Author Description

The third and final volume of Asia Inside Out, Itinerant People focuses on the idea of "Diasporic Asia"--The meanings of the movement of people, past and present. Which specific groups and communities linked the trading empires of the South China Coast, South Asia, and the Middle East? Who actually traveled in the ships, and who travels in our modern jumbo jets? The authors consider the varied experiences of important mobile ethnic groups and their modern descendants. It is no accident that many of the descendants of these traveling communities can still be found around the rim of the Indian Ocean - and that many have seeped up into the land- and sea-scapes of the South China coast. The book explores the transient histories of "people on the move, " through voluntary or involuntary circulation, either part of chosen paths (such as migration) or the radials of coerced journeys (such as slavery, or the dislocations wrought by conflict). The fluidity of human movement has acted to render the evolution of "Asia" more complex, both reinforcing older connectionsacross time and space and forging new connections.--