Surviving against the odds : village industry in Indonesia /

This ethnography of village life in Java carries two heavy burdens. First, anthropologists question whether a critical mass has been reached in ethnographic descriptions of this densely populated Indonesian island. Indicating there is a great deal to be learned about Javanese life, Dunham's substantial contribution offers an understanding of economic activity from the perspective of village-level metalworkers subject to government-sponsored development policies and programs. This intense, detailed description of economic and social village life is thick description culminating from 14 years of fieldwork. The other burden is an unusual one for anthropological monographs, in that the late Dunham was the mother of Barack Obama. Although the monograph was written before his election, the book is marketed as an "anthropological study by the mother of President Barack Obama," imbuing this text with a sense of importance and stature not usually attached to anthropological publications. Both of these burdens--an overstudied Java and a mother who produced famous children in addition to scholarly work--actually enhance the value (historical and anthropological) of this superior close-up ethnography. A must read for general audiences interested in a mother's influence her famous son's life, and for specialists with a yearning for micro-studies of economic process in small-scale societies. Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries. S. Ferzacca University of Lethbridge