In 1998, Indonesia exploded with both euphoria and violence after the fall of its longtime authoritarian ruler, Soeharto, and his New Order regime. Hope centered on establishing the rule of law, securing civilian control over the military, and ending corruption. Indonesia under Soeharto was a fundamentally insecure state. Shadowy organizations, masterminds, provocateurs, puppet masters, and other mysterious figures recalled the regime's inaugural massive anticommunist violence in 1965 and threatened to recreate those traumas in the present. Threats metamorphosed into deadly violence in a seemingly endless spiral. In Aceh province, the cycle spun out of control, and an imagined enemy came to life as armed separatist rebels. Even as state violence and systematic human rights violations were publicly exposed after Soeharto's fall, a lack of judicial accountability has perpetuated pervasive mistrust that undermines civil society.Elizabeth F. Drexler analyzes how the Indonesian state has sustained itself amid anxieties and insecurities generated by historical and human rights accounts of earlier episodes of violence. In her examination of the Aceh conflict, Drexler demonstrates the falsity of the reigning assumption of international human rights organizations that the exposure of past violence promotes accountability and reconciliation rather than the repetition of abuses. She stresses that failed human rights interventions can be more dangerous than unexamined past conflicts, since the international stage amplifies grievances and provides access for combatants to resources from outside the region. Violent conflict itself, as well as historical narratives of past violence, become critical economic and political capital, deepening the problem. The book concludes with a consideration of the improved prospects for peace in Aceh following the devastating 2004 tsunami.

Product Description: Drawing from ethnographic examples found throughout the world, this text offers a general introduction to what anthropologists know or think about religion, how they have studied it, and how they interpret or explain it since the late 19th century...read more

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Product Description: How has the "business" of higher education affected the environment in which academics work? Who should be able to hold anthropologists ethically responsible—the research institution that sponsors the fieldwork or the community of people being studied? What happens when academics step out of the ivory tower and into the public realm? Why and how, do some anthropologists come undone by the challenges of the academy? These are some of the questions posed in this innovative collection of essays...read more

Product Description: A funny, moving, coming-of-age novel about growing up black and gay. Johnnie Ray Rousseau is a high school student upset over losing the lead role in the school staging play, but he’s intrigued by Marshall MacNeill, whom he meets at an audition, surely the sexiest man to walk God’s green earth...read more

Product Description: Bringing together a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars, this volume explores what happens when new forms of privatization meet collectivist pasts, public space is sold off to satisfy investor needs and tourist gazes, and the state plans for Egypt's future in desert cities while stigmatizing and neglecting Cairo's popular neighborhoods...read more

Product Description: In a nation built by immigrants and bedeviled by the history and legacy of slavery and discrimination, issues of liberty, equality, and community continue to challenge Americans. In the fifth edition of this widely acclaimed text, Paula McClain and Joseph Stewart combine traditional elements of political science analysis—history, Constitutional theory, institutions, political behavior, and policy actors—with a fully updated survey of the political status of four major groups: blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans, and American Indians...read more

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Product Description: Like the editors’ previous volume, The North Mexican Frontier, this volume is intended as a source book for specialists and students of archaeology, ethnology, cultural geography, and history. Several of the readings, more general in nature, will prove fascinating for the general reader with a particular interest in the American Indian and the Southwest...read more

Product Description: Rare book: Price in USD

Traces the Chavez family as they leave their southern-Mexican town and embark on a perilous journey through the underground railroad to the tomato farms of Missouri, the strawberry fields of California, and the slaughterhouses of Wisconsin.

Product Description: For centuries, new sailors from European and North American countries have been subjected to an elaborate hazing at sea called “crossing the line.” Typically initiated upon a crossing of the equator, the beatings, dunkings, sexual play, and drinking displays that constitute crossing the line have in recent decades been banned by some fleets— but they have also been the subject of staunch defenses and fond reminiscences...read more

Focused on the appreciation of anthropology, the new edition of "Cultural Anthropology" offers an up-to-date holistic introduction to cultural anthropology. Key themes of appreciating the experiences students bring to the classroom, appreciating cultural diversity, and appreciating the field of anthropology are showcased throughout the text. In this edition, Understanding Ourselves chapter openers and Through the Eyes of Others boxes show how anthropology helps us understand ourselves. New Appreciating Diversity boxes focus on the various forms of human biological and cultural diversity. Appreciating Anthropology boxes are also new to the text and focus on the value and usefulness of anthropological research and approaches.

Product Description: Until now, in-depth cultural information on Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country formed in 1947 after the dissolution of British rule in India, has been scarce. This crucial South Asian hotspot, in the news for tensions with neighboring India over nuclear capacity and security issues, finally is illuminated for general readers...read more

A cultural history of Lahore's dancing girls profiles their existence in the shadow of a great mosque within the Diamond Market, discussing how their sophisticated art encompasses some of the best of Mughal culture and offering insight into life within the pleasure district as reflected by the experiences of a classically trained young dancer. Reprint.