This important new text examines the crucial social and cultural factors associated with the rise of the Asia- Pacific region at the end of the Twentieth Century.

It takes a close look at those areas which have affected the everyday life of the people most directly. These include:

* the family

* gender relations and the position of women

* religion

* the arts, with specific reference to film

* ethnic relations and population migration

* education, and the images of the Asia-Pacific.

The authors discuss real tensions between tradition and modernity in different nations of the Asia-Pacific, exploring the effects that economic growth has on powerful traditional cultures.