Materializing Thailand

Penny Van Esterik York University

• Preface, List of Figures, Part I Orientations, 1. Crafting Thailand, 2. Ordering the Past: Representations of Thai Women, 3. Buddhism and Gender Ideology, Part II Representations, 4. Representing Thai Culture, 5. Deconstructing Display: Gender and Beauty, 6. Prostitution and Foreign Bodies, Part III Interpretations, 7. Modelling Thai Gender Relations, 8. Context and Continuity: Grasshoppers, Turtles and Feminists, Bibliography, Index

'The reader will be rewarded with some interesting detail on the nature of Thai society and intriguing insights into the historical and cultural conditions that have shaped, and are still shaping, Thai gender relations. While the author may argue that superficial understanding is the inevitable fate of the outside analyst, this books stands as testament to one scholar's lifetime rejection of such a mundane truism.'Journal of Sustainable Tourism'Penny Van Esterik provides a valuable synthesis of much recent work in Thai ethnography including nearly three decades of her own observation and engagement in Thai studies ... This book offers a perceptive analysis of the complex intersections between gender and the nationalist project that will interest readers both in Thai Studies and beyond.'Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute'A stimulating account of a lifetime's engagement with issues concerning women in Thailand. It is a clearly written contribution to the cultural s