The curious durian fruit, both delicious and stinky, is the embodiment of dissonance. Author Sally Tyler uses the fruit's dual nature as a metaphor for exploring the dissonance inherent in recent policy and political trends in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Such dissonance is on display when hopeful social movements bring young and old into the streets by the tens of thousands at the same time a call to restore order paves the way for dictators like Duterte, the tacit ratification of yet another Thai coup, and the election of Trump. The book's essays, a series of snapshots spanning four years, tackle topics from criminal justice and drug addiction to fashion activism and artistic censorship.
Tyler's work, some of which has appeared in New Mandala and Policy Forum, analyzes the U.S. retreat from multilateralism at a time when complex global problems -- climate change, economic inequality, the coronavirus pandemic -- require even greater collaboration. Through the lens of a dynamic, yet under-reported, region, Tyler brings fresh perspective to Trump policy reverberations in far corners of the world and argues for greater connectivity in what has become a fractured era.
Table of Contents
A Note on the Title
Why Southeast Asia?
Making the Connections
Healthcare Reform: Doctor, My Eyes
Labor: A Good Day’s Work
Criminal Justice: Lock Them All Up
Fashion Activism: A Fashionable Entry to Policy?
Tax Policy: The Taxman Cometh (And this time, he’s serious)
Space Exploration: America First in the Final Frontier
US Census: Busting the Model Minority Myth
Refugees: On Second Thought, You Can Keep Your Huddled Masses
Religion: Blurring the Lines Between Church and State
Speech & Arts: “Shall We Dance” with Censorship or Free Expression?
Opioid Epidemic: Exporting Addiction
The Art of Pushing Pills
Environment: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Coal
Sexual Harassment: The World As a Hostile Workplace
Affirmative Action: Diversity or Discrimination May Be in the Eye of the Beholder
Forced Repatriation: Strangers in a Strange Land
Coronavirus Pandemic: Strongman Politics in a Crisis
‘Stay Safe’ is an Empty Platitude in a World Riddled by Inequality
Literary Criticism: Reading Trump
The Emperor’s New Clothes
The Ballot and Beyond
Day of Epiphany