Book review : The history of the Central Asian republics

Review of Peter L. Roudik, The History of the Central Asian Republics. The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. London & Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007, xixþ212 pp., £25.95 h/b.

Ghummakkads, a woman's place, and the LTC-walas: towards a critical history of 'home', 'belonging' and 'attachment'

This article seeks to re-think the perspective within South Asian studies that speaks of the fixity of home and belonging in the Indian context. Accumulated scholarly wisdom frequently points to the singularity and transparency of ideas of attachment to ‘native places’ and ‘ancestral villages’. Through a consideration of a range of material, the paper explores how specific but far more complex ideas of home and belonging circulate in Indian society. The material analysed includes Hindi travel literature and fictional material, official developmental discourse, PWD reports, scholarly writing, Bollywood cinema, and the rules regarding travel perks for government service.

Natural history of hepatitis B in perinatally infected carriers

Objectives: To establish natural seroconversion rates and incidence of hepatic pathology in perinatally infected hepatitis B carriers.

Methods: Seventy three perinatally infected hepatitis B carriers identified through maternal screening were evaluated. Fifty three were born to parents from the Indian subcontinent, nine were Oriental, six were Afro-Caribbean, and five were white. Median follow up was 10.24 (range 2.02–20.16) years.

Results: Only three of the children followed up had cleared hepatitis B surface antigen during this period, and 30% of the children had seroconverted to anti-HBe. Seroconversions to anti-HBe were observed in Asian (18/50) and white (4/5) children, but not in Oriental or Afro-Caribbean children. More girls (40%) than boys (23%) had seroconverted, but the difference was not significant. All children were asymptomatic with normal physical examination, growth, and development. Almost half (48%) of the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive children had normal hepatic transaminases and liver function. Thirty five liver biopsies were performed in children with active virus replication (HBeAg or hepatitis B virus DNA positive) who were being considered for antiviral treatment as part of a clinical trial and were scored using the Ishak method. Two thirds (62%) of the children had mild hepatitis, 60% had mild fibrosis, and 18% had moderate to severe fibrosis. There was a weak correlation between histological evidence of hepatitis and hepatic transaminase activity, implying that biochemical monitoring of hepatic disease activity may be ineffective.

Conclusions: These asymptomatic hepatitis B virus carrier children remain infectious in the medium to long term with notable liver pathology. They should receive antiviral treatment to reduce infectivity and to prevent further progression of liver disease. Hepatic transaminases alone are not a reliable marker of liver pathology, and liver histology is essential before consideration for antiviral treatment.

Sovereignty and resistance : India, China and the Asian-African Conference, 1955

This thesis examines the Asian-African Conference at Bandung, Indonesia in 1955 from a broad historical perspective. It presents evidence that the assertion of independent Asian foreign policy - non-aligned and communist led by India and China - signalled a more significant, long-term shift in West-East realtions than has been previously identified.

Architecture, identity and cultural sustainability in contemporary Southeast Asian cities

Distinctive architecture, which once served to identify peoples and places, has now, across the world, been subject to the standardising forces of history. Built environments still reflect the conceptual, spatial and physical construction of communities, though straightforward correlations between particular forms of architecture, places and people can no longer be taken for granted. This article explores these notions through discussion of several Southeast Asian examples, seeing how the relationship between architecture and culture might be framed by each of them, and then how definitions of culture might be differently expressed depending on each context. The first context is the village. Here, recent buildings are produced within a traditional, rural culture, generally without recourse to architects. Indigenous symbolism is overlaid, but not necessarily subsumed, by imported typologies and ideologies. The second context is urban and more formalised and involves self-conscious architectural attempts to straddle tradition and modernity, as well as notions of broader collective identity. The third context is one of a more diffused globalisation. Issues of conservation and heritage are complicated by the imperial or colonial histories of many urban environments, as well as by the pressures of economic development and population growth. In cultural terms, however, it is the life of cities that is foregrounded here. This disparate collection of architectural projects and agendas reflects a region where the forces of essentialism and fragmentation continue to be in creative tension (Ashraf 2005).

Future Asian space : projecting the urban space of new East Asia

The idea of "Asian space" is undergoing a transformation as a result of rapid technological, economic, social and cultural changes. Following the shift to a global economy and an urban population explosion, Asian cities have been presented as a mainstay of progress, national pride, identity, and positioning on the global stage. The extraordinary pace and intensity of the changes have created a situation unique in the history of urban development. Despite the immense diversity of Asian countries, "Asia-ness" is often treated as a distinctive quality that has emerged from unique recent circumstances affecting Asian urbanizations as a whole. In Future Asian Space, 15 authors explore broad concepts relating to the creation and re-creation of "Asian space" and contemporary Asian identity, and their examination of different sites and research approaches highlights the difficulty of pinpointing what Asia-ness is, or might become. Appropriate design and planning of cities is a critical element in building a sustainable future and coping with environmental, social and cultural problems. Future Asian Space is designed to stimulate interest and engagement in discussions of the Asian city, and its trajectories in architecture and urbanism. The authors' conclusions are important for academics, theorists and practitioners, but they will also intrigue anyone interested in the future of cities and urban life in Asia.

‘There isn’t kind of a White History Month or anything like that for them’: equity, schooling and the problematics of group identity politics

This paper explores issues of equity and group identity at ‘Hamilton Court’, a large comprehensive multi-faith and multi-cultural school located in England. The exploration draws on data gathered from a study that examined the conditions, structures and practices associated with productively addressing issues of justice and cultural diversity. The paper focuses, in particular, on the voices of two learning mentors, ‘Rosanna’ and ‘Yasmeen’. With reference to a cultural event at the school based around an Asian-inspired Bollywood Dance Festival, the school’s approach to absence requests on the basis of religious observance, and the disadvantage experienced by a particular White British working class boy, the paper highlights tensions and problematics associated with issues of equity, schooling and group identity. The paper makes a theoretical contribution to debates in this area. Further illustrating the limitations of distributive understandings of equity that begin with group identity politics and fail to consider matters of context in struggles against cultural oppressions, it examines the possibilities of an equity approach that instead begins with a focus on overcoming these relations of oppression.