ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Chen related dictates, deliberating on experiences of working and some of challenges that arose. Chen's book is primarily addressed to anthropologists, but it can, equally be addressed to educationists. Appadurai's insistence on 'imagination, anticipation and aspiration' has strong affinities with Chen's focus on what he calls 'structures of sentiment', 'cultural imaginaries' and, ultimately, with the importance of attending to subjectivity when proposing changes for the future. The author invited other scholars from many different locations to join in this project, particularly, but not exclusively, those from non-Western traditions. He believes that one way to critically engage a body of thought is to try to work with some of its central ideas and to see if they help to deepen analysis and understanding, or if they offer new and compelling angles of scrutiny. He discusses various problems of translation, how the book would touch on many political sensitivities, and what this might mean if/when the authors return home.
