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Contents
In this edition of the Focus
From the Director
3 With gratitude, astonishment and great pride
The Study
4-5 The Shanghai lilong: Approaches to rehabilitation and reuse Gregory Bracken 6 The Gulzār-i h.āl by Banwālīdās: Notes on a South Asian manuscript tradition Giuseppe Cappello 7 Panchayati Raj structural amendments in Jharkhand: Two sides of the same coin Chiara Correndo 8-9 What animals teach us about Islam: Animal reliefs in the mosque of Kramat Mbah Buyut Trusmi Tan Zi Hao
Combatting human trafficking in East Asia and beyond Bonny Ling and Isabelle Cheng
The Region
10-11 12-14 15-17 18-21
News from the European Alliance for Asian Studies News from Australia and the Pacific News from Northeast Asia China Connections
The Review 22 IIAS Publications: New titles in Asian Studies 23-25 Selected reviews from newbooks.asia 26-27 New reviews on newbooks.asia 28 New titles on newbooks.asia
The Focus 29-30 Combatting human trafficking in East Asia and beyond Bonny Ling and Isabelle Cheng 31 An uncertainty of terms: Definitional and methodological concerns in human trafficking Anna Tsalapatanis 32-33 Human trafficking in Asia before 1900: a preliminary census Richard B. Allen 34 Possible avenues for legislation on modern slavery in Asia: Focus on corporate action Gabriel Webber Ziero 35 Legislation and other tactics: Combatting human trafficking in Hong Kong Dennis Kwok 36 Hong Kong’s modern slavery journey so far: Businesses must now take the lead Lisa Ko-En Hsin 37 Why flawed recruitment processes across Asia can lead to modern slavery Neill Wilkins 38-39 Human borders? Regulating immigration and human trafficking in East Asia Franziska Plümmer and Gunter Schubert 40-41 The statelessness-trafficking nexus: A case study in Thailand Michiel Hoornick 42-43 ‘See You, Lovable Strangers’: Exploring experiences of Vietnamese irregular migrants in Taiwan through filmmaking Tsai Tsung Lung and Evelyn Hsin-chin Hsieh, translated and introduced by Isabelle Cheng 44-46 Photo-essay on migrant rights in times of emergency Migrant workers in Malaysia during COVID-19 Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna and Bonny Ling
The reality of human trafficking is complicated. Its underground nature can lead to a poor understanding of its causes and consequences, and impede efforts to combat it. Human trafficking can be transnational, yet most cases are domestic in nature. The exploitation can encompass different forms and involve diverse victim profiles. Human trafficking is a crime, but it can take place within legal channels of immigration and employment. In reality, the issue of trafficking and exploitation is multifaceted and the challenge is based on the recognition that there is still much to learn—and much to do—to combat it. The articles in this issue’s Focus present cross-disciplinary perspectives on the issue of human trafficking. Planned more than a year ago, the publication of these essays amidst a global pandemic was not foreseen. With expected prolonged effects of an economic downturn worldwide, however, the pandemic has intensified the misery of the marginalised. How we address the growing antitrafficking challenge in light of the ever-increasing socioeconomic inequality will be the hallmark of our shared humanity in the post-COVID world.
Main cover photo: Vietnamese agricultural migrant worker in Taiwan. Common amongst migrant workers, in Taiwan and beyond, is the unbearable weight of debt and, for some, the shared experience of being undocumented. Photo by filmmakers Nguyễn Kim Hồ ng and Tsai Tsung Lung. Left: The migrant fishermen of Phuket, Thailand. ©ILO Asia Pacific / CC License.
The Newsletter is a free periodical published by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). As well as serving as a forum for scholars to share research, commentary and opinion with colleagues in academia and beyond, The Newsletter is also a window into the Institute. Information about the programmes and activities of IIAS can be found in the Network pages of each issue of The Newsletter.
The Network 47 Announcements 48-49 Humanities across Borders Programme 50-51 Adapting to Corona. Remote interactions at IIAS 52 ICAS 12 / ICAS Book Prize 53 IIAS Fellowship Programme 54-55 IIAS Research
The Portrait
56 A means of resistance. Miniature 2.0: Miniature in Contemporary Art Pera Museum, Istanbul
T
he International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a global Humanities and Social Sciences institute and a knowledge exchange platform, based in Leiden, the Netherlands, with programmes that engage Asian and other international partners. IIAS takes a thematic and multisectoral approach to the study of Asia and actively involves scholars and experts from different disciplines and regions in its activities. Our current thematic research clusters are ‘Asian Heritages’, ‘Asian Cities’ and ‘Global Asia’.
In this issue As we enter the second wave of the pandemic we continue to be amazed at the enthusiasm of our contributors and the efforts made by all colleagues who helped put together this issue. Once again, during this taxing year, we have managed to produce an excellent issue. We hope you enjoy it! Next year summer ICAS will be holding its twelfth instalment, in Kyoto. The submission deadline for ICAS 12 has just passed, and with surprisingly good results. Read more in our Director’s editorial on the next page, and on p.52 where ICAS Secretary Paul van der Velde updates us on the conference’s progress. There you will also find details about the ICAS Book Prize, which is already breaking its own record, but also still open for submissions. The article on pp.48-49, ‘Lifelong learning with indigo in Mali’, is the latest from the IIAS Humanities across Borders programme. On pp.50-51 you will find a few short essays presented in the context of the institute’s work during the pandemic, mainly the need to go online with many of our activities. One of our fellows, Zoë Goodman, wrote a poem in honour of Leiden, the old University town in the Netherlands where IIAS is located. Please enjoy the read and her literary talents on p.53. Latest announcements can be found on p.47 and IIAS research programmes, networks and other initiatives are described in brief on pp.54-55.
