Anthropology

Anthropology

After six months of fieldwork, one of the authors of this text (Peter Laird) discovered a paper reporting a field trip to several northern communities by a Singapore government anthropologist in 1947. The paper contained valuable ethnographic data, genealogical information, and photographs. The photographs provided the base for a photographic record of six generations, and the genealogical data added appreciable depth to understanding social structure. In the same library, there was a handwritten report of a district census conducted in 1911. The census report contained descriptions of the area, toponyms (place names), word lists, and ethnonyms (ethnic names) of the various groups encountered. Again, this was a very valuable archive that expanded his historical appreciation of the region.
Archival research adds a historical dimension to contemporary fieldwork and is critically important in reconstructing the cultural history of a people

In this chapter, the United States, Great Britain, Singapore, and Japan are used as examples in the case studies (see Figure 8.1). The four countries have similarities, yet each is unique. Great Britain was an early industrializing nation that established colonies throughout the world to support its industry; the United States was one of those colonies, but later became an industrialized power in its own right. As a non–Western industrial power, Japan stands in interesting contrast to the United States and Great Britain, as does Singapore, which also was a British colony but today is a postindustrial nation–state.
Postindustrial Society and the Knowledge Worker

Postindustrial society lies beyond capitalism and socialism. Many societies are now transforming from industrial to postindustrial economies. Since World War II, production of consumer goods has shifted from developed countries such as the United States to a succession of emerging economies such as Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, and China. As each economy...