular spaces or sites. We suggest that sites can, in themselves, be constitutive of particular modes of Asian interactions. Much recent literature on Asian transnationalism has focused on Asian elites and on textual modes of interaction, notably focusing on the writings of pre-eminent Asian intellectuals and literary figures. In thinking about spaces of interaction, we aim to broaden the focus of discussion to include non-elite Asians and their interactions with each other. By focusing on spaces-real and virtual-these papers begin to conceive of new ways of capturing changing geographical imaginations and the fluidity of borders and boundaries across Asia.Border towns; university dormitories; madrasas; places of transit; refugee camps; places of work, from rubber plantations to oil fields; the meetings of Asian non-governmental and activist organizations; the sites of major inter-Asian conferences of statesmen, which sometimes assume symbolic significance; virtual sites of Asian interaction, found in the hyperlinked websites of Asian insurgent groups-these are among the sites we hope that the papers here, and the theoretical perspectives they provide, might open up for discussion and further research. Taken together, these papers might be seen as a contribution to the study of what Engseng Ho has called 'local cosmopolitanism', and also to its limitations and tensions.

Asian Religions as Resources for Changing Mindsets

“…during an era of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism in (Southeast) Asia that has been noted by Joel as well as various other scholars (for example, see Kahn 2006, Shiraisi 1990, Siegel 1997, Harper and Amrith 2012. The choice to use the Hu Yew Seah as the launching pad was no accident as this club has an inspirational social-cultural history not commonly known to Malaysians.…”

Transnational marriages in Yiwu, China: tensions over money

“…The business opportunities that this trade creates have also attracted thousands of Chinese to live in the city. It is thus both a major 'site of interaction' for traders (Harper and Armrith 2012;Marsden 2018) and a new 'contact zone' of global capitalism (Farrer 2008), playing a key role in bottomup globalization (Marsden 2016a: 3;Mathews et al 2012). Due to its relatively relaxed attitude towards religion, Yiwu has become a popular destination for both foreign Muslim traders and Chinese Muslim migrants.…”

Brushing with Organized Crime and Democracy: The Art of Making Do in South Asia

“…The result is that common "South Asian" practices and the effects of more globalized trends often remain unexamined and untheorized (cf. Harper and Amrith 2012).…”