Desarrollo rural en Malaysia : estudio de caso de un «kampung» pesquero

Economic development of peasant societies implies fundamental challenges for contemporary anthropology. This issue is especially significant in the case of Malaysia, an eclectic country that combines ethnic diversity, profound urban-rural contrasts, democracy and authoritarianism, rice cultivation and high-tech manufacture, Islamic national religion and a remarkable rate of economic growth. This paper schematically introduces an ethnographic research carried out in a small Malay community located in the north-west of peninsular Malaysia – Langkawi archipelago. The research assesses social, economic, political and religious factors that might explain the problem of Malay economic underdevelopment.