SOCI AL/CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 499

Whatwasusaid" in the 1986election?There is consensus that with EDSA [Epifanio de 10s Santos Avenue] "something new had come to pass" and that what transpired . . . was a "transition from authoritarianism to democracy." Has such a change, though, actually occurred? What does this transi- tion period tell us about the Philippine polity? [p. 11 To achieve their aim, Kerkvliet and Mojares

assembled 12 papers, the authorship ofwhich is interdisciplinary and international. An- thropologists, sociologists, political scientists, and a public administration expert, from the United States, the Philippines, Australia, and the Netherlands, contributed to the volume. The communities represented and their re- spective writers who have conducted longitu- dinal research are as follows: Zamboanga City (Turner), MarawiCity (Bentley), aCeburura1 district (Mojares), a western Viyan munici- pality (BlancSzanton), La Carlota City (McCoy), a Palawan farming area (Eder), Ta- talon, Manila (Pinches), Smokey Mountain in Manila (Brillantes, Jr.), Nueva Eaja (Wolters), a Nuem Ecija rural community (Kerkvliet), an Ilokano municipality (Per- tierra), and an Ilocos Norte community (Zial- cita) .

The six themes that summarize the text include events that occurred outside the met- ropolitan areas emphasized in the media and the published body of writings; the short- and long-term consequences of the transition in government; the importance of the martial law time frame and election; the usefulness of factionalism in clarifying Filipino politics; and the relationship between the micro-unit (local community) and the macro-unit (na- tional society).

This book has both strengths and limita- tions. It is an original contribution to the extant literature on the people power revolu- tion in the Philippines and an excellent rec- ord of the events in different communities from Marcos to Aquino. As the editors point out, "the rich, textured analyses of these par- ticular places should also help to preserve something of the poignancy and sense of this particularjuncture of Philippine history" (p. 3). In addition, the essays are highly informa- tive, and the editors did a commendable task of synthesizing and analyzing the data. How- ever, the book does not adequately represent the whole country, No communities from Bi- colandia, southern and northern Luzon, Leyte-Samar, and southern Mindanao are in- cluded in the collection. There are no contri- butions on areas dominated by the New

Peoples' Army or on upland tribal and reli- gious-sect communities. Also, first-rate social scientists from the University of the Philip pines are absent from the list of authors.

Despite these limitations, the volume is a significant contribution to Philippine schol- arship and deserves to be in the library of every Southeast Asianist, anthropologist, his- torian, and political scientist, as well as of laypeople interested in the history of Philip pine and Asian political systems. The editors, authors, and publishers are to be congratu- lated for this book of high quality.

Gender and Tribe: Women, Land and Forests in Jharkhand. Gouind Kelhar and Dev Nathan. Atlantic Highlands, NJ/New Delhi: Zed Books/Kali for Women, 1992.196 pp.

MARY HANCOCK UniversiQ of Chicago

Gender and Tribe is an ambitious work deal- ing with the interpenetration of gender and political economy among adivasi (tribal) groups of Jharkhand (a term used by local activists to refer to the region of central-east- em India that they regard as a homeland). With this work, Govind Kelkar and Dev Nathan wish to explain and contribute to adivasis' efforts to gain political autonomy and socioeconomic equality, and to reverse the ecological crises affecting India's forests. The efforts to provide a serious historical overview of Jharkhandi political economy, to make an original contribution to Marxist the- ory, and to offer a model of politically en- gaged scholarship are commendable. Unfortunately, the promise offered by this work is not thoroughly realized in its execu- tion.

One major problem is the piecemeal deliv- ery of the text's central argument. The book lacks an effective introduction, and the first chapter-a review of selected interpretations of the gendered division of labor and estab- lishment of patriarchy-is concluded by a disturbingly brief announcement of the book's subject matter. Other allusions to the authors' argument are embedded in sub sequent chapters but are not fully articulated until the latter half of the book. In terms of format, the work suffers from the lack of maps and other graphic displays of information- which would help the reader organize infor- mation about the range of social groups covered and the historical depth in which they are discussed.

