Mosquitoes and the Making of the Annamite Hill Country (Jonathan Padwe)

October 3, 4:00pm - 4:30pm
Mānoa Campus, George Hall 227

The distinction between upland and lowland society in mainland Southeast Asia is an enduring social divide that has long provoked scholars of the region. In the lowlands, peasant production of "paddy" rice in inundated fields has given rise to stratified societies practicing so-called world religions. In contrast the uplands are home to myriad small groups of hill-rice farmers whose animist religious beliefs and numerous diverse languages set them apart from their lowland neighbors. To date, discussion of these distinctions has focused on the desires of upland peoples to resist incorporation into the state, and on the ways that agriculture, ecology, and numerous cultural distinctions them apart from their lowland neighbors. One factor that has not been taken into consideration is the role that resistance to malaria has played in structuring the lowland-upland divide. Most residents of the uplands receive year-round exposure to various strains of malaria, and develop acquired immunity to the disease. Most residents of the lowlands do not. Differential immunity complicates existing understandings of the historical relationship between upland and lowland societies.


Event Sponsor
Anthropology, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Marti Kerton, anthprog@hawaii.edu

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