| Abstract: |
This editorial develops two themes. First, it discusses how historical and anthropological approaches can relate to each other, in the field of the highland margins of Asia and beyond. Second, it explores how we might further our understandings of the uplands of Asia by applying different terms such as Haute-Asie, the Southeast Asian Massif, the Hindu KushHimalayan region, the Himalayan Massif, and in particular Zomia, a neologism gaining popularity with the publication of James C. Scotts latest book,<i> The art of not being governed: an anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia</i>. Through a discussion of the notion of Zomia, I will reconsider certain truths regarding highland Asian studies. In the process, I seek to contribute to disembedding minority studies from the national straitjackets that have been imposed by academic research bounded by the historical, ideological, and political limits of the nation-state.
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