Download or read book Capitalism Magic Thailand written by Peter A Jackson and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By studying intersections among new cults of wealth, ritually empowered amulets and professional spirit mediumship—which have emerged together in Thailand’s dynamic religious field in recent decades—Capitalism Magic Thailand explores the conditions under which global modernity produces new varieties of enchantment. Bruno Latour’s account of modernity as a condition fractured between rationalizing ideology and hybridizing practice is expanded to explain the apparent paradox of new forms of magical ritual emerging alongside religious fundamentalism across a wide range of Asian societies. In Thailand, novel and increasingly popular varieties of ritual now form a symbolic complex in which originally distinct cults centred on Indian deities, Chinese gods and Thai religious and royal figures have merged in commercial spaces and media sites to sacralize the market and wealth production. Emerging within popular culture, this complex of cults of wealth, amulets and spirit mediumship is supported by all levels of Thai society, including those at the acme of economic and political power. New theoretical frameworks are presented in analyses that challenge the view that magic is a residue of premodernity, placing the dramatic transformations of cultic ritual centre stage in modern Thai history. It is concluded that modern enchantment arises at the confluence of three processes: neoliberal capitalism’s production of occult economies, the auraticizing effects of technologies of mass mediatization, and the performative force of ritual in religious fields where practice takes precedence over doctrine.
Download or read book Royal Capitalism written by Puangchon Unchanam and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-14 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Classical theorists once predicted that monarchy must eventually give way to capitalism. But is monarchy really dead--an archaic institution from the feudal past? In Royal Capitalism: The Monarchy, Wealth, and Social Classes in Thailand, Puangchon Unchanam examines one particularly successful monarchy: that of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX, whose seven-decade reign not only survived but thrived amid the country's transition to industrial capitalism. Indeed, the Thai crown's active role in national politics, the market economy, and popular culture has made it not only the dominant institution in the kingdom, but also the wealthiest monarchy in the world today. Tracing Rama IX's reign (1946-2016), Puangchon shows how the Thai crown was transformed into a 'bourgeois monarchy,' distinctive in several key ways. Rather than representing only royal and religious values, the monarchy rebranded itself by embracing the traditional middle-class ethic of hard work, frugality, and self-sufficiency. Rather than only relying upon coercion, the crown sought political legitimacy. And rather than simply controlling national assets, the crown became the country's major broker, connecting business elites, patronizing their industries, and partnering with giant corporations. Thanks to these distinctive features that it has recently embodied, the Thai monarchy enjoys hegemonic status in the capitalist state, preeminent status in the market, and popular support from the urban bourgeoisie"
Download or read book Interpreting Development written by J. L. S. Girling and published by Southeast Asia Program Publications. This book was released on 1996 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover; Contents; Acknowledgements; Preface; Major Events from 1947; 1. Interpreting Development: The Problematic of Capitalism and Democracy; 2. Thailand: The Four Contradictions; Rapid, but Uneven, Development; Military Assertion; Business Power; Money Politics; The Range of Business-Political Relations; 3. The Middle Class and Civil Society; Middle Class and Alternatives; Civil Society and the Role of NGOs; 4. Twin Peaks-Disturbing Shadows; Economics, Politics, Society in the 1990s; 5. Conclusion: Development and Democracy Reconsidered.
Download or read book Holy Things written by Nathan McGovern and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A common religious practice in Buddhist Thailand is asking "holy things" for help in return for an offering. These holy things include local spirits, Hindu gods, and famous Buddha images, which Thai people worship all in the same way. Some people, and even Thai Buddhists themselves, have argued that this is "syncretism"--a mixture of religions. Holy Things shows that what appears to be syncretism is actually an illusion. The worship of "holy things" is not a mixture of different religions, but the category of "holy things" is a mixture of different ways of talking about religion.
Download or read book The Made Up State written by Benjamin Hegarty and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-12-15 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Made-Up State, Benjamin Hegarty contends that warias, who compose one of Indonesia's trans feminine populations, have cultivated a distinctive way of captivating the affective, material, and spatial experiences of belonging to a modern public sphere. Combining historical and ethnographic research, Hegarty traces the participation of warias in visual and bodily technologies, ranging from psychiatry and medical transsexuality to photography and feminine beauty. The concept of development deployed by the modern Indonesian state relies on naturalizing the binary of "male" and "female." As historical brokers between gender as a technological system of classifying human difference and state citizenship, warias shaped the contours of modern selfhood even while being positioned as nonconforming within it. The Made-Up State illuminates warias as part of the social and technological format of state rule, which has given rise to new possibilities for seeing and being seen as a citizen in postcolonial Indonesia.
