Deborah E. Tooker is Chair of Anthropology, Criminology and Sociology and Director of the Anthropology Program at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, as well as Faculty Associate in Research at Cornell University’s Southeast Asia Program.

• Space and the Production of Cultural Difference Among the Akha Prior to Globalization - 1 Table of Contents - 8 List of Maps, Tables, Figures and Illustrations - 12 Preface - 14 Acknowledgments - 16 Note on Akha Transcription - 18 1 Bearings - 22 2 Moving Through History - 48 3 Space and the Flow of Life - 66 4 Spatializing the Upland Village Polity and its Alter, the Lowland Muang - 74 5 Space and Fertility in House and Field - 118 6 Chanting to Produce the Inside and Outside - 158 7 Rethinking the Cosmic Polity - 216 8 Space, Life, and Identity - 240 Appendix A: Spirit Chanting of the Inside: Types of Ceremonies - 246 Appendix B: Spirit Chanting of the Outside: Types of Ceremonies - 250 Akha Glossary - 272 Notes - 282 List of References - 312 English Language Index - 322 Akha Language Index - 336 Biographical Note about the Author - 340

"This is the best ethographic account of one of the most conspicuous and well-known upland groups in Southeast Asia. It is an excellent contribution to the study of space, ritual and cosmology in this region and beyond." -- Guido Sprenger, Heidelberg University</.b>, Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 30 (2), 2015 "Relying on decades of fieldwork, this brilliant book focuses primarily on the myriad ways in which the Akha conceptual construction of space provided these tribal people with a sense of their own cosmic power and centrality, despite their actual political weakness and marginality. This exemplary work is not only a moving evocation of a unique culture, it is also is a sophisticated re-examination of the multiple meanings of‘center’ and ‘periphery’ in Southeast Asian studies, and in anthropological theory. " -- Charles Lindholm, Boston University