This book is the first major ethnographic and anthropological study of the Karen for over a decade and looks at such key issues as history, ethnic identity, religious change, the impact of government intervention and gender relations.

People across the globe engage in social and solidarity economics to help themselves, their community, and society on their own terms. Community Economies in the Global South examines how people who conscientiously organize rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) bring positive changes to their own lives as well as others. ROSCAs are a long-established and well documented practice, especially those organized by women of colour. Members make regular deposits to a fund as a savings that is then given in whole or in part to each member in turn based on group economics. This book spotlights women in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia who organize and use these associations, composed of ordinary people belonging to similar class origins who decide jointly on the rules to suit the interests of their members. The case studies show how they vary greatly across countries in the Global South, demonstrating that ROSCAs are living proof that diverse community economies do exist and have been around for a very long time. The contributors recount stories of the self-help, activism, and perseverance of racialized people in order to push for ethical, community-focused business, and to hold onto local knowledge, grounded theory, and lived experience, reducing the need to rely on external funding as people find ways to finance sustainable, debt-free business ventures. The first collection on this topic edited by two women of colour with roots in the Global South, this volume is a rallying call to other scholar-activists to study and report on how racialized people come together, pool goods, and diversify business in the Global South.

Constituting over ninety percent of China's population, Han is not only the largest ethnonational group in that country but also one of the largest categories of human identity in world history. In this pathbreaking volume, a multidisciplinary group of scholars examine this ambiguous identity, one that shares features with, but cannot be subsumed under, existing notions of ethnicity, culture, race, nationality, and civilization.

This book brings together multidisciplinarity, desirability and possibility of consilience of borderline studies which are topically diverse and methodologically innovative. It includes contemporary tribal issues within anthropology and other disciplines. In addition, the chapters underline the analytical sophistication, theoretical soundness and empirical grounding in the area of emerging core perspectives in tribal studies. The volume alludes to the emergence of tribal studies as an independent academic discipline of its own rights. It offers the opportunity to consider the entire intellectual enterprise of understanding disciplinary and interdisciplinary dualism, to move beyond interdisciplinarity of the science-humanities divide and to conceptualise a core of theoretical perspectives in tribal studies. The book proves an indispensable reference point for those interested in studying tribes in general and who are engaged in the process of developing tribal studies as a discipline in particular.

A systematic survey of all the countries of East Asia, South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Essential for anyone with a professional interest in the region Keeps up-to-date with current economic and political developments. Part One: General Survey Written by acknowledged authorities on the Pacific Rim, this collection of essays forms an impartial overview of the area as a whole. Topics include: regional security issues, human rights, environmental issues, recent economic trends and USA's relations with the Asia-Pacific region. Country Surveys Individual chapters on each country containing: articles on geography, history and the economy; an economic and demographic survey of the latest available statistics on population, agriculture, industry, finance, trade, transport, tourism, and education; a directory of names, addresses and contact numbers covering the constitution, government, legislature, judiciary, political organizations, diplomatic representation, religion, the media, finance, trade, industry, tourism, defence and education; a select bibliography. Regional Information Includes all major international organizations active in the region, their aims, activities, publications and principal personnel; a detailed survey of major commodities in Asia and the Pacific; a directory of research institutes specializing in the region; select bibliographies of books and periodicals covering the Far East and Australasia; and an index of regional organizations.

This book includes twenty case studies of World Heritage sites from around the world that explore, from a human rights perspective, indigenous peoples' experiences with World Heritage sites and with the processes of the World Heritage Convention. The book will serve as a resource for indigenous peoples, World Heritage site managers, and UNESCO, as well as academics, and it will contribute to discussions about what changes or actions are needed to ensure that World Heritage sites can play a consistently positive role for indigenous peoples, in line with the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.