New Book!「The Art of Getting By: Wisdom and Resilience from China’s Migrant Women」by Kevin Ming

My friend and colleague Kevin Ming has published his new book, The Art of Getting By: Wisdom and Resilience from China’s Migrant Women (Algora Publishing 2026). Here is a brief description from the publisher:

Sound Bite

A work that is simultaneously ethnographic fieldwork, social theory, and intimate portraiture, The Art of Getting By takes us into a hidden world and nestles in, learning some of the ways people keep themselves intact in tough circumstances.

Introduction

The Art of Getting By: Wisdom and Resilience from China's Migrant Women invites readers into the disappearing alleyways and vibrant communities of southern China's urban villages, offering an intimate look at the lives of poor migrant women navigating worlds of exposure and exploitation. Through what Kevin David Ming calls a "vagrant anthropology," this book chronicles two decades of walking, listening, and storying with women who work in the sexual labor industry, primarily in falang (hair salon brothels), but also beyond, in China, Malaysia, and Thailand.

This unique narrative gathers fragments of life—snatches of song, shared meals, daily gossip, and poignant personal histories—to illuminate the ingenuity, resilience, and complex desires of its subjects. We meet Wangjing, whose dreams of a modern kitchen reflect aspirations for respectability and security for her family. We learn from Qi Qi about the careful art of "fishing" for customers in upscale hotel bars, a delicate dance of observation and performance. Christine's story reveals a love for literature and a quiet determination to write her own future, even amidst challenging circumstances. These women, often dismissed or stereotyped, are shown to be adept at forming connections and finding temporary inhabitance in worlds designed for their estrangement.

Beyond individual portraits, the book uncovers the broader forces shaping these lives: the relentless pace of urban development that obliterates communities, the "cannibalizing capitalist present" that scavenges on networks of care, and the enduring weight of filial obligations. It challenges conventional notions of hope, offering instead a vision of "present hope"—an energetic continuance born from struggle and the indeterminacy of an uncertain future.

For more information: https://www.algora.com/product/the-art-of-getting-by/

New Book Announcement: "Art x Research x Archives: Investigating Art and Creative Humanities" edited by the Center for Future Creation and Inheritance, Tokyo University of the Arts / 東京藝術大学未来創造継承センター編『アート×リサーチ×アーカイヴ――調査するアートと創造的人文学』

Art x Research x Archives - Investigative Art and Creative Humanities
Supervisor: Yoshitaka Mori
Edited by Tokyo University of the Arts Future Creation and Inheritance Center
Getsuyosha 2,400 yen 46-size (188mm long x 130mm wide x 19mm wide, 310g weight) 272 pages (8 pages in color) ISBN: 978–4–86503–207–9 C0070

Contemporary art has expanded its scope by adopting research methods from sociology and cultural anthropology, while traditional humanities have also begun to incorporate new endeavors related to vision and hearing into their research. Archives do not simply support culture, but are beginning to play a role in actively creating it. The forefront of art is introduced through the multiple different practices of artists and researchers active in a cross-disciplinary field! [This book is a transcript of a portion of the public lectures given at the "Yurakucho Geidai Campus" in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mitsubishi Estate, and Tokyo University of the Arts.]

Authors: Watanabe Hidenori (Professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School), Kawase Itsushi (Visual Anthropologist), Shitamichi Motoyuki (Artist), Okahara Masayuki (Professor Emeritus at Keio University), Takayama Akira (Director and Artist), Hasegawa Ai (Artist, Keio University), Habaya Kazuma (Center for Future Creation and Inheritance, Tokyo University of the Arts)

アート×リサーチ×アーカイヴ――調査するアートと創造的人文学
毛利嘉孝=監修
東京藝術大学未来創造継承センター=編
月曜社　本体2400円　46判（縦188mm×横130mm×束幅19mm, 重量310g）272頁（内カラー8頁）ISBN:978–4–86503–207–9　C0070

現代芸術は社会学や文化人類学などのリサーチ手法を採用することでその領域を拡大し、伝統的な人文学も視覚や聴覚などにかかわる新たな試みをその研究に取り込み始めた。アーカイヴは文化を単に支えるだけでなく、それらを積極的に生み出す役割を担いつつある。横断的な領域で活動するアーティストや研究者による、複数の異なる実践から紹介するアートの最前線！【本書は、東京都と三菱地所と東京藝術大学の三者連携による「有楽町藝大キャンパス」公開講座の一部を収録した講義録です。】

著者：渡邉英徳（東京大学大学院教授）、川瀬慈（映像人類学者）、下道基行（アーティスト）、岡原正幸（慶應義塾大学名誉教授）、高山明（演出家・アーティスト）、長谷川愛（アーティスト、慶應義塾大学）、幅谷和眞（東京藝術大学未来創造継承センター）

For more information: https://urag.exblog.jp/243923067/

Announcement: New Book Release「Teaching Japan: A Handbook」

Teaching Japan: A Handbook. Ioannis Gaitanidis and Gregory S. Poole, eds. 2024. Japan Documents (MHM Limited, Tokyo).

For more information: https://www.mhmjapandocuments.com/copy-of-handbook-of-jpn-public-admin

Perhaps of special interest to visual and multimodal anthropologists:

Chapter 15 The Visual Anthropology of Japan: In and Outside the Classroom, p. 243-258.

There are a lot of great chapters from excellent teachers, researchers and authors in this book. I am honored to have been included in Teaching Japan. And I am grateful to the editors (Ioannis and Greg) for their exceptional enthusiasm, encouragement, support and and hard work.