In Sickness and in Wealth

Reviews / Votes

In Sickness and in Wealth is a precious contribution in the expanding anthropological literature on morality, perhaps peculiarly salient in its bouncing off different perspectives. Thanks to its elegant and accessible style, furthermore, it makes for an engaging read also for those interested in the Indonesian and Southeast Asian scholarship at large.

- Roberto Rizzo (Social Anthropology) This book is essential reading for students wishing to learn about the cultural constitution of one specific mobility system: Javanese women's transnational labor migration. It will be useful for those comparing the lives of other transnational migrants and overseas domestic workers from and within Asia. Studying migration from the vantage point of the "sending" communities-in this case, villages in Central Java-is less common than studying migrant experiences from the "receiving" countries' perspectives. Chan's research thus adds to a small but growing number of studies that have shown the importance of learning about the social context from which people leave, circulate, and return, as well as communicate, sustain relationships, and participate in social, political, and economic life transnationally.

- Emily Hertzman (Indonesia)