Under globalization, the project of area studies and its relationship to the fields of cultural, ethnic, and gender studies has grown more complex and more in need of the rigorous reexamination that this volume and its distinguished contributors undertake. In the aftermath of World War II, area studies were created in large part to supply information on potential enemies of the United States. The essays in Learning Places argue, however, that the post–Cold War era has seen these programs largely degenerate into little more than public relations firms for the areas they research.
A tremendous amount of money flows—particularly within the sphere of East Asian studies, the contributors claim—from foreign agencies and governments to U.S. universities to underwrite courses on their histories and societies. In the process, this volume argues, such funds have gone beyond support to the wholesale subsidization of students in graduate programs, threatening the very integrity of research agendas. Native authority has been elevated to a position of primacy; Asian-born academics are presumed to be definitive commentators in Asian studies, for example. Area studies, the contributors believe, has outlived the original reason for its construction. The essays in this volume examine particular topics such as the development of cultural studies and hyphenated studies (such as African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American) in the context of the failure of a
Chapter
Introduction: The ‘‘Afterlife’’ of Area Studies
Introduction: The ‘‘Afterlife’’ of Area Studies
Introduction: The ‘‘Afterlife’’ of Area Studies
Ivory Tower in Escrow / Masao Miyoshi
Ivory Tower in Escrow / Masao Miyoshi
Ivory Tower in Escrow / Masao Miyoshi
Ando Shoeki—‘‘The Forgotten Thinker’’ in Japanese History / Tetsuo Najita
Ando Shoeki—‘‘The Forgotten Thinker’’ in Japanese History / Tetsuo Najita
Ando Shoeki—‘‘The Forgotten Thinker’’ in Japanese History / Tetsuo Najita
Objectivism and the Eradication of Critique in Japanese
History / Stefan Tanaka
Objectivism and the Eradication of Critique in Japanese
History / Stefan Tanaka
Objectivism and the Eradication of Critique in Japanese
History / Stefan Tanaka
Theory, Area Studies, Cultural Studies: Issues of Pedagogy in
Multiculturalism / Rey Chow
Theory, Area Studies, Cultural Studies: Issues of Pedagogy in
Multiculturalism / Rey Chow
Theory, Area Studies, Cultural Studies: Issues of Pedagogy in
Multiculturalism / Rey Chow
Signs of Our Times: A Discussion of Homi Bhabha’s
The Location of Culture / Benita Parry
Signs of Our Times: A Discussion of Homi Bhabha’s
The Location of Culture / Benita Parry
Signs of Our Times: A Discussion of Homi Bhabha’s
The Location of Culture / Benita Parry
Postcoloniality’s Unconscious / Area Studies’
Desire / H. D. Harootunian
Postcoloniality’s Unconscious / Area Studies’
Desire / H. D. Harootunian
Postcoloniality’s Unconscious / Area Studies’
Desire / H. D. Harootunian
Asian Exclusion Acts / Sylvia Yanagisako
Asian Exclusion Acts / Sylvia Yanagisako
Asian Exclusion Acts / Sylvia Yanagisako
Areas, Disciplines, and Ethnicity / Richard H. Okada
Areas, Disciplines, and Ethnicity / Richard H. Okada
Areas, Disciplines, and Ethnicity / Richard H. Okada
Can American Studies Be Area Studies? / Paul A. Bove
Can American Studies Be Area Studies? / Paul A. Bove
Can American Studies Be Area Studies? / Paul A. Bove
Imagining ‘‘Asia-Pacific’’ Today: Forgetting Colonialism
in the Magical Free Markets of the American Pacific / RobWilson
Imagining ‘‘Asia-Pacific’’ Today: Forgetting Colonialism
in the Magical Free Markets of the American Pacific / RobWilson
Imagining ‘‘Asia-Pacific’’ Today: Forgetting Colonialism
in the Magical Free Markets of the American Pacific / RobWilson
Boundary Displacement: The State, the Foundations, and Area
Studies during and after the ColdWar / Bruce Cumings
Boundary Displacement: The State, the Foundations, and Area
Studies during and after the ColdWar / Bruce Cumings
Boundary Displacement: The State, the Foundations, and Area
Studies during and after the ColdWar / Bruce Cumings
The Disappearance of Modern Japan: Japan and Social
Science / Bernard S. Silberman
The Disappearance of Modern Japan: Japan and Social
Science / Bernard S. Silberman
The Disappearance of Modern Japan: Japan and Social
Science / Bernard S. Silberman
Bad Karma in Asia / Moss Roberts
Bad Karma in Asia / Moss Roberts
Bad Karma in Asia / Moss Roberts
From Politics to Culture: Modern Japanese Literary Studies
in the Age of Cultural Studies / James A. Fujii
From Politics to Culture: Modern Japanese Literary Studies
in the Age of Cultural Studies / James A. Fujii
From Politics to Culture: Modern Japanese Literary Studies
in the Age of Cultural Studies / James A. Fujii
Questions of Japanese Cinema: Disciplinary Boundaries and
the Invention of the Scholarly Object / Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Questions of Japanese Cinema: Disciplinary Boundaries and
the Invention of the Scholarly Object / Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Questions of Japanese Cinema: Disciplinary Boundaries and
the Invention of the Scholarly Object / Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Learning Places
：The Afterlives of Area Studies
( Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society )
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
