Ban Chiang Northeast Thailand Volume 2a

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Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2A

Author : Joyce C. White
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 1931707448
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (317 download)

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Book Synopsis Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2A by : Joyce C. White

Download or read book Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2A written by Joyce C. White and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence and adoption of metallurgy is one of the seminal topics of investigation in the history of archaeology, particularly in the history of archaeological research in Southeast Asia. The site of Ban Chiang, Thailand, is a central site in debates surrounding the chronology and significance of early metallurgy in the region. This book is the first in a series of four volumes that review the contributions of Ban Chiang and three related sites in northeast Thailand excavated by the Penn Museum to an understanding early metallurgy in Thailand. As the study of archaeometallurgy is a complex topic that draws on numerous technical and social science disciplines, this introductory volume presents in several chapters the background needed to assess the metal and related evidence presented in the subsequent volumes in this series. A history of perspectives on the role of metals in ancient societies generally and Southeast Asia, specifically, is provided. Other chapters debunk the conventional paradigm for understanding metals and society and provide current theoretical perspectives and new paradigms for the study of ancient metals. The geological basis for the presence and location of metal ore resources in the region is reviewed. The final chapter presents a technical overview of ways material properties of ancient metals may be studied. While providing a background to the study of metals at Ban Chiang, the volume also reviews, synthesizes, and repositions the method and theory for the study of archaeometallurgy generally. Thai Archaeology Monograph Series, 2A; University Museum Monograph, 149

Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2C

Author : Joyce C. White
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
ISBN 13 : 1934536997
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (345 download)

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Book Synopsis Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2C by : Joyce C. White

Download or read book Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2C written by Joyce C. White and published by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This third volume in the series is devoted to presenting and interpreting the metallurgical evidence from Ban Chiang, northeast Thailand, in the broader regional context. Because the production of metal artifacts must engage numerous communities in order to acquire and process the raw materials and then create and distribute products, understanding metals in past societies requires a regional perspective. This is the first book to compile, summarize, and synthesize the English-language copper production and exchange evidence available so far from Thailand and Laos in a thorough and systematic manner. Chapters by Vincent C. Pigott and Thomas O. Pryce examine in detail the mining and smelting of copper in several sites, and the lead-isotope evidence for the sourcing of artifacts found in two of the consumption sites included in the study. Another chapter compiles the metal consumption evidence, including results of technical studies on prehistoric metals recovered from more than 35 sites excavated in central and northeast Thailand. This compilation demonstrates important regional variation in chaînes opératoires, allowing explication and synthesis of the technological traditions found in this region during prehistory. The review and compilation sheds new light on the social and economic context for the adoption and development of metallurgy in this part of the world. One key insight is that Thailand presents a case for a "community-driven bronze age," where the choices of peaceful local communities, not elites or centralized political entities, shaped how metal technological systems were implemented in this region. This fresh perspective on the role of metallurgy in ancient societies contributes to an expanded global understanding of how humans have engaged metal technologies, contributing to debunking the conventional paradigm that emphasized a top-down view and a standardized metallurgical sequence, a paradigm that has dominated archeometallurgical studies for the last century or more. Thai Archaeology Monograph Series, 2C University Museum Monograph, 153

The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia

Author : Charles Higham
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521565059
Total Pages : 404 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (65 download)

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Book Synopsis The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia by : Charles Higham

Download or read book The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia written by Charles Higham and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-06-13 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the controversy over the origins of the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia. Charles Higham provides a systematic and regional presentation of the current evidence. He suggests that the adoption of metallurgy in the region followed a period of growing exchange with China. Higham then traces the development of Bronze Age cultures, identifying regionality and innovation, and suggesting how and why distinct cultures developed. This book is the first comprehensive study of the period, placed within a broader comparative framework.

Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2B

Author : Joyce C. White
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
ISBN 13 : 1931707782
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (317 download)

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Book Synopsis Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2B by : Joyce C. White

Download or read book Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2B written by Joyce C. White and published by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This book was released on 2019-02-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The foundation of any archaeometallurgical study is study of excavated assemblages of metals and related remains. This volume presents in detail how the metals and such remains as crucibles excavated from four sites in northeast Thailand have been studied to understand the place of metal objects and technology in the ancient past of this region. In addition to typological examination, hundreds of technical analyses reveal the technological capabilities, preferences, and styles of metal artifact manufacturers in this part of Thailand. Detailed examination of contexts of recovery of metal remains employing a "life history" approach indicates that metal objects in those societies were used primarily in daily life and, only occasionally, as grave goods. The most surprising find is that casting of copper-base artifacts to final form took place at all these village sites during the metal age period, indicating a decentralized final production stage that may prove to be unusual for metal age societies. These insights are made possible by applying the methods and theories introduced in the first volume of the suite of volumes that study the metal remains from Ban Chiang in regional contest. Thai Archaeology Monograph Series, 2B; University Museum Monograph, 150

Monastery, Monument, Museum

Author : Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 0824866096
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis Monastery, Monument, Museum by : Maurizio Peleggi

Download or read book Monastery, Monument, Museum written by Maurizio Peleggi and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging across the longue durée of Thailand’s history, Monastery, Monument, Museum is an eminently readable and original contribution to the study of the kingdom’s art and culture. Eschewing issues of dating, style, and iconography, historian Maurizio Peleggi addresses distinct types of artifacts and artworks as both the products and vehicles of cultural memory. From the temples of Chiangmai to the Emerald Buddha, from the National Museum of Bangkok to the prehistoric culture of Northeast Thailand, and from the civic monuments of the 1930s to the political artworks of the late twentieth century, even well-known artworks and monuments reveal new meanings when approached from this perspective. Part I, “Sacred Geographies,” focuses on the premodern era, when religious credence informed the cultural alteration of landscape, and devotional sites and artifacts, including visual representation of the Buddhist cosmology, were created. Part II, “Antiquities, Museums, and National History,” covers the 1830s through the 1970s, when antiquarianism, and eventually archaeology, emerged and developed in the kingdom, partly the result of a shift in the elites’ worldview and partly a response to colonial and neocolonial projects of knowledge. Part III, “Discordant Mnemoscapes,” deals with civic monuments and artworks that anchor memory of twentieth-century political events and provide stages for both their commemoration and counter-commemoration by evoking the country’s embattled political present. Monastery, Monument, Museum shows us how cultural memory represents a kind of palimpsest, the result of multiple inscriptions, reworkings, and manipulations over time. The book will be a rewarding read for historians, art historians, anthropologists, and Buddhism scholars working on Thailand and Southeast Asia generally, as well as for academic and general readers with an interest in memory and material culture.

Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2D

Author : Joyce C. White
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0934718695
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (347 download)

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Book Synopsis Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2D by : Joyce C. White

Download or read book Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2D written by Joyce C. White and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars of ancient metallurgy gain insights from individual artifacts as well as from synthetic overviews because debates can turn on details of particular objects from particular contexts. Therefore, it is important for archaeometallurgical studies to provide comprehensive catalogs that specify the attributes of individual objects as well as contexts and the technical studies undertaken on those objects. This fourth volume in the series is devoted to presenting the metallurgical evidence from Ban Chiang, Ban Tong, Ban Phak Top, and Don Klang in northeast Thailand in the form of detailed catalogs organized by sites, periods, and artifact types. All metal artifacts, metallic by-products, and crucibles from the four-site study are included. A catalog of analyzed prills is also included. The catalogs summarize all the contextual, metric, and analytical data from metallographic, elemental, and microhardness analyses. Illustrations and photomicrographs provide visual evidence for the study collection. These kinds of detailed catalogs form the raw material of technical and archaeological interpretation, enabling comparisons with other collections as well as allowing scholars to form their own conclusions independently of the interpretations of the authors.