500 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [95,1993]

The overview of regional political economy is provided in early chapters that deal with subsistence modes (agriculture and hunting and gathering are practiced by Jharkhand adwass), forest resources, labor, and con- sumption. This material, drawn largely from secondary works, documents (albeit in an overgeneralized way) how transformations in land tenure systems under Mughal and Brit- ish rules mitigated against earlier, collectivist forms of ownership and promoted social in- equality. The presentation, however, is choppy and repetitious. Redundant refer- ences are made to Mam and Engels, and to other Marxist theorists, presumably to give the Jharkhand materials greater theoretical punch. By comparison, the data on Jhark- hand are crowded out, leaving a description that is too thin to support the theoretical claims.

Analyses of adivasi women’s political and economic status that occupy most of the book‘slatter half are insightful. In these chap ten, the authors make a case for the recent emergence of patriarchy among adiuask-ar- guing that it supplanted more egalitarian gender relations of production. The agency for this change is male dominance in land- holding, a pattern authorized by the colonial administration. The authors cite the rise of witch hunting as an index of this shift.

The authors’ advocacy of Jharkhandi autonomy is stated most forcefully in the con- clusion. They see themselves as assisting in this process of “rebuild[ing] the present or- der” and “recreat[ing] old values’’ (p. la), including ”harmony with nature, equality in society . . . and collectivism in economic ac- tivities” (p. 104). However, given the impor- tance of this commitment, their discussion of current political movements and organiza- tions is disappointingly brief. The tensions between community “solidarity” and female autonomy, as well as the complexities of adi- vasi status within the present state apparatus are given short shrift here, though both are critical elements of the issues that the authors analyze.

Gender and Tribe makes a positive contribu- tion by drawing our attention to groups that have been marginalized historically, by the state as well as by academics bent on unravel- ing the secrets of caste and Hinduism. Ironi- cally, however, it gives us too brief a glimpse of the adwasis offiarkhand in its effort to use them as a case to support broad theoretical claims about the emergence of patriarchy.

Indians of the Southeastern United States m the Late 20th Cenhuy.J. Anthony Paredes, ed. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992.258 pp.

RAYMOND D. FOGEISON UniumiEy of Chicago

This volume offers a welcome review of the variegated, burgeoning, contemporary Southeastern Indian populations. Some meaty articles are sandwiched between editor Anthony Paredes’s frothy introduction and Bureau of Indian Main (BIA) staff member George Roth’s somber summarization of the tortuous process of federal recognition. There are state surveys of Indians of Virginia (Helen Rountree), North Carolina (Patricia Learch), South Carolina (Wesley Taukchiray and Alice Kasakow, and Louisiana (Hiram Gregory). Separate articles concern the East- ern Cherokees (Sharlotte Neely), Seminoles and Miccosukees (Harry Kersey), Poarch Creeks (Paredes) , and Mississippi Choctaws (John Peterson). Taken together the cover- age is fairly comprehensive, although surveys of Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and Ala- bama (besides Poarch Creeks) Indians are lacking, and separate treatment of the inter- esting Tunica-Biloxi case might have comple- mented Paredes’ Poarch Creek account.

Maintenance of Indian identity runs as a leitmotif throughout these essays. The legal and folk-biological mystique of blood quan- tum continues to be an important concern. Evidently, dilution of “Indian blood” by “Black blood” more seriously imperils Indian identity than admixture with “White blood.” A common land base of “homeland” and continuity of tribal governance are also im- portant identity criteria. Retention of anative language seems to be declining as a critical identity marker, despite bilingual educa- tional programs and serious efforts at lan- guage retrieval. Traditional religious beliefs today tend to be either vestigial or reinvented (e.g., Sweat baths). Christian churches have long served as community centers, alongwith local Indian schools. Passage of civil rights legislation not only ended the era of separate Indian schools, but also led to the building of secular community centers and the reorgani- zation of tribal governments. The Eastern Cherokees and Mississippi Choctaws have long held tribal fairs that celebrate Indian culture through performances (e.g., dancing and stickball) and displays of crafts and p r e duce. Other tribes have more recently staged annual powwows featuring Plains-inspired