Part of the Ronald and Janette Gatty series

Sittithep Eaksittipong, Lecturer, Department of History, Chiang Mai University

In this talk, I propose the exploration of the social and political lives of G. William Skinner and his classic, Chinese Society in Thailand, in American, Thai and Chinese Academia. Unlike previous scholarship that tries to evaluate either the reliability of the book’s content or its argument on the assimilation of the Chinese in Thailand, this talk explores the political and social aspects of the book and its author. It explores how the book became an authoritative text in the studies of overseas Chinese and its role in creating perceptions toward overseas Chinese, particularly the Chinese in Thailand during the Cold War. Furthermore, I trace the uses and circulation of the book and the knowledge that it creates in American, Thai and Chinese academia to see how the book has created different meanings and played different roles among scholars.