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Sexuality Gender Health and Rights written by Peter Aggleton and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-12-22 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thoroughly updated with over 30 newly written chapters, this edition of the Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Gender, Health and Rights brings together academics and practitioners from around the world to provide an authoritative and up-to-date account of the field. Social researchers and their allies have worked hard in past decades to find new ways of understanding sexuality in a rapidly changing world. Growing attention is now given to the way sexuality intersects with other structures such as gender, age, ethnicity/race and disability, and increasing value is seen in a positive approach focused on ethics, pleasure, mutuality and reciprocity. This Handbook explores: theory, politics and early development of sexuality studies ways in which language, discourse and identification have become central to research on sex, sexuality and gender key issues across the broad media and digital ecology, demonstrating the centrality of representation, communication and digital technologies to sexual and gender practices research focusing on the body and its sexual pleasures work on forms of inequality, violence and abuse that are linked to sex, gender and sexuality The Handbook is an essential reference for researchers and educators working in the fields of sexuality studies, gender studies, sexual health and human rights, and offers key reading for mid-level and advanced students.
Download or read book Capital Accumulation in Thailand 1855 1985 written by Akira Suehiro and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia written by Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In dramatic contrast to the reported growing influence of doctrinal and fundamentalist forms of religion in some parts of Southeast Asia, the predominantly Buddhist societies of the region are witnessing an upsurge of spirit possession cults and diverse forms of magical ritual. This is found in many social strata, including the urban poor, rising middle classes and elite groups, and across the different political systems of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. This volume reveals both the central historical place of spirit possession rituals in the Buddhist cultures of mainland Southeast Asia and their important contemporary roles to enhance prosperity and protection. This book examines the increasing prominence of spirit mediumship and divination across the region by exploring the interplay of neoliberal capitalism, visual media, the network cultures of the Internet, and the politics of cultural heritage and identity. It advances beyond critiques of the “secularization” and “disenchantment” theses to explore the processes of modernity that are actively producing magical worldviews and stimulating the rise of spirit cults. As such, it not only challenges the assumptions of modernization theory but demonstrates that the cults in question are novel ritual forms that emerge out of inherently modern conditions.
Download or read book Deities and Divas written by Peter A. Jackson and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2022-01-22 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In central Thailand, a flamboyantly turbaned gay medium for the Hindu god of the underworld posts Facebook selfies of himself hugging and kissing a young man. In Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, a one-time member of a gay NGO dons an elaborate wedding dress to be ritually married to a possessing female spirit; he believes she will offer more support for his gay lifestyle than the path of LGBTQ activism. The only son of a Chinese trading family in Bangkok finds acceptance for his homosexuality and crossdressing when he becomes the medium for a revered female Chinese deity. And in northern Thailand, female mediums smoke, drink, flaunt butch masculine poses and flirt with female followers when they are ritually possessed by male warrior deities. Across the Buddhist societies of mainland Southeast Asia, local queer cultures are at the center of a recent proliferation of professional spirit mediumship. Drawing on detailed ethnographies and extensive comparative research, Deities and Divas captures this variety and ferment. The first book to trace commonalities between queer and religious cultures in Southeast Asia and the West, it reveals how modern gay, trans and spirit medium communities all emerge from a shared formative matrix of capitalism and new media. With insights and analysis that transcend the modern opposition of religion vs secularity, it provides fascinating new perspectives in transnational cultural, religious and queer studies.
Download or read book Money and Power in Provincial Thailand written by Ruth Thomas McVey and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2000-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the 1990s, the Thai provinces saw the rise of a frequently violent competition for business and political leadership. This examination of economic change focuses on this middle ground between metropolis and countryside, an arena being transformed by capitalist development.
Download or read book In the Place of Origins written by Rosalind C. Morris and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sophisticated, wide-ranging, theoretical account of how spirit mediums mediate the Thai experience of capitalist modernity.
Download or read book Money and Power in Provincial Thailand written by Ruth McVey and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most studies of Southeast Asian economic change focus on the phenomenal growth experienced by a few large cities, such as Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. Big business has been viewed as the economic engine fueling the region's growth and prosperity. Studies of the rural areas have concerned themselves with the social and environmental impact of metropolitan growth--villages emptied by migration to the big cities, cultures crushed by tourist development, and agribusiness and lush landscapes destroyed by the devastation of natural resources. The literature reveals that few analysts have examined the middle distance between metropolis and countryside. The contributors to this book have addressed the issue by concentrating on the intermediate level of economic, political, and social life--the world of Thailand's provincial cities and market towns. In the past decade the rise of frequently violent competition for business and political leadership in the Thai provinces, and the growing importance of provincial support for national powerholders, has drawn attention to the way in which these town and village centers are being transformed by capitalist development. This volume brings together some of the research inspired by this, drawing on a variety of disciplinary approaches, national backgrounds, and sites of study. Contributors: Daniel Arghiros, Chris Baker, Sombat Chantornvong, Kevin Hewison, Jim LoGerfo, Ruth McVey, Michael J. Montesano, James Ockey, Pasuk Phongpaichit, Maniemai Thongyou, Yoko Ueda.
