BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Introducing "\;Zomia"\;: Site of the Last Great Enclosure Movement of (relatively) Stateless Peoples in Mountainous Southeast Asia - James Scott (Political Science\, Yale) DTSTART:20090326T163000Z DTEND:20090326T180000Z UID:TALK17178@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:anna malinowska DESCRIPTION:"Zomia" is a shorthand reference to the huge\, massif of mainl and Southeast Asia\, running from the Central Highlands of Vietnam westwar d all the way to northeastern India and including the southwest Chinese pr ovinces of Yunnan\, Guizhou\, and western Guangxi. Zomia has\, I contend\, been peopled over the last 2\,000 years largely by runaways from several state-making projects in the valleys\, most particularly Han state-making projects. They have\, in the hills\, acquired\, and shifted\, their ethni c identities. Far from being 'remnants' left behind by civilizing societie s\, they are\, as it were\, "barbarians by choice"\, peoples who have deli berately put distance between themselves and lowland\, state-centers. It i s in this context that their forms of agriculture\, their social structure s\, and much of their culture\, including perhaps even their illiteracy\, can be understood as political choices.\n\n\nThis public lecture is part o f 'Continuity and Change: (Re)conceptualising Power in South-east Asia' co nference\, 26-28 March 2009.\nFor more info or to register for the confere nce go to http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/542/\n LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 9\, Mill Lane END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR