
The Camphor Tree and the Elephant
Religion and Ecological Change in Maritime Southeast Asia
Faizah Zakaria(Author)
University of Washington Press
Published on 7. February 2023
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-295-75119-1 (ISBN)
Description
Uncovers a spiritual dimension in the transition to the AnthropoceneWhat is the role of religion in shaping interactions and relations between the human and nonhuman in nature? Why are Muslim and Christian organizations generally not a potent force in Southeast Asian environmental movements? The Camphor Tree and the Elephant brings these questions into the history of ecological change in the region, centering the roles of religion and colonialism in shaping the Anthropocene-"the human epoch."
Historian Faizah Zakaria traces the conversion of the Batak people in upland Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula to Islam and Christianity during the long nineteenth century. She finds that the process helped shape social structures that voided the natural world of enchantment, ushered in a cash economy, and placed the power to remake local landscapes into the hands of a distant elite. Using a wide array of sources such as family histories, prayer manuscripts, and folktales in tandem with colonial and ethnographic archives, Zakaria brings everyday religion and its far-flung implications into our understanding of the environmental history of the modern world.
Historian Faizah Zakaria traces the conversion of the Batak people in upland Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula to Islam and Christianity during the long nineteenth century. She finds that the process helped shape social structures that voided the natural world of enchantment, ushered in a cash economy, and placed the power to remake local landscapes into the hands of a distant elite. Using a wide array of sources such as family histories, prayer manuscripts, and folktales in tandem with colonial and ethnographic archives, Zakaria brings everyday religion and its far-flung implications into our understanding of the environmental history of the modern world.
Reviews / Votes
"In its contents and methods, this captivating case study has far broader relevance beyond its regional focus." * Choice * "While historians have produced studies of individual polities in the region before and after the imposition of imperial rule, The Camphor Tree and the Elephant is the first to situate this transition in a much larger environmental and religious perspective, thus providing a vibrant reevaluation of approaches to the Southeast Asian past." * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies * "A valuable scholarly contribution to the interdisciplinary fields of Asian studies, Southeast Asian studies, environmental studies, history, environmental history, and postcolonial studies." * Southeast Asian Studies * "Adroitly crisscrossing different scales, temporalities, and intellectual fields, The Camphor Tree and the Elephant is an exemplary piece of interdisciplinary scholarship...Expansive in scope, generous yet incisive in execution, it is a book that scholars and activists interested in the intersection of Indigenous religions, environment, economy, and colonialism can read with great profit." * Indigenous Religious Traditions *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
582 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-75119-1 (9780295751191)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Faizah Zakaria
The Camphor Tree and the Elephant
Religion and Ecological Change in Maritime Southeast Asia
E-Book
02/2023
1st Edition
University of Washington Press
€34.49
Available for download
Persons
Faizah Zakaria is assistant professor in the Departments of Southeast Asian Studies and Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore. She is coeditor of Fatwas of Singapore: Science, Medicine and Health.