To what extent are our futures likely to be determined by our traditions from the past? Asian Futures, Asian Traditions is a collection of conference papers by scholars of Asian Studies, who explore the topics of continuity and change in Asian societies through essays in history, politics, gender studies, language, literature, film, performance and music. Recurring among the themes of the book are the invention and reinvention of tradition, nostalgia, issues of national and ethnic identity, colonial heritage, nationalism, 'reform, ' and the effects of globalizing economies. Both the power and the precariousness of several Asian economies are revealed in studies of the 'Asian Economic Crisis' of the late 1990s and the conversion of some communist states to 'market socialism.