Papers presented at the seventh Conference on Tropical Asia, organized by Werkgemeenschap Zuid-Azië in cooperation with Dept. of South and Southeast Asian Studies of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1987.

Includes bibliographies.

The notion of survival strategies has promised to be highly stimulating since its introduction in the early seventies and occupies a regular place in the current?sociological?literature?dealing?with?poverty?and?develop­ment. However, in the wake of economic crises and continuing lopsided development, the idea of general progress made way for a new set of priorities, the basic needs strategy, which sought to assure survival of the poorest most affected by the economic crises and ecological disaster. The contributors to this volume, ail of whom have a longstanding field research experience in anthropology and sociology, take a look at some of these groups (poor peasants, tribals, industrial workers and women) in a number of Asian countries, viz., India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Guinea and?Indonesia. The papers inter-alia explore the inter-linkages between survival and emancipation at the micro-level and intra-household power relations. The case studies generally reflect an innovative approach in the sense that survival is analyzed in the context of emancipation, which is an essential prerequisite for the ultimate survival of the individual, the family and the social? group? or? class. The articles directly reflect the views and attitudes of the poorer sections of society and thus present a lively and realistic picture of the balancing act between survival and emancipation in the Third World countries which are the?focus?of?study?currently.