Rupert Hodder was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and educated in England and Hong Kong. He has lived and worked in many parts of East and South East Asia, including China, Malaysia and the Philippines. He is currently a Reader at the University of Plymouth, UK., having previously held posts at the LSE and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and visiting posts at La Salle Institute of Governance, Manila, and at the College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is the author of numerous works that have appeared in Asian Journal of Social Science, Asian Studies Review, Government and Policy, Southeast Asia Research, The Pacific Review, The Far Eastern Economic Review and the Salisbury Review amongst other journals. He is also the author of Emotional Bureaucracy, Merchant Princes, Between Two Worlds, In China’s Image, and The West Pacific Rim.