Introduction

Abstract

his volume explores the interactions between subjects and places in Southeast Asia, focussing on how urban and rural transformations affect and are affected by individuals. In order to facilitate academic exchange between Europe and Asia, the contributions by Italian authors from various disciplines, including anthropology, linguistics and urban studies, have been published in English. The contributions deal with topics such as migration, urban poverty, development policy and the construction of local identity and show how the inhabitants of these regions deal with and react to socio-economic and environmental changes. The volume emphasises the complexity of ‘belonging’ and the constant tension between the local and the global.