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Fluid Iron: State Formation in Southeast Asia
- Article from:
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The Australian Journal of Anthropology
- Article date:
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January 1, 2004
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright Anthropology Society of New South Wales 2004. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Tony Day. Fluid Iron: State Formation in Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. Pp.312, references, index. US$56.00 (Hc.), ISBN 0-8248-2617-5; US$24.00 (Pb.), ISBN 0-8248-2507-1.
Fluid Iron is a study of state formation, not only as a political process of centralisation and concentration of power and wealth, but as a cultural and aesthetic phenomenon implicating ritual and images of sexuality and beauty.
The study is sweeping in scope, not only in its use of textual materials from across the Southeast Asian region and over centuries, but in drawing them into dialogue with great contemporary debates in the disciplines of political science, cultural studies, sociology ...