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AN INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF Volume 37, no. 1 (Winter 1998) |
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THE ORDINATION OF A TREE: THE BUDDHIST ECOLOGY MOVEMENT IN THAILAND Susan M. Darlington
As part of a growing environmental movement in Thailand, a small number of Buddhist monks engage in ecological conservation projects. These “ecology monks” teach ecologically sound practices among Thai farmers and criticize rapid economic development nationwide (which they see as one of the primary causes of the country's environmental crisis). This article examines how one northern Thai monk used a tree ordination, adapted from a traditional Buddhist ritual, to build villagers' commitment to his ecology projects. (Buddhism, environmentalism, ritual, Thailand) |
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WHEN HYPOTHESIS BECOMES MYTH: THE IRAQI ORIGIN OF THE IRAQW Ole Bjørn Rekdal
The now-rejected Hamitic hypothesis, depicting Caucasoid peoples from the north as responsible for a number of precolonial cultural and technological achievements in Africa, served to legitimize European intervention and colonization on the continent. This article discusses how the Hamitic hypothesis was modified and revived as the origin myth of the Iraqw of Tanzania. Written sources and the oralization of written sources have significantly promoted the current widespread recognition among the Iraqw that they originated in Iraq or Mesopotamia. (Iraqw, Mbulu, Hamitic hypothesis, oral tradition, invented tradition) |
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POLITICIZING TRADITION: THE IDENTITY OF INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS IN HONG KONG Selina Ching Chan
This article investigates the identity of indigenous inhabitants in contemporary Hong Kong by discussing the Pang lineage in the New Territories. It examines this identity in relation to the lease of the New Territories, the colonial government, and the modernization of Hong Kong. The article discusses the way in which tradition has been continuously interpreted, negotiated, manipulated, and reinterpreted by different parties. It argues that there has been a shift of emphasis on the meaning of the identity of indigenous inhabitants; from being an ethnic minority in the periphery of colonial culture to becoming “Chinese” in the mainstream Chinese culture awaiting the reunion of Hong Kong with China. (Tradition, identity, Chineseness, indigenous, Hong Kong, New Territories, colonialism) |
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STRATEGIES OF RAIN-FOREST DWELLERS AGAINST MISFORTUNES: THE TSIMANE' INDIANS OF BOLIVIA Ricardo Godoy
Marc Jacobson
David Wilkie
A household survey of Tsimane' Indians of the Bolivian rain forest is used to examine the effect of different types of misfortunes (e.g., illness, deaths, evacuations, crop loss) at the level of the household, village, and region on different types of coping mechanisms. Forest clearing and advances on salaries seem to be more important than savings, reciprocity, borrowing, or credit in coping with mishaps. The statistical evidence suggests that Tsimane' remain poorly insured against unforeseen misfortunes and that inter- or intravillage reciprocity is not operative in times of need. (Misfortunes, Tsimane', food security, insurance, reciprocity, credit, rain forest, Bolivia) |
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THE MOTHER-IN-LAW TABOO A. E. M. J. Pans
In this article a hypothesis is developed and tested that asserts that avoidance between son-in-law and mother-in-law is associated with culturally expected economic interaction between these relatives. On the grounds of both the correlation that was found and an analysis of the participants' views on son-in-law/mother-in-law avoidance, the custom is interpreted as a device for distinguishing the son-in-law/mother-in-law relationship from the husband-wife relationship in societies where these relationships tend to be similar as far as their economic aspect is concerned. The final part of the article seeks to identify the conditions that give rise to economic interaction between son-in-law and mother-in-law. (Avoidance, mother-in-law, sexual division of labor, extended households, matrilocality) |
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