Skip to product information
Negotiating Belonging in Borneo

Negotiating Belonging in Borneo Narratives of Ambivalence

Sale price  $152.99 Regular price  $169.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Asia in Transition

Negotiating Belonging in Borneo

Narratives of Ambivalence

Daron Benjamin Loo | Chang-Yau Hoon

Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Asian Studies

Borneo is often described through its diversity, but the lived realities of belonging in the region are far more complex, fluid, and compelling. This volume brings together critical narratives from Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, and Kalimantan in Indonesia to examine how ethnic, religious, and linguistic identities are negotiated across one of Southeast Asia’s most culturally rich regions.
 
Drawing on postcolonial thought, particularly on the idea of cultural hybridity, the book explores Borneo as a vibrant space of encounter, crossing, and negotiation. The chapters reveal how individuals and communities navigate shifting boundaries of ethnicity, citizenship, indigeneity, language, religion, and minority positioning. Rather than presenting identity as fixed or neatly defined, the volume captures the ambivalence of belonging: the tensions, uncertainties, attachments, and transformations that shape everyday life in Borneo.
 
Through personal and communal narratives, the book offers insight into how people become who they are in relation to history, place, power, and one another. It will appeal to readers interested in Borneo, Southeast Asian studies, identity, postcolonial theory, indigeneity, minority communities, inter-ethnic relations, and the politics of belonging. At its heart, this volume asks a powerful question: what does it mean to belong in a region where identities are constantly being blended, contested, and remade?

Daron Benjamin Loo is senior lecturer at the Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning. A trained applied linguist, Daron has done research on issues regarding the sociology of language in schools, and the intersection of language and identity on public discourse. His research has been published in international indexed journals, such as Intercultural Education, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, and Power and Education.

Chang-Yau Hoon is Professor and Director of International Office at Singapore University of Social Sciences. He was formerly Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Asian Studies, and Director of the Centre for Advanced Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Professor Hoon specializes in Chinese diaspora, identity politics, multiculturalism, and religious and cultural diversity in contemporary Southeast Asia. His latest books include Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia: Ethnicity, Education and Enterprise (Liverpool University Press, 2023); Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (with Ying-kit Chan, Lexington Press, 2023); and Stability, Growth and Sustainability: Catalysts for Socio-economic Development in Brunei Darussalam (co-edited, ISEAS Publishing, 2023). His article published in Asia Pacific Viewpoint was awarded Wiley Top Cited Article 2022-2023 and his Asian Ethnicity article in 2006 was ranked the most cited article of all time

 


Publication Date: 16 October 2026
Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore
Imprint: Springer
ISBN-13: 9789819224357
Format: Hardback

You may also like