Paper short abstract:

I will explore community life of the Amis in the contemporary era based on my field investigation undertaken in several Amis villages. I will show that the ways in which the local people confront, negotiate with, selectively incorporate, and even actively adapt to different foreign forces are in accord with their familiar socio-cultural notions.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I will explore community life of the Amis in the contemporary era based on my field investigation undertaken in several Amis villages of the eastern coast area. Through the study of Amis community life in particular historical and cultural milieus which involve certain dialectic processes between the indigenous culture and the foreign economic and political forces, I call into question the previous notion that culture is a heritage and that the indigenous culture is going to disappear under powerful influences from the outside world. In a globalising era of the rapid movement of people, objects and ideas, it is nonetheless necessary to consider the notion that culture is a philosophy of life, and is an inexhaustible reservoir of responses to the world's challenges (Sahlins 1999:21). The notion of culture as a project will help us to make sense of the vitality of the local community in the face of changing politico-economic circumstances. I shall show that the ways in which the local people confront, negotiate with, selectively incorporate, and even actively adapt to different foreign forces are in accord with their familiar socio-cultural notions and logic, such as their village-wide kinship system. Their active changes and creativity should also be regarded as the continuity of their living tradition rather than its utter loss or abandonment.