Imagining the good life : negotiating culture and development in Nepal Himalaya / / by Francis Khek Gee Lim.

• Superior document: Social sciences in Asia, v. 20
• Author: Lim, Francis Khek Gee.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Social sciences in Asia ; v. 20.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This is a book of great originality that analyses cultural change and experience of development in terms of the pursuit of the ‘good life’ as a social process. While recent anthropological critiques of development highlight the importance of ‘local knowledge’, this book argues that these critiques have not gone far enough, and suggests that a much more fundamental issue concerns the ends of development as seen from a more holistic, cultural perspective. Based on ethnographic research among an ethnic Tibetan community in the Nepal Himalaya, the book eloquently illustrates how the pursuit of the good life is inextricably tied to space and history, and demonstrates the relevance of ethno-historically generated conceptions of the ‘good life’ to the practice of development.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter One. Introduction: In pursuit of the good life / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Two. Zombie slayers in a ‘hidden valley / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Three. Crossing borders / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Four. Being in the world and the rituals of life / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Five. Embedding Bikās in everyday life / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Six. Romantic dreams and practical lives / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Seven. The morality of well-being / F.K.G. Lim -- Chapter Eight. Conclusion: Place, history and the good life / F.K.G. Lim -- Glossary of terms / F.K.G. Lim -- References / F.K.G. Lim -- Index / F.K.G. Lim.