Monsoon Publishes Volume 3, Issue 2: Crossing the Indian Ocean

Monsoon: Journal of the Indian Ocean Rim has published Volume 3, Issue 2, Crossing the Indian Ocean: The Oceanic Flow of Cultures and Ideas.

Published by The Africa Institute in collaboration with Duke University Press, Monsoon is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of the Indian Ocean world. The journal publishes original research and thematic issues that examine the cultural, historical, and political processes shaping societies across the Indian Ocean rim, with particular attention to regions and perspectives that have been underrepresented in existing scholarship.

Edited by Crispin Bates, this issue brings together contributions that address the circulation of cultural forms, legal ideas, religious practices, and artistic traditions across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Gulf, and Africa. Articles in the issue examine subjects including traditional theater, visual and material culture, music and performance, maritime law, migration, and urban foodways.  View the full table of contents.

The issue’s cover image, Bad Dream Rocking a.k.a The Rocking Malay(a) (2024) by Au Sow Yee and Chen Yow-Ruu (Her Lab Space), draws on the Malay folklore of Si Tanggang to reflect on questions of memory, identity, and political transformation across the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

Monsoon is co-edited by Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf, Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown University in Qatar, and Jeremy Prestholdt, Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego. The journal maintains an open call for submissions, including essays and book reviews.

The issue is available for purchase via the Duke University Press website.
Access select articles for free until March 10, 2026.

An open call for book reviews and essays is currently underway. Click here for submission guidelines.

For updates and announcements, follow @Monsoon_Journal on X.