Democracy's Empire

... these essays ... provide an essential read for anyone wanting to better understand the impact of both 'Foreign activists', the dilemmas facing indigenous hill tribes, and more importantly of aid donor countries in this vital area of our planet. --ASIAN AFFAIRS MARCH 2005 ... Nature in the Global South provides the reader with an in-depth, multifaceted analysis of environmental projects, the scope of which is broader than earlier studies conducted in a similar view. The strength of the research lies in providing potential welfare improvements in South and Southeast Asia. --Contemporary South Asia 14(1) March 2005 This set of extraordinary case studies by authors from several countries and disciplines explores historically the politics of nature in particular local contexts through environmental projects, movements, and associated discourses... The editors provide an unusually imaginative and provocative introduction that nicely integrates the main concerns of the anthology... Refreshing and insightful... This set of high-quality case studies contributes a relatively new perspective on human-environment interactions in the regions covered... Published at the turn from the 20th century into the 21st, this book provides a convenient benchmark for a diagnosis of the political ecology of the past and a prognosis for its future in tropical Asia. --Leslie Sponsel, Anthropological Quarterly A pathbreaking work because of its original and detailed explorations of environmental discourses in South and Southeast Asia. Scholars and advanced students both of the region and of modern environmentalism would do well to consult it. Because of the dearth of English language materials concerned at such a complex level with local Asian debates on environmental issues, libraries with major collections in South Asian and Southeast Asian studies, particularly India and Indonesia, should acquire this volume. It is also recommended for interested general readers, since the editors have ensured that they can engage with this volume's intriguing environmental topics without confronting heavy, overly academic language. --Laura M. Calkins, Electronic Green Journal At heart, the authors have a good political line: that partisan scholarship to raise the interests of tribals, peasants and workers can go hand-in-hand with political activism. Together both can challenge the conclusion of development economics and 'global ecologism.' ... A good index and a splendid bibliography. --Bruce McFarlane, Journal of Contemporary Asia This book provides interesting accounts of the interactions between people and natural resources in South and Southeast Asia. It will be useful to anthropologists and sociologists... I would recommend it as a starting point for economists embarking on interdisciplinary research in this area. -- Budy Resosudarmo, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies This is a stunning book...The breadth and depth of historical and ethnographic material brought together in one collection to show how the idea of nature governs relations not only between people and environment, but also the wider field of social and political relations, is quite unique... This is a book that environmental activists and the non-governmental organization community need to read to move forward from some of the impasses and increasingly tired critiques and counter-critiques that shape debate on environment and development. -- Philip Hirsch, Environmental Conservation This collection of essays decidedly advances our understanding of how the tropics and its inhabitants have been conceptualized and transformed by colonial and postcolonial regimes, sometimes for the worse, and how uneasy alliances are being formed in the present between Northern and Southern, rural and urban, local and global allies and enemies. -- Joe Peters, Peace and Change This volume provides a number of fresh insights into the study of nature in southern environments. -- David Biggs, Environmental History