This book is about cultural work in torn-up societies. It narrates the establishment of an academic project in contemporary post-war Cambodia, when the country became the largest recipient of international aid. It depicts a Southeast Asian country at the crossroads of conflicting imaginaries of development through the lens of an independent organization that emerged out of the turmoil. It shows how the relations of domination of institutions from the ‘north’ effectively constrain alternative visions of action in the ‘south’ that fall outside the neo-liberal framework. The account is a reflection on past ambitions and failures of the international good-will order, and a charge to change our approach in the future. It offers a cautionary tale whose significance transcends the Cambodian case.

Bringing together scholarship on issues relating to language, culture, and identity, with a special focus on Asian countries, this volume makes an important contribution in terms of analyzing and demonstrating how language is closely linked with crucial social, political, and economic forces, particularly the tensions between the demands of globalization and local identity. A particular feature is the inclusion of countries that have been under-represented in the research literature, such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Korea. The book is organized in three sections: Globalization and its Impact on Language Policies, Culture, and Identity Language Policy and the Social (Re)construction of National Cultural Identity Language Policy and Language Politics: The Role of English. Unique in its attention to how the domination of English is being addressed in relation to cultural values and identity by non-English speaking countries in a range of sociopolitical contexts, this volume will help readers to understand the impact of globalization on non-English speaking countries, particularly developing countries, which differ significantly from contexts in the West in their cultural orientations and the way identities are being constructed. Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts will interest scholars and research students in the areas of language policy, education, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and critical linguistics. It can be adopted in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on language policy, language in society, and language education.

Against the backdrop of international conventions and their implementation, Cultural Property and Contested Ownership explores how highly-valued cultural goods are traded and negotiated among diverging parties and their interests. Cultural artefacts, such as those kept and trafficked between art dealers, private collectors and museums, have become increasingly localized in a ‘Bermuda triangle’ of colonialism, looting and the black market, with their re-emergence resulting in disputes of ownership and claims for return. This interdisciplinary volume provides the first book-length investigation of the changing behaviours resulting from the effect of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The collection considers the impact of the Convention on the way antiquity dealers, museums and auction houses, as well as nation states and local communities, address issues of provenance, contested ownership, and the trafficking of cultural property. The book contains a range of contributions from anthropologists, lawyers, historians and archaeologists. Individual cases are examined from a bottom-up perspective and assessed from the viewpoint of international law in the Epilogue. Each section is contextualised by an introductory chapter from the editors.

The Angkorian World explores the history of Southeast Asia’s largest ancient state from the first to mid-second millennium CE. Chapters by leading scholars combine evidence from archaeology, texts, and the natural sciences to introduce the Angkorian state, describe its structure, and explain its persistence over more than six centuries. Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be an indispensable resource for anyone studying premodern Asia. The volume’s first of six sections provides historical and environmental contexts and discusses data sources and the nature of knowledge production. The next three sections examine the anthropogenic landscapes of Angkor (agrarian, urban, and hydraulic), the state institutions that shaped the Angkorian state, and the economic foundations on which Angkor operated. Part V explores Angkorian ideologies and realities, from religion and nation to identity. The volume’s last part reviews political and aesthetic Angkorian legacies in an effort to explain why the idea of Angkor remains central to its Cambodian descendants. Maps, graphics, and photographs guide readers through the content of each chapter. Chapters in this volume synthesise more than a century of work at Angkor and in the regions it influenced. The Angkorian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson who seeks to understand how this great Angkorian Empire arose and functioned in the premodern world. The Prologue and Chapters 2, 10, 15, 23, 30 and 32 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The prevalent global heritage discourse has been primarily Euro-centric in its origin, premise, and praxis. Diverse cultural, historical, and geographical contexts, such as that of Asia, call for more context-specific approaches to heritage management. This book explores this complexity of managing the cultural heritage in Asia. Case studies include sites of Angkor, Himeji Castle, Kathmandu Valley, Luang Prabang, Lumbini, and Malacca, and the book uses these to explore the religious worldviews, heritage policies, intangible heritage dimensions, traditional preservation practices, cultural tourism, and the notion of cultural landscape that are crucial in understanding the cultural heritage in Asia. It critiques the contemporary regulatory frameworks in operation and focuses on the issues of global impact on the local cultures in the region. The book goes on to emphasize the need for integrated heritage management approaches that encompass the plurality of heritage conservation concerns in Asian countries. Themes are discussed from the vantage point of heritage scholars and practitioners in the South, Southeast, and East Asia. This book thus presents a distinctive Asian perspective which is a valuable source for students and practitioners of heritage within and beyond the Asian context.

