Inside Southeast Asia
by Niels MulderWritten for both general readers and specialists, this book explores how modern, urban Southeast Asians view and manage their social life. By comparing the ways they live with their religious representations, with intimate and more distant others, and with their rapidly changing environment, the author demonstrates the marked similarities in the perception of individual and society in three civilizations along the inner littoral of Southeast Asia, irrespective of the great religious diversity that appears to characterize the region at first glance.
What others are saying
Mulder's explorations into the individual and society are extremely perceptive . . . Altogether a fascinating little book . . . distinguished by straightforwardness and good sense—Michael Smithies, Bangkok Post
Mulder dares to draw unorthodox parallels and is not afraid to make conclusions . . . that provide starting points to reflect on what it means to be a Southeast Asian.—Andree Feillard, Asiaweek
Niels Mulder has the rare ability to be both scholarly and entertaining.—Ian Buruma, God's Dust
About the Author
For more than thirty years Dr. Niels Mulder has been actively engaged with life in Java, Thailand, and the Philippines. As an independent anthropologist, he now focuses on the factors that fuel the cultural dynamics of contemporary Southeast Asia. His books include Inside Indonesian Society: Cultural Change in Java; Inside Thai Society: Religion, Everyday Life, Change; Inside Philippine Society: Interpretations of Everyday Life; Thai Images: The Culture of the Public World, and Southeast Asian Images: Towards Civil Society?
Share this item: