Asian Families and Intimacies

Asian Families and Intimacies comprises important and influential writings that form the academic and intellectual heritage of societies across Asia. In Asian societies, a special cultural and social value is attributed to 'the family', and there is deep public concern throughout the region with ongoing changes in the family and in intimate relations. However, a closer look reveals considerable diversity in Asian families and intimate relations, and in their different trajectories of change.

In these volumes, various facets of intimate relations and the interaction between the private and the public spheres assume special importance. The articles reflect on aspects of intimacy in historical and contemporary times, ideals and realities, and differences in family practices between different social strata. The writings discuss the varying and intersecting processes of 'Sinicization', 'Sanskritization', 'Islamization', 'Modernization' and 'Globalization' across the Asian region.

Most of the articles in the volumes have been newly translated from various Asian languages, though there are some texts that were originally written in English. Contemporary texts that represent new and emerging areas of scholarship on family relations as well as texts considered 'canonical' in their context of production have been included. In each part, the editors have introduced and analysed the themes taken up in the papers, and their wider intellectual and social contour.