Attitudes and Perceptions in Australia-Malaysia Relation: A Contemporary Profile. 2001. ISBN 967-942-539-8. RM35.00. Rita Camilleri

Attitudes and Perceptions in Australia-Malaysia Relation: A Contemporary Profile. 2001. ISBN 967-942-539-8. RM35.00. Rita Camilleri

When the British colonial mantle was lifted from Malaysia, the newly independent country was expected to move in accordance with the British model. As a neighbour and loyal British colony, Australia also wanted a strong British presence in the region. During the 1980s and 1990s Australian governments actively pursued a policy of engagement with Asia. However, this was also the priod when Malaysia under Mahathir would move away from its British connections and forge closer links with other Asian nations. Contrary to those earlier British expectations, Mahathir’s Malaysia was intent on assuming a leadership role, often critical of Western policies and priorities. How was Australia to adapt to this new self-assertiveness? What would the implications be for its policy of engagement? How would East meet West in this part of the world, and in this rapidly changing set of economic, political and strategic circumstances?

RITA CAMILLERI currently teaches English to newly arrived migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds. She has combined almost four decades of teaching with study (BA, E. Ed, MA) as well as involvement with a wide range of educational and advocacy organisations concerned with such issues as indigenous rights, nuclear disarmament and multicultural dialogue.

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor,

Malaysia.

Fax no: 03-89254575

Essays on Sosial Anthropology of the Malays.

Essays on Sosial Anthropology of the Malays. 2001. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-494-4 (paperback). 198 pp. RM 30.00. Shamsul A.B (ed.)

This book is a collection of essays written by a well-known social anthropologist, the late M. G. Swift. Collected, edited and introduced by Professor Shamsul A. B. one of Swift’s former student. The essays in this volume deals with economic anthropology, the relation of economy to society in the rural communities and the relationship between economic theory and the theory of social relations. Student, researchers, planners, administrator and the lay public will find the issues of economic and social changes discussed in these essays not only interesting but significant in helping them understand the nature of Malay society and its response to the modern world. Although economic and political conditions in the Malay society have drastically changed since Swift wrote these essays in 1950s and 1960s, the latter still provide valuable sources of information and insights in order to understand the background of the society of the present. In fact these essays provide valuable sources of information and insights in order to understand the background of the society of the present. In fact these essays provide a model of Malay social organization prevailing then. Focussing particularly on process of concentration of capital and reinforcement of a status system founded on wealth, with possible transfer of social assets into other than peasant hands, these essays eloquently advance a series of proporsitions about adjustment in the allocation resources over time in a Southeast Asian rural economy.

SHAMSUL AMRI BAHARUDDIN, Ph. D., a Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, currently is the Director of Institute of Malay World and Civilization (ATMA).

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor,

Malaysia.

Fax no: 03-89254575

Researching Social Mobility.

Researching Social Mobility. 2001. ISBN 967-942-469-3. 222 pgs. RM30.00. Robert Miller

Malaysia is a society undergoing rapid development and profound structural changes. A feature of these changes is a high rate of social mobility. The study of social mobility is arguably the most advanced area of sociology. Despite the high level of empirical work, however, approaches to the study of social mobility have become stagnant with the pace of genuine conceptual advance slowing to a crawl. This volume proposes extensions to routine approaches for studying social mobility that could allow social scientists in the field to carry out work that would be innovative at an international level. This book presents a critical evaluation of the dominant paradigm in social mobility research and goes on to propose alternative modes of analysis. The feasibility of these alternative conceptualizations is demonstrated through the empirical analysis. This dataset used in these analyses is drawn from northern Ireland and is unique that it contains complete, restrospective time indexed life history information on the employment, education, geographic location and fertility of a large scale representative national sample.

ROBERT MILLER, Ph. D., a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen’sUniversity, Belfast. Previously in 1996-97 he was a visiting Associate Professor at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Currently he is the Director of The Center for Social Research at Queen’s University, Belf

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor,

Malaysia.

Fax no: 03-89254575

From Domicile to Domain

From Domicile to Domain. 2001. ISBN 967-942-553-3. 312pgs. RM35.00. Luisa J. Mallari.

For the Philippines and Malaysia, the establishment of a literary domain (to be occupied by highly valued modern masterpieces) which complements and legitimises their recent status as an independent political and culture formations, as those found in the various areas of national life, have been inherited from the coloniser’s prescriptions and prejudices. How these colonially-determined prescriptions are being reversed, or even subverted, can be witnessed through the constructions of themes and images in the novels that were produced during the post-independence phase. But while these novels question the precepts inherited from the colonial period they are in turn being interrogated within the critical discourse of their own time, a critical discourse that is preoccupied with the revaluation and expansion of the existing literary domain so that it shall be complementary to the formation of a modern and independent state. This conjuncture of past (colonial) and present (post-colonial) responses, in both the narrative structures of the novels and the critical texts that these novels generated. Makes possible a discussion of the relations of post-independence literary production, particularly those that configure the literary domain and grant it its legitimising function. Five novels from each country have been chosen since the analysis is set within the context of the writers’ literary career and the critical reception to their novels. The Tagalog novels are: Maganda pa ang daigdig, Mga ibong mandaragit, Ang Tundo man may langit din, Dugo so bukang liwayway, and Sa mga kuko ng liwanag. The Malay novels are Salina, Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan, Garis Hitam Membelah Langit, Kail Panjang Sejengkal and Interlok.

LUISA J. MALLARI, Ph.D was a lecturer at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Universiti of The Philippines. This book is based on a thesis written by the late Luisa while she was the Institute of Malay World and Civilisation (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor,

Malaysia.

Fax no: 03-89254575