Staging Indigenous Heritageexamines the cultural politics of four Indigenous cultural villages in Malaysia. Cai demonstrates how they are often beset with the politics of brokerage and representation that reinforce a culture of dependency on the brokers, marginalising their intended beneficiaries. By critically examining the relationship between Indigenous tourism and development through the establishment of Indigenous cultural villages, the book addresses the complexities of adopting the 'culture for development' paradigm as a developmental strategy. Demonstrating that the opportunities for self-representation and self-determination can become entwined with the politics of brokerage and the contradictory dualism of culture, the book shows how this can both facilitate and compromise their intended outcomes. Challenging the simplistic conceptualisation of Indigenous communities as harmonious and unified wholes, Cai shows how Indigenous cultures are actively forged, struggled over and negotiated in contemporary Malaysia. Confronting the largely positive rhetoric in current discourses on the benefits of community-based cultural projects, Staging Indigenous Heritageshould be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of museum studies, cultural heritage studies, Indigenous studies, development studies, tourism, anthropology and geography. The book should also interest museum and heritage professionals around the world. | Staging Indigenous Heritage by Yunci Cai, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters