depicted Pohnpeian society in a way that revealed ‘a tectonic shift in the basic premises of Germ... more depicted Pohnpeian society in a way that revealed ‘a tectonic shift in the basic premises of German anthropology’ in the early 20 century. These are hardly the words of ‘critics of German culture’ attempting to draw what Suren sees as ‘a direct line from 19 century Germany to the Nazi regime in the Third Reich’ (p. 14). Much of Suren’s displeasure stems from his assumption that any discussion of ‘race’ in historical thought is equivalent to an accusation of racism, as well as his insistence on ‘a modern, restricted sense’ of the term ‘race’ (p. 15). He does not explicitly define what he means by this, but appears to consider it roughly equivalent to ‘(average) genetic disposition’, contrasting it with ‘the broad [sense] which prevailed around 1900, when it often denoted what we call today ethnic group, or people, or tribe’ (pp. 15, 45). This seriously misrepresents the current status of the term, which remains both potent (as a social construct) and hotly contested (as purporting to describe genetically discrete, reliably measureable, scientifically meaningful biological groups). It also indicates that Suren is unfamiliar with the very substantial literature on the historical development of what Bronwen Douglas has aptly described as a ‘slippery word’. ‘Race’ carried multiple meanings which varied substantially across both time and space, including connotations of shared origins, physical features, language, customs, and degrees of ‘civilisation’. It could signify different things for different authors, or even for the same author in different contexts. In view of this polyvalence, Suren’s claims that, for example, ‘the Samoans were usually not described as a race by the Germans’ and that ‘[i]n German writings, Samoans and Germans were usually presented as two peoples which essentially differed from each other coming from varying cultural and climatic backgrounds’ (p. 15) can only be salvaged from hopeless confusion by a wholly anachronistic understanding of the term ‘race’. When Suren engages with what the authors have actually written, he is able to offer quite useful qualifications and corrections to some of their arguments. In response to Kahn and Wilke’s claim that ‘the idea of an ideal German-Polynesian hybrid “race” occurs frequently’ in ‘popular texts by lesser-known [German] travel writers’, he points out that at least half of the works they mention depict tragic conclusions to romantic liaisons between Europeans and Islander women, and several suggest irreconcilable differences between German and Polynesian cultures. He notes, contra Petersen’s suggestion that Hambruch was influenced by Kulturkreis theory, that several of Hambruch’s works explicitly criticise the ‘uncritical dogmatism’ of precisely this theory (p. 38). He is evidently widely read and has a genuine interest in his subject. It is a pity, then, that he has expended so much of his scholarly energy tilting at windmills.
The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 brought home to an international audience the impli... more The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 brought home to an international audience the implications of industrial mobility in the clothing industry. In this event, a substandard building that housed, among others, five clothing factories employing over 3000 workers collapsed, and the lives of hundreds of workers were lost. Estimates put the death toll at between 425 and 1200 (Yardley 2013). These workers died as a result of the operations of an industry that seeks to reduce the margins of labour costs. In addition to low wages and poor working conditions, nowadays contractors also use strategies of transnational mobility
... Old Order Indonesia of Sukarno, reminding us of LEKRA'S kesenian rakyat (see Darma Putra... more ... Old Order Indonesia of Sukarno, reminding us of LEKRA'S kesenian rakyat (see Darma Putra, this volume ... The fall of Suharto was of course anything but aman, and the organized conflicts that ... complicated with the knowledge that it was marines, and later special Air Forces, who ...
Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Mar 6, 2020
Palabra e imagen en La isla de Bali de Miguel Covarrubias Artículo recibido el de abril de 1... more Palabra e imagen en La isla de Bali de Miguel Covarrubias Artículo recibido el de abril de 18; devuelto para revisión el 8 de enero de 19; aceptado el 3 de febrero de 19; http://dx.doi.org/1.1/iie.18736e.19.mono1.74.
depicted Pohnpeian society in a way that revealed ‘a tectonic shift in the basic premises of Germ... more depicted Pohnpeian society in a way that revealed ‘a tectonic shift in the basic premises of German anthropology’ in the early 20 century. These are hardly the words of ‘critics of German culture’ attempting to draw what Suren sees as ‘a direct line from 19 century Germany to the Nazi regime in the Third Reich’ (p. 14). Much of Suren’s displeasure stems from his assumption that any discussion of ‘race’ in historical thought is equivalent to an accusation of racism, as well as his insistence on ‘a modern, restricted sense’ of the term ‘race’ (p. 15). He does not explicitly define what he means by this, but appears to consider it roughly equivalent to ‘(average) genetic disposition’, contrasting it with ‘the broad [sense] which prevailed around 1900, when it often denoted what we call today ethnic group, or people, or tribe’ (pp. 15, 45). This seriously misrepresents the current status of the term, which remains both potent (as a social construct) and hotly contested (as purporting to describe genetically discrete, reliably measureable, scientifically meaningful biological groups). It also indicates that Suren is unfamiliar with the very substantial literature on the historical development of what Bronwen Douglas has aptly described as a ‘slippery word’. ‘Race’ carried multiple meanings which varied substantially across both time and space, including connotations of shared origins, physical features, language, customs, and degrees of ‘civilisation’. It could signify different things for different authors, or even for the same author in different contexts. In view of this polyvalence, Suren’s claims that, for example, ‘the Samoans were usually not described as a race by the Germans’ and that ‘[i]n German writings, Samoans and Germans were usually presented as two peoples which essentially differed from each other coming from varying cultural and climatic backgrounds’ (p. 15) can only be salvaged from hopeless confusion by a wholly anachronistic understanding of the term ‘race’. When Suren engages with what the authors have actually written, he is able to offer quite useful qualifications and corrections to some of their arguments. In response to Kahn and Wilke’s claim that ‘the idea of an ideal German-Polynesian hybrid “race” occurs frequently’ in ‘popular texts by lesser-known [German] travel writers’, he points out that at least half of the works they mention depict tragic conclusions to romantic liaisons between Europeans and Islander women, and several suggest irreconcilable differences between German and Polynesian cultures. He notes, contra Petersen’s suggestion that Hambruch was influenced by Kulturkreis theory, that several of Hambruch’s works explicitly criticise the ‘uncritical dogmatism’ of precisely this theory (p. 38). He is evidently widely read and has a genuine interest in his subject. It is a pity, then, that he has expended so much of his scholarly energy tilting at windmills.
The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 brought home to an international audience the impli... more The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013 brought home to an international audience the implications of industrial mobility in the clothing industry. In this event, a substandard building that housed, among others, five clothing factories employing over 3000 workers collapsed, and the lives of hundreds of workers were lost. Estimates put the death toll at between 425 and 1200 (Yardley 2013). These workers died as a result of the operations of an industry that seeks to reduce the margins of labour costs. In addition to low wages and poor working conditions, nowadays contractors also use strategies of transnational mobility
... Old Order Indonesia of Sukarno, reminding us of LEKRA'S kesenian rakyat (see Darma Putra... more ... Old Order Indonesia of Sukarno, reminding us of LEKRA'S kesenian rakyat (see Darma Putra, this volume ... The fall of Suharto was of course anything but aman, and the organized conflicts that ... complicated with the knowledge that it was marines, and later special Air Forces, who ...
Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Mar 6, 2020
Palabra e imagen en La isla de Bali de Miguel Covarrubias Artículo recibido el de abril de 1... more Palabra e imagen en La isla de Bali de Miguel Covarrubias Artículo recibido el de abril de 18; devuelto para revisión el 8 de enero de 19; aceptado el 3 de febrero de 19; http://dx.doi.org/1.1/iie.18736e.19.mono1.74.
“Mengapa tahun 1950an merupakan zaman penting untuk Indonesia”, in Henk Schulte Nordholt, Bambang Purwanto and Ratna Saptari (eds.), Perspektif Batu Penulisan Sejarah Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Obor, 2008., 2008
2004 “The Classics in Indonesian Studies: J.S Furnivall’s Netherlands India”. Paper presented at the 15th Biennial conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, in Canberra 29th June-2nd July , 2004
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