
Fluid Boundaries
Forming and Transforming Identity in Nepal
William F. Fisher(Author)
Columbia University Press
Will be published approx. on 24. December 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-231-11087-7 (ISBN)
Description
More than an ethnography, this book clarifies one of the most important current debates in anthropology: How should anthropologists regard culture, history, and the power process? Since the 1980s, the Thakali of Nepal have searched for an identity and a clarification of their "true" culture and history in the wake of their rise to political power and achievement of economic success. Although united in this search, the Thakali are divided as to the answers that have been proposed: the "Hinduization" of religious practices, the promotion of Tibetan Buddhism, the revival of practices associated with the Thakali shamans, and secularization. Ironically, the attempts by the Thakali to define their identity reveal that to return to tradition they must first re-create it-but this process of re-creation establishes it in a way in which it has never existed. To return to "tradition"-to become Thakali again-is, in a way, to become Thakali for the very first time.
Reviews / Votes
This authoritative account of Thakali society remains an extremely welcome addition to... the wider body of anthropological research into the political implications of the social construction of cultural identity. -- Michael Wilmore, University of Adelaide, Australia Ethnos Fluid Boundaries offers a sophisticated and intellectual evaluation... The book is an essential addition. -- Mark Turin Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute His final arguments are well made. He moves questions of ethnic identity on from quests for coherence and authenticity by actors and scholars to a matter of when and where ethnicity becomes an issue. -- Ben Campbell Social AnthropologyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
425 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-11087-7 (9780231110877)
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
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2015
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€32.95
Available for download
Book
12/2001
Columbia University Press
€89.91
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
William F. Fisher is associate professor of anthropology at Harvard University.
Content
List of Maps and Tables Preface Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Thakali Again for the Very First Time 2. Drawing Lines: On Constructing and Contesting Boundaries 3. Forging Histories 4. Separation and Integration: Community and Contestation 5. Ritual Landscapes 6. Codifying Culture 7. Constructing Thakali 8. Beyond Sanskritization 9. Old Artificers in a New Smithy Notes Glossary Works Cited Index