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	This exhibit grew out of Dr. Eric Tagliacozzo's history course on subaltern histories of Southeast Asia. Subaltern history studies the "voiceless," or people who are traditionally outside the structures of power in society. The exhibit, in particular, looks at the lives of peddlers (itinerant petty-traders), pirates, and prostitutes as three broad categories of the "subaltern experience" during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Subaltern histories of these people cover what it meant to be an outlaw, "deviant," or poor in Southeast Asia during the region's encounter with Western colonialism. Also under examination is the incorporation of Southeast Asia into the patterns of the imperial project, which overtook this part of the world on a massive, systemic scale in the nineteenth century. What were the effects of this phenomenon on the lives of people who were often closest to the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid ?
This exhibit is a combined effort of the Cornell University Southeast Asia Program and the Echols Collection, Cornell University Library. We wish to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance: Antoine Asseraf, Tracy Barrett, Marcia Butler, Penny Dietrich, Allen Riedy, Eric Tagliacozzo, and Katie Williams.

Page created 2/2001 by Antoine Asseraf

Last modified 2/27/2001 by Antoine Asseraf