Download or read book Islam and Citizenship in Indonesia written by Robert W. Hefner and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-12-19 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islam and Citizenship in Indonesia examines the conditions facilitating democracy, women’s rights, and inclusive citizenship in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country and the third largest democracy in the world. The book shows that Muslim understandings of Islamic traditions and ethics have coevolved with the understanding and practice of democracy and citizen belonging. Following thirty-two years of authoritarian rule, in 1998 this sprawling Southeast Asian country returned to electoral democracy. The achievement brought with it, however, an upsurge in both the numbers and assertiveness of Islamist militias, as well as a sharp increase in violence against religious minorities. The resulting mobilizations have pitted the Muslim supporters of an Indonesian variety of inclusive citizenship against populist proponents of Islamist majoritarianism. Seen from this historical example, the book demonstrates that Muslim actors come to know and practice Islam in a manner not determined in an unchanging way by scriptural commands but in coevolution with broader currents in politics, society, and citizen belonging. By exploring these questions in both an Indonesian and comparative context, this book offers important lessons on the challenge of democracy and inclusive citizenship in the Muslim-majority world. Well-written and informative, this book will be suitable for adoption in university courses on Islam, Southeast Asian Politics, Indonesian and Asian studies, as well as courses dealing with religion, democracy, and citizen belonging in multicultural societies around the world. The book will be of interest to the general reader with an interest in Islam, citizenship, and democracy.
Download or read book Magical Capitalism written by Brian Moeran and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-16 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of essays examines the ways in which magical practices are found in different aspects of contemporary capitalist societies. From contract law to science, by way of finance, business, marketing, advertising, cultural production, and the political economy in general, each chapter argues that the kind of magic studied by anthropologists in less developed societies – shamanism, sorcery, enchantment, the occult – is not only alive and well, but flourishing in the midst of so-called ‘modernity’. Modern day magicians range from fashion designers and architects to Donald Trump and George Soros. Magical rites take place in the form of political summits, the transformation of products into brands through advertising campaigns, and the biannual fashion collections shown in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Magical language, in the form of magical spells, is used by everyone, from media to marketers and all others devoted to the art of ‘spin’. While magic may appear to be opposed to systems of rational economic thought, Moeran and Malefyt highlight the ways it may in fact be an accomplice to it.
Download or read book The Thai Village Economy in the Past written by Chatthip Nartsupha and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Thai Village Economy in the Past is one of the classics of modern Thai history. Few books have provoked so much interest or controversy. Though the theme of the book is deceptively simple--that the Thai rural economy was a subsistence economy and remained so much longer than is commonly thought--the message of the book has proved far from simple. Chatthip has written the history of the village from the viewpoint of the village, making it one of the key texts of the "community culture" movement and rural revival. Much of the book's appeal stems from its straightforward style and startling ideas. The village existed before capitalism and before the state. It has its own culture which owes little to urban influence. It took the Buddhism that came from outside and subordinated it to local beliefs. Constantly in print since its first publication in 1984, it is now available in English for the first time. Chatthip Nartsupha is professor of economic history at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Download or read book Modernity and Re enchantment written by Philip Taylor and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2008 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Representative of a new wave of anthropological research on religion in Vietnam, Modernity and Re-enchantment brings together in a single book the latest and best research available on this topic. Its lively and original descriptions deftly evoke the burgeoning field of religiosity in contemporary Vietnam. With case studies into a great variety of religious practices, it covers more ground than the small handful of single-authored books currently available on religion in Vietnam.
Download or read book Tracks and Traces written by Philip Hirsch and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume traces the threads that tie together an understanding of Thailand as a dynamic and rapidly changing society, through an examination of the work of one major scholar of the country, Andrew Turton. Turton's anthropological studies of Thailand cover a wide spectrum from politics and economy to ritual and culture, and have been crucial in shaping evolving understandings of Thai society. In this collection, ten leading specialists on Thailand from a variety of disciplines critically consider aspects of Turton's work in relation to the changing nature of different aspects of Thai society. The book tracks the links between past and present scholarship, examines the contextuality of scholarship in its times, and sheds light on the current situation in Thailand.
