Asian Minority Cultures in Transition: Diversity, Identities and Encounters.

a Salvage studies of endangered minority cultures; b Holistic studies focusing on minority cultures as entities in their own right;
c Encounter studies dealing with processes of intercultural communication, acculturation and shifting cultural identities.
The research topics which may be considered as the most relevant and urgent needing to be dealt with by this network will be discussed during the seminar on the basis of the Network Proposal which has been submitted to the European Commission.
The seminar is a first step in a long overdue effort to bring together the different research traditions in this field of study which almost without exception have been created in the context of specific colonial experiences.
In this respect the seminar (and the research programme envisaged in the Network Proposal) can be seen as a milestone in the historical process of European-Asian cultural interaction. Moreover, the participation of a considerable number of Asian, North American, and Australian experts is expected to provide an extra stimulus to the endeavour to break down disparities in theory and approach. The contribution of Asian experts especially represents an institution involved in this field of studies.
Yet another objective of the seminar is to identify points of convergence between the different disciplines of the Social Sciences and the Humanities, and between these disciplines of the Social Sciences and the Natural Sciences such as ethnobothany, ethno-medicine or technological aspects of indigenous knowledge.
Finally the contributions to the seminar will be concerned with offering long-term perspectives on the notion of cultural diversity and cultural identity in different geographical settings in Asia. (e.g. Kubu in Sumatra; Rhadé in Vietnam; Akha in Thailand; Cham in Laos; Miao and Manchu in China; Karen in Burma).

Themes and topics
Basically the seminar topics are derived from the three research themes mentioned above (salvage studies, holistic studies, encounter studies).

A. Within the framework of the theme of Salvage Studies the following topics will be addressed:
1 Why and how it is that minority cultures risk becoming endangered under some circumstances and not in others?
2 How do people who identify with minority cultures respond to situations of endangerment? (revival tendencies, re-inventions of traditions, cultural retreatment)
3 The representatives of the perceptions of people on the constituent elements of their own culture. (particularly in relation to very small groups)

B. Under the theme of Holistic Studies the following topics will be addressed:
1 Holistic studies are the trademark of anthropology, but there are sound reasons to doubt the supposed boundedness of minority cultures. Are minority cultures to be studied as bounded units or should they be seen as outcomes of cultural interrelationships and historical processes?
2 How can different degrees of cultural integration and wholeness be defined? This topic also refers to the notion that Asian cultures especially do not make the distinction between subject and object and hence have specific perceptions of individuality and collectivity.
3 To what extent and how are cosmological notions related to patterns of interaction with natural environments?

C. With regard to the theme of Encounter Studies the following topics will be addressed:
1 Encounter studies deal with interactions between minority cultures, interactions with (national) mainstream cultures, and interactions within the global cultural environment. What effect do these interactions have on the sustainability of minority cultures and how do they affect the way people construct their own cultural identities? (this also refers to questions of intercultural communication, syncretism, authenticity and hybridization)
2 Throughout history Asian Minority Cultures have often been drawn into a role as buffer culture between larger cultural complexes. What effect have historical processes of legal and institutional development and nation building on the role of minority cultures? (This also refers to problems related to property rights, recognition of customary law, encroachment, and resettlement)
3 Which are the economic roles of minority cultures in the context of inter-ethnic relations?

Convenors
Prof E.K.M. Masinambow (Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta); Prof J.D.M. Platenkamp (Seminar für Völkerkunde, Münster); Prof W.A.L. Stokhof (International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden)

Organizing Institution
Seminar für Völkerkunde, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany