Asia: Case Studies in the Social Sciences: A Guide for Teaching (review)

426 China Review International: Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1995 nizational studies. One small critique: a more extensive index would have added even more to its value as a reference work. Martine Lewi University of Antwerp Wm Myron L. Cohen, editor. Asia: Case Studies in the Social Sciences: A Guide for Teaching. Armonk and London: M. E. Sharpe, 1992. 626 pp. Hardcover $67.95. Paperback $23.95. It has long been acknowledged that Western social science teaching can be enriched by the Asian experience. The current volume is among the first concrete and comprehensive attempts to accomplish this, and the result is heartening. The purpose of this volume is to identify themes, texts, and comparative concepts that can enable Asian materials to enter into core courses in the social sciences in undergraduate institutions throughout the United States. Departing from the practice of some Asianists who tend to overemphasize the East and marginalize the West, or some Western scholars who tend to exaggerate the importance of the West, marginalizing the East, this teaching guide has made no attempt to stress Asia at the expense of the West. (p. xxi). The present volume is one part of a three-part project that has involved over one hundred scholars from seventy-five public and private undergraduate institutions in the United States since 1984. The book is compiled from the perspectives of anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology. Ten Asian countries are studied: China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines , Thailand, and Vietnam. The volume is divided into some twenty sections, each section constituting a pair, that is, a country and a field within a social science discipline. Most headings look like this: "China—Anthropology: Religion in a State Society." Each section is further divided into four parts. The first part, "Introduction: Central Points," is a brief summary ofthe major points of discussion. The second part, "Major Topics," is arranged according to three perspectives: (1) the theory- ^ ,„„„ , TT . oriented perspective (for instance, one heading reads "Totalitarianism,© 1995 by Universityr r ? & ofHawaïi PressAuthoritarianism, Democracy: The Case ofChina"; this is an attempt to deal with the impact of the three major political systems in the world on China); (2) the history-oriented perspective (for instance, this discusses the "major topics" from Reviews 427 the three perspectives ofthe "traditional," the "modern," and the "contemporary "); and (3) the issues-oriented perspective, which may be useful in dealing with those countries that have unique social features, such as the caste system in India. The third part offers "Issues for Discussion," and the fourth part is a list of "Selected Readings" for both teachers and students. Asia is an ideal laboratory for the testing ofsocial science theories. In relation to the field ofreligion within the discipline ofanthropology, Asia is perhaps the only continent that has a substantial population offollowers ofthe world's major religions. For example, the Philippines and South Korea are 90 percent and 25 percent Christian, respectively; Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world; Confucianism is found in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam; and India is the home of Hinduism. In the area of economic development, Japan and the "Four Little Dragons"— South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong—provide good models. With regard to political democratization, India has long been the largest stable nonWestern democracy in the world, while Japan provides a model ofa non-Western country whose democracy was largely imposed on it by the West. China, the world's last major communist country, is moving toward an uncertain future. Both China and India, as the most populous countries in the world, are major objects ofstudy in demography. The editor and authors ofthis volume have had to meet some challenges in its compilation: (1) which countries and disciplines should be selected; (2) how to match the countries that have been selected with the appropriate disciplines in the social sciences, and (3) how to relate the experience ofthese countries in a certain field—for example, political systems—to the various theories in the social sciences. The ten countries selected are nominally the most populous and the most powerful in Asia. But some ofthose that have been left out may be just...