AEMS News and Reviews: Fall 2015 (Issue: #58)

Oyler, Elizaeth; Wang,Yimin

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/128914 Copy

Description

Title

AEMS News and Reviews: Fall 2015 (Issue: #58)

Author(s)

• Oyler, Elizaeth
• Wang,Yimin

Contributor(s)

• Winters, Matthew S.
• Bhattacharya Mehta, Rini
• Yang Jiao, Joy

Issue Date

2015-09-01

Keyword(s)

AEMS News and Reviews

Date of Ingest

2025-07-21T17:36:57-05:00

Geographic Coverage

• Thailand
• India
• China
• United States

Abstract

This issue of AEMS News and Reviews covers three documentaries that focus on the theme of global consumption and its impact on local agricultural production in Asian countries as well as people's individual lives. Agrarian Utopia (reviewed by Dr. Matthew Winters) sets its scene in the rice farms of Thailand, depicting how two struggling peasants under a capitalistic pyramid scheme seek different ways out from under the changing economic-political environment. Bitter Seeds (reviewed by Dr. Rini Bhattacharya Mehta) is the final film in Micha X. Peled's Globalization Trilogy, following Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town and China Blue. It reveals shocking facts concerning Indian farmers, such as the high rate of suicides resulting from debt, and shows how these phenomena relate to the changes created by globalized industrial agriculture. Cotton Road (reviewed by Ms. Joy Yang Jiao) traces the transnational movement of cotton and tells the stories of the day-to-day life of workers in a conventional cotton supply chain. This documentary ties these phenomena back to the U.S., showing how the clothes we consume have their roots worldwide and travel through a global labor chain—from raw material to finished product to store shelves. It highlights how our clothing choices impact people's lives and the global economy far beyond the local store. These three documentaries, screened in our AsiaLENS film series in the Fall 2015 semester, were very well received by audiences. We are fortunate to have the film discussants write these reviews as well. Our next issue will include three documentary reviews on LGBT issues in Asian countries, and we will see how various Asian perspectives shed light on our understanding of the LGBT issues. We will also be screening these documentaries during our Spring AsiaLENS series in Spurlock Museum. In the near future, you can find more information on both of these on our website and through our listservs. Stay tuned, and happy new year of 2016!

Publisher

Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS)

Series/Report Name or Number

Issue 58

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

newsletter

Language

eng

Copyright and License Information

Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies

Owning Collections