The Japanese Occupation of Malaya

Author : Paul H. Kratoska
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 9780824818890
Total Pages : 456 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (188 download)

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Book Synopsis The Japanese Occupation of Malaya by : Paul H. Kratoska

Download or read book The Japanese Occupation of Malaya written by Paul H. Kratoska and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan attacked British-ruled Malaya on 8 December 1941 as part of a wave of military actions that toppled the British, Dutch and American colonial regimes in Southeast Asia. Within seventy days, the conquest of Malaya was complete, and British forces in Singapore surrendered on 15 February 1942. The three and a half years of Japanese rule are generally considered to mark a profound transition in the history of the Malay peninsula, but little is known about this period. This book uses the limited administrative papers that survived in Malaya, oral sources, and accounts written by Japanese officers involved in the Malayan campaign to flesh out the story.

Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity

Author : Nicola Di Cosmo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108547001
Total Pages : 1284 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity by : Nicola Di Cosmo

Download or read book Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity written by Nicola Di Cosmo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-26 with total page 1284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity offers an integrated picture of Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppes during a formative period of world history. In the half millennium between 250 and 750 CE, settled empires underwent deep structural changes, while various nomadic peoples of the steppes (Huns, Avars, Turks, and others) experienced significant interactions and movements that changed their societies, cultures, and economies. This was a transformational era, a time when Roman, Persian, and Chinese monarchs were mutually aware of court practices, and when Christians and Buddhists criss-crossed the Eurasian lands together with merchants and armies. It was a time of greater circulation of ideas as well as material goods. This volume provides a conceptual frame for locating these developments in the same space and time. Without arguing for uniformity, it illuminates the interconnections and networks that tied countless local cultural expressions to far-reaching inter-regional ones.

Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia

Author : Karl L. Hutterer
Publisher : U OF M CENTER FOR SOUTH EAST ASIAN STUDI
ISBN 13 : 0891480137
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (914 download)

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Book Synopsis Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia by : Karl L. Hutterer

Download or read book Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia written by Karl L. Hutterer and published by U OF M CENTER FOR SOUTH EAST ASIAN STUDI. This book was released on 1978-01-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic behavior is governed by two major sets of boundary conditions: environmental and technological factors on the one hand, and conditions of social organization on the other hand. Indeed, social scientists are often particularly interested in the framework of exchange relationships: exchange of goods, services, personnel, and information. Economic exchanges lend concrete manifestations to social relations that themselves may transcend the economic realm and that otherwise are often difficult to trace. Yet in social science research in Southeast Asia, the area of economic studies has lagged behind, despite the great study potential represented by the tremendous diversity of its physical and human environment. Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia attempts to take advantage of that opportunity. As a number of the contributions to this volume show, many if not most of the systems organized on very different levels of integration interact with each other. Taken as a whole, they provide evidence of the incredible diversity of economic and social systems that may be investigated in Southeast Asia.

Ban Chiang, a Prehistoric Village Site in Northeast Thailand, Volume 1

Author : Michael Pietrusewsky
Publisher : UPenn Museum of Archaeology
ISBN 13 : 9780924171925
Total Pages : 524 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (719 download)

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Book Synopsis Ban Chiang, a Prehistoric Village Site in Northeast Thailand, Volume 1 by : Michael Pietrusewsky

Download or read book Ban Chiang, a Prehistoric Village Site in Northeast Thailand, Volume 1 written by Michael Pietrusewsky and published by UPenn Museum of Archaeology. This book was released on 2002 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inaugural volume in the Thai Archaeology Monograph Series describes in detail the human skeletal remains from Ban Chiang in northeast Thailand. The skeletal material spans a period from 2100 B.C. to A.D. 200 and includes premetal, Bronze Age, and Iron Age deposits from a series of prehistoric societies. The history of Homo sapiens in Asia has long been a topic of interest among scholars investigating human biology. This study, which is based on one of the larger, comprehensively analyzed skeletal series ever excavated in the region, makes fundamental contributions to understanding human settlement in eastern Asia. The volume includes detailed summaries of metric and nonmetric variation recorded in teeth, skulls, and the rest of the skeleton, and evidence of disease of the Ban Chiang people. These data are used to examine a number of questions: Where did the people of Ban Chiang come from? Did more intensified agriculture influence the health of the people? How do the people of Ban Chiang compare to the inhabitants of other ancient sites in Thailand and to the modern peoples of Thailand and neighboring regions? Contrary to other groups experiencing similar transitions elsewhere in the world, no clear evidence for a decline in health over time is noted in the Ban Chiang skeletal series, suggesting continuity in a broad-based subsistence strategy even in the face of intensifying agriculture. The skeletal evidence further suggests a rigorous physical lifestyle with little evidence for infectious disease or interpersonal violence. Content of this book's CD-ROM may be found online at this location: http://core.tdar.org/project/376534. Thai Archaeology Monograph Series Joyce C. White, Series Editor University Museum Monograph, 111

Tracks and Traces

Author : Philip Hirsch
Publisher : Amsterdam University Press
ISBN 13 : 9089642498
Total Pages : 164 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (896 download)

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Book Synopsis Tracks and Traces by : Philip Hirsch

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.

China and the World in a Changing Context

Author : Huiyao Wang
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9811680868
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (116 download)

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Book Synopsis China and the World in a Changing Context by : Huiyao Wang

Download or read book China and the World in a Changing Context written by Huiyao Wang and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-03-05 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. Ambassadors are a kind of vehicle and bellwether for globalization. These diplomatic envoys serve as pivotal contact points between nations across a wide range of fields, from economics and culture to health and the environment. The special group of ambassadors in this book – those based in Beijing – are at the forefront of what for many countries is one of their most important bilateral relationships, as well one of the most striking and consequential aspects of global affairs in the 21st century: the rise of China on the world stage. This book aims to present an overview of China and the world from diverse angles. It brings together essays by ambassadors to China on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including trade and investment, regional economic cooperation, sustainable development, technology and innovation, and entrepreneurship. Given their familiarity with China and extensive international experience, the insights of these ambassadors are useful for policymakers, academics, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone trying to make sense of our rapidly changing world.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Southeast Asia

Author : C. F. W. Higham
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199355355
Total Pages : 921 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Early Southeast Asia by : C. F. W. Higham

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Early Southeast Asia written by C. F. W. Higham and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-17 with total page 921 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Southeast Asia is one of the most significant regions in the world for tracing human prehistory over a period of 2 million years. Migrations from the African homeland saw settlement by Homo erectus and Homo floresiensis. Anatomically Modern Humans reached Southeast Asia at least 60,000 years ago to establish a hunter-gatherer tradition, adapting as climatic change saw sea levels fluctuate by over 100 metres. From about 2000 BC, settlement was affected by successive innovations that took place to the north and west. The first rice and millet farmers came by riverine and coastal routes to integrate with indigenous hunters. A millennium later, knowledge of bronze casting penetrated along similar pathways. Copper mines were identified, and metals were exchanged over hundreds of kilometres as elites commanded access to this new material. This Bronze Age ended with the rise of a maritime exchange network that circulated new ideas, religions and artefacts with adjacent areas of present-day India and China. Port cities were founded as knowledge of iron forging rapidly spread, as did exotic ornaments fashioned from glass, carnelian, gold and silver. In the Mekong Delta, these developments led to an early transition into the state known as Funan. However, the transition to early states in inland regions arose as a sharp decline in monsoon rains stimulated an agricultural revolution involving permanent ploughed rice fields. These twin developments illuminate how the great early kingdoms of Angkor, Champa and Central Thailand came to be, a vital stage in understanding the roots of modern states"--

New Horizons for Asian Museums and Museology

Author : Naoko Sonoda
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 9811008868
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis New Horizons for Asian Museums and Museology by : Naoko Sonoda

Download or read book New Horizons for Asian Museums and Museology written by Naoko Sonoda and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-20 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents up-to-date information about museums and museology in present-day Asia, focusing on Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Thailand.Asian countries today have developed or are developing their own museology and museums, which are not simple copies of European or North American models. This book provides readers with carefully chosen examples of museum activities—for example, exhibition and sharing information, database construction, access to and conservation of museum collections, relationships between museums and local communities, and international cooperation in the field of cultural heritage. Readers are expected to include museum professionals and museology students.Throughout the course of this book, the reader will understand that a museum is not only a place for collecting, representing, and preserving cultural heritage but also plays a fundamental role in community development. This book is highly recommended to readers who seek a worldwide vision of museum studies.The peer-reviewed chapters in this volume are written versions of the lectures delivered by selected speakers at the international symposium "New Horizons for Asian Museums and Museology" held in February 2015 at the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan.

The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology

Author : Umberto Albarella
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019150999X
Total Pages : 784 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology by : Umberto Albarella

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology written by Umberto Albarella and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-23 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology offers a cutting-edge compendium of zooarchaeology the world over that transcends environmental, economic, and social approaches, seeking instead to provide a holistic view of the roles played by animals in past human cultures. Incisive chapters written by leading scholars in the field incorporate case studies from across five continents, from Iceland to New Zealand and from Japan to Egypt and Ecuador, providing a sense of the dynamism of the discipline, the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions, and an idea of the huge range of interactions that have occurred between people and animals throughout the world and its history. Adaptations of human-animal relationships in environments as varied as the Arctic, temperate forests, deserts, the tropics, and the sea are discussed, while studies of hunter-gatherers, farmers, herders, fishermen, and even traders and urban dwellers highlight the importance that animals have had in all forms of human societies. With an introduction that clearly contextualizes the current practice of zooarchaeology in relation to both its history and the challenges and opportunities that can be expected for the future, and a methodological glossary illuminating the way in which zooarchaeologists approach the study of their material, this Handbook will be invaluable not only for specialists in the field, but for anybody who has an interest in our past and the role that animals have played in forging it.

The Art of South and Southeast Asia

Author : Steven Kossak
Publisher : Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN 13 : 0870999923
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (79 download)

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Book Synopsis The Art of South and Southeast Asia by : Steven Kossak

Download or read book The Art of South and Southeast Asia written by Steven Kossak and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2001 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents works of art selected from the South and Southeast Asian and Islamic collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, lessons plans, and classroom activities.

Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region

Author : Francois Molle
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136569030
Total Pages : 450 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (365 download)

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Book Synopsis Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region by : Francois Molle

Download or read book Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region written by Francois Molle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-05-04 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The catchment area of the Mekong River and its tributaries extends from China, through Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and to Vietnam. The water resources of the Mekong region - from the Irrawaddy and Nu-Salween in the west, across the Chao Phraya to the Lancang-Mekong and Red River in the east- are increasingly contested. Governments, companies, and banks are driving new investments in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional 'development'. Their plans and interventions should provide some benefits, but also pose multiple burdens and risks to millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains and aquatic resources, in particular, the wild capture fisheries of rivers and lakes. This book examines how large-scale projects are being proposed, justified, and built. How are such projects contested and how do specific governance regimes influence decision making? The book also highlights the emergence of new actors, rights and trade-off debates, and the social and environmental consequences of 'water resources development'. This book shows how diverse, and often antagonistic, ideologies and interests are contesting for legitimacy. It argues that the distribution of decision-making, political, and discursive power influences how the waterscapes of the region will ultimately look and how benefits, costs and risks will be distributed. These issues are crucial for the transformation of waterscapes and the prospects for democratizing water governance in the Mekong region. The book is part of the action-research of the M-POWER (Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience) knowledge network. Published with IFAD, CG|AR Challenge Program on Water & Food, M-POWER, Project ECHEL-EAU and HEINRICH BOLL STIFTUNG