Trans-Status Subjects

“Trans-Status Subjects not only presents a wide range of very original research, but it also provides a sophisticated framework of theoretical analysis. One of its many strengths, in fact, lies in its nuanced theorization of space, place, and time, calling for a more careful engagement with the methodical assumptions of both historical and geographic knowledge in studying the processes of globalization. . . . Trans-Status Subjects certainly makes a vital contribution to studies of South and Southeast Asia, bringing together a commendably complex intersection of interests and modes of analyses. It also signals an important intervention in globalization studies in general and will appeal, no doubt, to a cross-disciplinary audience of scholars engaging with how subjects and subject positions are fashioned and refashioned through the changing relations among labor, migration, citizenship, and nationalism, variously inflected as these categories are by the effects of a colonial and contemporary global context.” - Sukanya Banerjee , Journal of Asian Studies

"[A]n important contribution. . . . Trans-Status Subjects brings together a pertinent, timely, and intellectually provocative set of discussions. . . . [R]emarkable." - Srirupa Prasad , Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East

"[I]mpressive variety of contributions. . . . [T]he volume would be a useful addition to libraries on gender in contemporary South and Southeast Asia, as well as a rich resource for graduate teaching in both Asian Studies and Gender Studies." - Deirdre McKay, Sojourn

"[T]heoretically rich . . . . [T]hese essays raise provocative questions for educational and theoretical inquiry into dominant historical narratives and the relationships between place, identity and custom. This volume also offers us fresh ways to think about the historical production of gender, race and class ideologies and the role of nostalgia in defining place and subjectivity." - Clarissa Adamson , Anthropological Quarterly

"Any book bringing a sophisticated array of feminist, poststructuralist and post-colonial theoretical approaches to the intellectually conservative field of Southeast Asian Studies has to be seen as a welcome arrival. Sonita Sarker and Esha Niyogi De have done just this in a collection which employs the concept of 'trans-status subjectivity' to capture the diverse and contradictory experience of South and Southeast Asians in the face of globalization." - Ashley Carruthers, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

"The book covers an exceptional array of material. . . . Supported by rich ethnographic data, each essay is a fascinating read and is a good reminder of the complex diversity in conceptualizations of gender in globalizing South and Southeast Asia." - Amanda Cahill , Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology

“This collection brings together an astonishingly wide variety of original research about the problem of globalization and the relationship of gender, time, and space to it. Focusing on ‘embodied subjects’ in diverse locations and shifting grounds allows the authors to excavate conditions—cultural, political, socioeconomic—under which the people they are writing about become what the editors call ‘trans-status subjects.’” - Antoinette Burton, author of At the Heart of the Empire

“This valuable anthology gathers together feminist perspectives on gender, postcolonial critique, and critiques of Western modernity, and the considerable work on global capitalism and transnationalism. The work is theoretically sophisticated and ethnographically rich, intervening in the discussions of women, colonial and neocolonial modernity, and globalization with respect to South Asian and Southeast Asian women and locales.” - Lisa Lowe, author of Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics