NE AA BULLETIN Fall 2011 Borders, Margins & Passages Anne M. Galvin, Guest-Editor NortheasternAnthropological Association A Publication of the Northeastern Anthropological Association NE AA BULLETIN Contents BouNdEdness and MoBility: New Approaches to the Study of Culture in an Era of Globalization Fall 2011 Anne M. Galvin, st. John’s university lines ACross thE WAtEr: The Lasting Power of Colonial Borders in Maritime Southeast Asia Charles o. Frake, suNy Buffalo WAstE iN thE MArGiNs oF thE stAtE: Negative Externalities and the Production of the U.S.–Mexico Border Region suzanne simon, university of North Florida thE risE oF thE “Guru Cool”: Global Crossings of the New (Age) Gurus denise Nuttall, ithaca College Ahmadi MusliMs iN thE UnitEd stAtEs: Negotiating Missionary Work and Religious Sustainability NortheasternAnthropological Association A Publication of the Amanda J. Buonopane, suNy Buffalo Northeastern Anthropological Association AccuMulAtioN, WAr, and disPossEssioN: Burkinabé Repatriates’ Problematic Reincorporation in the Homeland Kathryn V. Boswell, Bard College at simon’s rock GoverNing thE MArGiNs: Crime Containment and Community Development in Kingston, Jamaica Anne M. Galvin, st. John’s university Borders, Margins & Passages WhAt Would Krishna Say to shakespearE? Anne M. Galvin, Guest-Editor Interculturalism and Performance in India William landon, independent researcher neaa BULLeTIn Fall 2011 CoNtents BouNdEdness and MoBility: NEAA EditoriAl BoArd New Approaches to the Study of Culture in an Era of Globalization Charles Bishop John t. omohundro Anne M. Galvin. 1 Union College SUNY Potsdam LINEs ACROSS THE WAtEr: Anne M. Galvin donald Pollock The Lasting Power of Colonial Borders in Maritime Southeast Asia St. John’s University SUNY Buffalo Charles o. Frake. 7 Alan hersker Matthew trevett-smith WAstE iN thE MArGiNs oF thE stAtE: SUNY Potsdam University of Richmond Negative Externalities and the Production of the U.S.–Mexico Border Region suzanne simon. 21 oneka laBennett * * * Fordham University Editor-iN-Chief thE risE oF thE “Guru Cool”: Pierre Morenon Jessica skolnikoff Global Crossings of the New (Age) Gurus Rhode Island College Roger Williams University denise Nuttall. 41 Ahmadi MusliMs iN thE UnitEd stAtEs: Negotiating Missionary Work and Religious Sustainability Amanda J. Buonopane. 57 AccuMulAtioN, WAr, and disPossEssioN: Burkinabé Repatriates’ Problematic Reincorporation in the Homeland Kathryn V. Boswell. 71 GoverNing thE MArGiNs: Crime Containment and Community Development in Kingston, Jamaica Anne M. Galvin. 91 WhAt Would Krishna Say to shakespearE? Interculturalism and Performance in India William landon. 107 Editorial office: Anne M. Galvin, NEAA Bulletin, st. John’s university, Volume Editor’s AcknoWlEdgements 8000 utopia Parkway, Queens, Ny 11439, united states telephone: 718 990 5664 i am pleased to present the inaugural issue of the NEAA Bulletin. thanks are due FAX: 718 990 5878 to many people who contributed to the production of this volume. First, i would like to extend my appreciation to NEAA President Pierre Morenon and the mem- Email: [email protected] bers of the Northeastern Anthropological Association Executive Board who Website: NEAA.org entrusted me with launching this new initiative. the Bulletin’s Editorial Board NEAA Bulletin (ISBN-13: 978-0-615-57693-0) is published regularly by the Northeastern was extraordinarily generous with guidance and support as this volume took shape. Anthropological Association. in particular, donald Pollack was consistently willing to share his editorial exper- Copyright and Photocopying: © 2011 Northeastern Anthropological Association. All rights tise throughout the production process, while Alan hersker and Jessica skolnikoff reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form provided greatly appreciated support in ironing out the details of the publication. or by any means without the prior permission in writing from the copyright holder. Autho- rization to photocopy items for internal and personal use is granted by the copyright holder Barrett P. Brenton was also always available to answer technical questions. thanks for libraries and other users registered with their local reproduction rights organization are also due to the anonymous peer reviewers who were careful and constructive in (RRO), provided the appropriate fee is paid directly to the RRO. this consent does not ex- their valuable evaluations. Angela labrador created the appealing cover design for tend to other kinds of copying such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or the volume. Bridget Fitzpatrick and duane stapp were attentive and thoughtful promotional purposes, for creating new collective works or for