Art as Politics Wins AJCU Award

Art as Politics: Re-Crafting Identities, Tourism, and Power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia, by Kathleen M. Adams, has been awarded the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities’ Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award in the Social Sciences:

“This book is quite rare because it combines sophisticated interdisciplinary analysis, extensive firsthand field research, and a narrative that is both compelling and delightful to read. . . . Adams’ understanding of the complex effects of global tourism on indigenous cultures is even further amplified by her reflections about how anthropology itself is far from a neutral actor in this process. Her stories about how the various elements of Toraja society try to get her to validate their own identity and status struggles wonderfully balance academic theories with personal experience. This is not only social science at its best but it is written with the emotion and insight of excellent literature.”