Mien Relations: Mountain People and State Control in Thailand

Hjorleifur Jonsson

Published by Cornell University Press 2005

Mien Relations

Mountain People and State Control in Thailand

Hjorleifur Jonsson

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501731358

Overview
Contents

About this book

Thailand's hill tribes have been the object of anthropological research, cultural tourism, and government intervention for a century, in large part because these groups are held to have preserved distinctive ethnic traditions despite their contacts...

Author / Editor information

Hjorleifur Jonsson is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Arizona State University.

Reviews

Katherine A. Bowie, University of Wisconsin–Madison:

Mien Relations is a major contribution to knowledge about the highland minorities of mainland Southeast Asia, marking a radical break with traditional ethnographies. Hjorleifur Jonsson's work should encourage a new generation of scholars to conduct rich and historically grounded research. Combining rich archival materials with insights gained through fieldwork, Jonsson establishes that many elements of highland culture were shaped by specific historical and political influences. This book explodes the standard paradigm of highland minorities as remote from state control.

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection:

Mien history and society come to life in this provocative and beautifully written ethnography. Hjorleifur Jonsson's striking analysis of how households and communities have re-formed within varied regional political economies cuts through the simplifications of earlier ethnographies as it also forms a cogent commentary on all ethnographic practice. Mien efforts to appeal to the standards of the nation-state—even when burning down the office—are equally riveting.

Ralph Litzinger, Duke University:

A detailed ethnography of the Mien people of Thailand is long overdue. Mien Relations addresses the transformations that have come to the upland regions of Thailand with a clear analytical vision, just as it engages various theoretical developments in anthropology over the last two decades. Hjorleifur Jonsson regards the Mien as modern Thai subjects, and his book is a true pleasure to read. It is clearly written, rich in ethnographic detail, and brilliantly argued.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Notes on Language, Time, and Perspective Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction: Ethnic Landscapes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Yao Origins and the State of Nature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
2. Twentieth-Century Highlanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
3. From Strongmen to Farmers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
4. Village People Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
5. On National Terrain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Conclusions: The Work of Classification Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 240
Illustrations
- Other: 3 maps, 1 table, 10 halftones
Keywords: Asian Studies; Anthropology

eBook

Published: July 5, 2018
ISBN: 9781501731358