Asian Studies/Transdisciplinarity
Arif Dirlik, Knight Professor of Social Science, Professor of History and Anthropology at the University of Oregon, analyzes the contemporary challenges that Euro-American academic categories present to the field of Asian studies in a time of increased globalization. Dirlik advocates for a transdisciplinary approach to the study of Asia, one that recognizes the intellectual constraints the field has created for itself.

Does Archaeology Have a Role in Building the Nation of East Timor?
Peter Lape, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Burke Museum Curator of Archaeology at the University of Washington, argues that archaeology can provide new insights into the complex colonial history of East Timor, contributing positively to its emerging national identity.

Activist Intellectuals: Scholar-NGO interfaces in Thailand's civil society
LeeRay M. Costa, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies at Hollins University, writes on the link between intellectual research and social activism. Costa offers examples from the multi-faceted work of scholars she met while doing her own ethnographic fieldwork in northern Thailand, and hopes that they may serve as an impetus for similar collaborative work throughout the region.

Washington and the "War against Terror": Gaining Ground or Losing Momentum?
Walden Bello, executive director of Focus on the Global South in Bangkok, and professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines, discusses the implications for Asia of the American war on terrorism, its relation to anti-corporate globalization movements and to the curtailment of civil liberties within the United States.

Rebuilding Afghanistan
Ashraf Ghani, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University and Barnett Rubin, Director of Studies at New York University's Center on International Cooperation contributed this comment on guidelines for rebuilding Afghanistan to the Wall Street Journal .

Islamic Family Law and Justice for Muslim Women
This report was contributed by Sisters In Islam, Malaysia, from their Regional Workshop on Islamic Family Law and Justice for Muslim Women held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 2001. Discussants from a variety of countries consider marriage, polygamy, divorce, financial provisions and custody under the laws of each of their nations.

Now a Historic Chance to Welcome Muslims Into the System
This article, which suggests what direction US policy should take following the war in Afghanistan, was contributed by Karim Raslan, an Asia Society International Council member based in Malaysia who is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University, where he is researching freedom of speech in Islamic societies. This article has been reprinted with the permission of the International Herald Tribune.

The Growing Problem of Street Children in Vietnam
Estimates of exactly how many street children there currently are in Vietnam vary widely. AsiaSource thanks UNICEF, Vietnam for permission to reprint this article. Please also see information about our May, 2002 event, Photovoices: Celebrating the Rights of the Child, co-sponsored by Photovoice, which includes photographs taken by streetchildren in Vietnam and by Bhutanese refugee children.

Thailand Needs Assessment For Workers and Communities (PDF file)
Worker's Voices: A Study of the Assets and Needs of Factory Workers in Vietnam (PDF file)
These assessments of the lives of workers in Thailand in Vietnam, particularly of young, female employees, aim to begin a process ultimately intended to lead to greater job satisfaction and quality of life improvements. Asia Source thanks Kevin Quigley, Executive Director and ASIP Advisory Committee member, for permission to reprint from their site.

The Wonderful New World of Longevity (PDF file)
An essay on the general issues facing all nations as they approach a new era of longevity of their populations, by Dr. Robert Butler, ASIP Advisory Committee member and President, International Longevity Center.

Science and Our Agricultural Future
UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology and founder of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, M.S. Swaminathan writes of the future of agriculture and the uses of technology to improve crop yields.

An Analysis of Peacebuilding Approaches in Afghanistan
An excerpt from the thesis of Mohammad Ehsan Zia, a relief worker with Norwegian Church Aid on theoretical and practical ideas of bringing peace in and building civil society in Afghanistan.

The Philippines: Assessing the Need for a Truth Commission Fifteen Years After
Maria Glenda Ramirez, NYU Global Public Service Law Scholar, explores the history and need for a truth commission and reparation in the Philippines.

In India and Africa, Women's Low Status Worsens Their Risk of AIDS
Barbara Crossette, NewYork Times UN Correspondent and ASIP Advisory Committee member, writes about the impact of the poverty and powerlessness of women in Africa and Asia combining to make them increasingly vulnerable to AIDS, which some research groups are now calling a women's disease.

Food Security as a Political Project (PDF file)
A report by the Society for International Development on the current status of food security issues focusing on efforts to mobilize support to improve the situation of the 800 million people worldwide with no secured access to decent food.

In Defense of Globalization: An Asian Perspective
Linda Lim, Director of Southeast Asian Business Programs at Michigan University Business School and ASIP Advisory Committee member, argues that the representatives of these countries were in Seattle looking for greater, not lesser, participation for their citizens in the world economy.

Muslim separatism in the Philippines: Meaningful autonomy or endless war?
Thomas M. McKenna of the University of Alabama considers the many antecedents to conflict in the Philippines including on-going impediments to peace and the current crisis.

Taking Care of our Health
Mirai Chatterjee of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India, writes of her experiences encouraging health improvements among India's informal workers, many of whom are poor, vulnerable and illiterate women.

Microfinance: the Miracle Cure?
Mirai Chatterjee of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India considers the many facets of microcredit.