Throughout the book, we will explore some of Cambodia's most iconic cultural sites, such as the Angkor Wat temple complex, the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. We will also take you off the beaten path, introducing you to some of Cambodia's lesser-known cultural treasures, such as the traditional Cambodian village of Kampong Khleang and the floating markets of Tonle Sap Lake. As we journey through Cambodia's cultural landscape, we will explore the country's rich history and traditions, from its ancient Khmer Empire to its modern-day revival of traditional arts and crafts. We will introduce you to Cambodia's diverse ethnic groups and explore the role of religion and spirituality in Cambodian culture, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and animism. In addition to exploring Cambodia's cultural heritage, we will also provide practical information about travel in Cambodia, including tips for navigating the country's complex visa requirements, transportation options, and accommodations. We will also provide recommendations for restaurants, shopping, and other cultural experiences that will help you make the most of your trip to Cambodia. We hope that this book will inspire you to explore the rich cultural heritage of Cambodia and to immerse yourself in the country's vibrant traditions and customs. We also hope that it will serve as a practical guide for those who are planning a trip to Cambodia, providing valuable information and insights into the country's cultural landscape.

This book of tightly woven dialogues engages prominent thinkers in a discussion about the role of culture-broadly construed-in contemporary society and politics. Faced with the conceptual inflation of the notion of 'culture,' which now imposes itself as an indispensable issue in contemporary moral and political debates, these dynamic exchanges seek to rethink culture and critique beyond the schematic models that have often predominated, such as the opposition between "mainstream multiculturalism" and the "clash of civilizations." Prefaced by an introduction relating current cultural debates to the critical theory tradition, this book examines the politics of culture and the spirit of critique from three different vantage points. To begin, Gabriel Rockhill and Alfredo Gomez-Muller provide a stage-setting dialogue, followed by discussions with two major representatives of contemporary critical theory: Seyla Benhabib and Nancy Fraser. Working at the horizons of this tradition, Judith Butler, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Cornel West then provide important critical perspectives on cultural politics. The book's concluding section engages with Michael Sandel and Will Kymlicka, who work out of the Rawlsian tradition yet are uniquely concerned with the issue of culture, broadly understood. The epilogue, an interview with Axel Honneth, returns to the core issue of critical theory in cultural politics. Ranging from recent developments and progressive interventions in critical theory to dialogues that incorporate its insights into larger discussions of social and political philosophy, this book sharpens old critical tools while developing new strategies for rethinking the role of 'culture' in contemporary society.

Creative Research in Music explores what it means to be an artistic researcher in music in the twenty-first century. The book delineates the myriad processes that underpin successful artistic research in music, providing best practice exemplars ranging from Western classical art to local indigenous traditions, and from small to large-scale, multi-media and cross-cultural work formats. Drawing on the richness of creative research work at key institutions in South-East Asia and Australian, this book examines the social, political, historical and cultural driving forces that spur and inspire excellence in creative research to extend and to cross boundaries, to sustain our music industry, to advocate for the importance of music in our world, and to make it clear that music matters. In the chapters, our authors present the ideas of informed practice, innovation and transcendence from diverse international perspectives. Each of these three themes has an introductory section where the theme is explored and the chapters in that section introduced. Taken as a whole, the book discusses how the themes in combination, with reference to the authorial group, are able to transform music pedagogy and performance for our global and complex world. Chapter 9 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Since Cambodia's reopening to the world in the past dozen years, following its genocidal civil war, there has been a burgeoning interest in its history, art and architectural relics. In parallel with this growing popular interest has been a renewal of international scholarly work and corresponding publication on the Khmers. However, virtually without exception, these either have been aimed at the casual tourist, or alternately, have consisted of more or less esoteric monographs, highly focused on specific aspects of Khmer culture. A comprehensive survey of the Khmers, broad enough in its scope to provide an overall view, both temporal and geographic, of Khmer civilization, while sufficiently in-depth to satisfy the serious reader, has not been attempted in any language in the past half century, until now. In "Angkor: Before and After," Professor David Snellgrove has provided a new cultural history of the Khmers covering the period from its very beginning in the 5th century right up to the present day, and dealing not only with Angkor, but with the whole range of Khmer achievements throughout the South East Asian mainland. Professor Snellgrove further enhances this history with new translations of several of the most significant surviving Khmer stone inscriptions, in Sanskrit and ancient Khmer, thus providing the reader with direct views into Khmer civilization. Deeply acquainted with Brahmanical and Buddhist religious traditions, Professor Snellgrove also provides unique new insights into the complex interplay of the two at times competing traditions and the impact of this interplay on Khmer culture and architecture of the period. He further clarifies the religious evolution thatresulted in the eventual replacement of Brahmanical as well as earlier Khmer Mahayana Buddhist practices by the Theravada tradition that eventually predominates in Cambodia today. With detailed descriptions, complemented by rich illustration, of many Khmer sites, including both well known and many rarely visited or previously described, this book is essential reading for all who wish to further their understanding of this fascinating and highly developed medieval civilization.