This book contains nine contributions at the intersection of scholarship, activism, and sociocultural politics in mainland Southeast Asia, inspired by the remarkable career of Achan Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, an academic who has worked tirelessly in Thailand and beyond to foster critical social-science scholarship that engages with marginalized communities. The research in this volume is both highly personal and academically rigorous, born out of the authors’ experiences studying and working with communities and individuals who are too easily pushed to the margins of mainstream politics and culture, including Khmu migrant laborers, Wa communities in Shan State, meditating Thai hermits, and the fighters and bystanders in the complex violence in southern Thailand, among others. This willingness to support such underprivileged groups through meticulous scholarship is a hallmark of the engaged scholarly activism Achan Chayan has spent a lifetime encouraging.
