
An Intimate Journey
Finding Myself Amongst the Sama-Bajau
Waka Aoyama(Author)
Kyoto University Press and Trans Pacific Press
Published on 28. February 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
428 pages
978-1-925608-20-5 (ISBN)
Description
This work offers a comprehensive description of the lives of the Sama-Bajau people based on ongoing ethnographic research conducted by the author in Davao City, the Philippines, for over two decades. The Sama-Bajau have suffered stigmatization in Philippine society, even though the true picture of their lives, both as a community and as individuals, has been largely unknown to the outside world. An Intimate Journey objectively portrays various aspects of the lives of six Sama-Bajau families, including economics, politics, and religion, and at the same time reveals their inner worlds to the reader through the abundant inclusion of first-person narratives. Each chapter takes the form of a letter addressed to "absent others"--the dead and the unborn in the study field--as a story retold by the author to be passed down to future generations. The author hopes that this book will be read by not only those interested in Southeast Asia or the Sama-Bajau, but also those concerned with the question of the relationship between economics and ethics or care, as well as the question of the future direction of humanity and society. More specifically, this relates to the risks facing the communities and individuals who tend to be considered "bottommost" according to the efficiency standards of the contemporary neo-liberal market economy, bringing to the fore the wisdom they use in surviving the challenges they face, how they should be understood, and what actions should be taken to intervene in their circumstances.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Victoria
Australia
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
481 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-925608-20-5 (9781925608205)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Aoyama Waka is Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, and Visiting Researcher at the Joint Ateneo Institute for Mindanao Economics, Ateneo de Davao University. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Tokyo. As an ethnographer specializing in Southeast Asian studies focusing on the Southern Philippines, her research interests include human wellbeing, care, and resilience in the context of the ever changing, globalized world.