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The Network
Announcements
New books
IIAS runs a book publication programme in cooperation with Amsterdam University Press (AUP). IIAS currently publishes monographs and edited volumes in three series, namely Global Asia, Asian Cities, and Asian Heritages. Each series has its own editor and editorial board. If you are interested in publishing a book in one of our series, please do not hesitate to contact the editors. https://www.iias.asia/books
World Heritage and Urban Politics in Melaka, Malaysia: A Cityscape below the Winds
Constructing Kanchi: City of Infinite Temples Emma Natalya Stein
Pierpaolo De Giosa
ISBN: 6978 94 6372 912 3 Publication date: 15 Oct 2021 | Series: Asian Cities
ISBN: 978 94 6372 502 6 Publication date: 1 July 2021 | Series: Asian Heritages
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his book explores the politics of heritage in the Malaysian historical city par excellence. Already celebrated as the most glorious Malay kingdom and busy entrepôt, Melaka has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008, on the strength of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious urban fabric. Yet, contrary to the expectations of heritage experts and aficionados, the global mission of safeguarding cultural heritage has become a tumultuous issue on the ground. World Heritage and Urban Politics in Melaka, Malaysia: A Cityscape below the Winds analyses how the World Heritage ‘label’ is being used by different actors – such as international organizations, nation states, and society at large – to generate new economic revenues as well as to attract
tourists and investment for largescale real estate development projects. In doing so, it reveals the complex and often contradictory stories behind heritage designations in urban milieus. Pierpaolo De Giosa is a social anthropologist and former member of the research group ‘The Global Political Economy of Cultural Heritage’ at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. His research interests lie at the intersection of urban studies and critical heritage studies. https://www.aup.nl/en/ book/9789463725026/worldheritage-and-urban-politics-inmelaka-malaysia
contributed to the vibrancy of Kanchi’s temple life. The construction and ongoing renovation of temples in and around the city, she concludes, has enabled Kanchi to thrive continuously from at least the eighth century, through the colonial period, and up until the present. Emma Natalya Stein (PhD, Yale) is Assistant Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Her research investigates the relationships among sacred architecture, urban space, and tropical landscapes. Dr. Stein has conducted fieldwork throughout South and Southeast Asia. https://www.aup.nl/en/ book/9789463729123/constructing-kanchi
Heritage and the Making of Political Legitimacy in Laos: The Past and Present of the Lao Nation
Narrating Democracy in Myanmar: The Struggle Between Activists, Democratic Leaders and Aid Workers
Phill Wilcox
Tamas Wells
ISBN: 978 94 6372 702 0 Publication date: 1 Oct 2021 | Series: Asian Heritages
ISBN: 978 94 6372 615 3 Publication date: 14 May 2021 | Series: Global Asia
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he Lao People’s Democratic Republic is nearly fifty years old, and one of the few surviving one-party socialist states. Nearly five decades on from its revolutionary birth, the Lao population continues to build futures in and around a political landscape that maintains socialist rhetoric on one hand and capitalist economics on the other. Contemporary Lao politics is marked by the use of cultural heritage as a source of political legitimacy. Researched through long term detailed ethnography in the former royal capital of Luang Prabang, itself a UNESCO recognised World Heritage Site since 1995, this book takes a fresh look at issues of legitimacy, heritage and national identity for different
members of the Lao population. It argues that the political system has become sufficiently embedded to avoid imminent risk of collapse but suggests that it is facing new challenges primarily in the form of rising Chinese influence in Laos. Phill Wilcox is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany. Her book chapter 'Contested Heritage in Luang Prabang' was published as part of the Routledge Handbook of Urbanization in Southeast Asia in 2018. https://www.aup.nl/en/ book/9789463727020/heritage-and-themaking-of-political-legitimacy-in-laos
IIAS Book Talk Series
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his book traces the emergence of the South Indian city of Kanchi as a major royal capital and multireligious pilgrimage destination during the era of the Pallava and Chola dynasties (circa seventh through thirteenth centuries). It presents the first-ever comprehensive picture of historical Kanchi, locating the city and its more than 100 spectacular Hindu temples at the heart of commercial and artistic exchange that spanned India, Southeast Asia, and China. The author demonstrates that Kanchi was structured with a hidden urban plan, which determined the placement and orientation of temples around a central thoroughfare that was also a burgeoning pilgrimage route. Moving outwards from the city, she shows how the transportation networks, river systems, residential enclaves, and agrarian estates all
e are excited to announce a new addition to our webinar series. From September, we are starting the ‘IIAS Book Talks’, dedicated to new titles published in the three IIAS publication series, ‘Asian Heritages’, ‘Asian Cities’ and ‘Global Asia’. The author(s) or editor(s) will explain different aspects of their monograph or edited volume, after which time is reserved for questions from the audience. We welcome you to join these sessions and learn more about our latest books directly from the authors/ editors. The IIAS Book Talk Series is organised by Mary Lynn van Dijk (publications officer), in collaboration with Wai Cheung (reviews coordinator of NewBooks.Asia) and Annemarie van Leeuwen, (lectures and outreach coordinator).
For information about the IIAS Publication Series, see www.iias.asia/books IIAS organises webinars on a variety of Asia-related topics, held by IIAS fellows and other speakers, aimed at sharing knowledge and connecting people. All webinars and book talks (and updates to the schedule) are announced on our website at www.iias.asia/events You are most welcome to join (free of charge) by registering online in advance. We will subsequently contact you with further information on how to participate. A selection of our previous webinars can be viewed on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/asianstudies The following Book Talks have been confirmed (please check our website for up-to-date information).
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his book analyses what Myanmar’s struggle for democracy has signified to Burmese activists and democratic leaders, and to their international allies. In doing so, it explores how understanding contested meanings of democracy helps make sense of the country’s tortuous path since Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won historic elections in 2015. Using Burmese and English language sources, Narrating Democracy in Myanmar reveals how the country’s ongoing struggles for democracy exist not only in opposition to Burmese military elites, but also within networks of local activists and democratic leaders, and international aid workers.
23 September 2021 World Heritage and Urban Politics in Melaka, Malaysia. A Cityscape below the Winds
Tamas Wells is a Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. His research focusses on meanings of democracy, governance, freedom and accountability in Southeast Asia and the role of international aid agencies. Before entering academia, he worked in Myanmar for six years with various NGOs – including Save the Children – on governance, public health and civil-society-strengthening programs. https://www.aup.nl/en/ book/9789463726153/narratingdemocracy-in-myanmar
17 February 2022 Constructing Kanchi. City of Infinite Temples
Speaker: Pierpaolo De Giosa (author) Publication date: 1 July 2021 IIAS publication series: Asian Heritages
Speaker: Emma Natalya Stein (author) Publication date: 15 October 2021 IIAS publication series: Asian Cities
27 October 2021 Narrating Democracy in Myanmar. The Struggle Between Activists, Democratic Leaders and Aid Workers
7 April 2022 Heritage and the Making of Political Legitimacy in Laos. The Past and Present of the Lao Nation
Speaker: Tamas Wells (author) Publication date: 14 May 2021 IIAS publication series: Global Asia
Speaker: Phill Wilcox (author) Publication date: 1 October 2021 IIAS publication series: Asian Heritages