resale. special requests should be addressed to [email protected] in their capacities as copyeditor and layout designer, respectively. however, this volume would not exist at all if not for the contributors who are allowing us to Print information: Printed in the united states by Createspace. share their remarkable work. i hope that readers will find the fruits of this com- online information: this volume is available online at the Northeastern Anthropological bined effort worthwhile. Association. Visit NEAA.org to search the articles. Access to this volume is available free online. NEAA Author Guidelines: For submission instructions and ordering information visit: www. .org Anne M. Galvin Aims and scope: the NEAA Bulletin is a peer-reviewed series published regularly by the Volume Editor Northeastern Anthropological Association. the Bulletin is designed to promote and dis- NEAA Bulletin seminate original high quality anthropological scholarship conducted by practitioners situated regionally in the Northeastern united states. the series is intended for professional anthropologists and students. the NEAA Bulletin publishes research covering the traditional four fields of anthropology as well as applied work. disclaimer: the Publisher, Northeastern Anthropological Association, and Editors cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of information con- tained in this journal; the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Publisher, Northeastern Anthropological Association, and Editors. isBN-10: 0615576931 isBN-13: 978-0-615-57693-0 ii iii BouNdEdness and MoBility: New ApproachEs to thE study oF CulturE iN an ErA oF GlobalizAtioN Anne M. Galvin, st. John’s university this issue of the NEAA Bulletin, titled Borders, Margins, and Passages, was conceived in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Northeastern Anthropological Association. the essays included reflect fresh ethnographic treatments of some of the most crucial theoretical questions facing the discipline as it enters the 21st cen- tury. the relationship between space, place, and culture has been a central concern for anthropologists since herder’s (1969) German romanticist equation linked “blood, nation, and soil.” it remained important as early cultural evolutionists and diffusionists debated the nature of change, and it continues to be a focus of current disciplinary concern stimulated, in part, by globalization. having moved beyond Boas’s (1989) seminal usage of the German concept of geist (which helped to initi- ate the American anthropological tradition’s treatment of culture as an entity specific to a particular people and territory), contemporary anthropologists now grapple with questions about cultural mobility and change, how spaces come to be culturally inhabited and defined, and how space and place are related. rather than indicating an essentially historical shift that can be globally identified, this approach might be more readily linked to an anthropological sea-change—geogra- phies are now defined as dynamic and fluid, rather than static containers for human activity—and to an acknowledgement of the “intersecting flows” that have been built one upon another throughout human history (heyman and Campbell 2009). this approach, which utilizes the contributions of historians, economists, ecolo- gists, geographers, and political scientists, transgresses disciplinary boundaries and moves beyond the traps of the modernist project, which attempted to naturalize the sturdiness of nations and borders (Anderson 1991; Mintz 1998). often glossed as “globalization,” contemporary approaches to the study of change come in a variety of forms; this itself is a reflection of anthropology’s holistic 1 2 NEAA Bulletin Boundedness and Mobility | Galvin 3 character. however, as Michel-rolph trouillot usefully pointed out, the simple Boswell’s insightful use of Appadurai’s work on “the social life of things” enables idea of a “world without boundaries” does little for the advancement of anthropo- her to examine Burkinabé meaning-making through their use of material culture logical knowledge and serves to perpetuate images of the current state of the world (Appadurai 1986). she explores their sense of dispossession, contrasting mobile initially created by marketing agencies (trouillot 2001). Following trouillot’s lead, and immobile commodities in relation to ideas of the “successful” migrant in the various analytical approaches contained in this collection are unified and best Burkinabé society. conceived as contributions to an anthropology of “respatialization.” Buonopane’s work on Ahmadi Muslims, persecuted in Pakistan and now estab- Covering a range of geographical areas and topical foci, the pieces in this