‘The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Mul Malaysia Aihwa Ong American Ethnologist, Vol. 15, No. 1, Medical Anthropology (Feb., 1988), 28-42. Stable URL: bhtpflinks,jstor-org/sici?sici~0094-0496%28 198802 %29 153A L%3C28%3ATPOPSAZ3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 American Ethnologist is currently published by American Anthropological Association. ‘Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of ISTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use, available at htp:sseww jstor org/aboutiterms.html. ISTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you hhave obtained prior permission, you may aot download an entie issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and ‘you may use content in the ISTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use Please contact the publisher eegarding aay fuser se ofthis work, Publisher contact information ray he abained at fp jstorongourmalantho. tt Each copy of any part ofa JSTOR transenission must contain the same copyright tice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transtnission, ISTOR isan independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive ot scholarly journals. For more information regarding ISTOR, please contact suppom@jstor org. hup:therwwjstor orgy Sun Dee 5.00:57:09 2004the production of possession: spirits and the multinational corporation in Malaysia AIKWA ONG—Lniversity of Calforma, Berkeley The sanitized enviranments maintained by multinational corporations in Malaysian “ree trade zones" are not immune to sudden spirit atacks on young Female workers. Ordinarily ‘quiescent, Malay factory women wha are seized fay vengeful spirits explade into demonic screaming and rage an the shop flocr. Management responses to such unnerving epi sox i= clude isolating the possessed workers, pumping them with Vallurn, and sending them home. Yeta Singapore! dactor nates hat’“alocal medicine man can da mare goad than wanquilzers" (Chev 1978:51). Whatever healing technique used, the cure is never certain, for the Malays an incident which helped precipitate 2 series af spirit attacks said to he caused by the “filthy” schol tailets and the girs’ disposal of coiled pads in a swamp adjacent tothe schoo! greunds(1978:264h. Inthe Penang factory incident, a warker remembered that a piercing scream from one corer of the shop floor was quickly followed by cries from other benches as women fought against spirits tying fo possess them. The incidents fad been sparked by datuk visions, somenmes headless, gesticulating angrily ate operators Even after the bomah had been sentfor, workers hac to be accompanied tothe tallet by foremen for fear of being attacked by spirits in che stalls, In Kuala Langat, my fieldwork elicited similar imagery from the workers in two Japanese factories (code-named ENI and E]ljased inthe local free-trade zane. Intheir rive for ataining, drigh praduetion targets, forernen (both Malay and non-Malay) were very zealous in enforcing ‘regulations that confined workers to the work bench. Operators had to ask fer permission to 80 to the toilet, and were sometimes questioned intrusively about their “female pratlems.” Men. sttuation was seen by management as deserving so consideration even in a workplace where the production ot possession 33,85-90 percent of the wark force was female In the Fl plant, foremen sometimes followed ‘workers ta the locker om, terarizing them with their spying. One operator became possessed ater screaming that she saw a “hairy leg” when she weat to the toilet. A worker from another factory reported) wacker saw “things” appesr when they went ko the tales. Once, when a woman enter the tale she ual igure licking santary napian [Modest supalied in the cabinel| hed a lang tongue, and those sanitary pads cannot be used anymore AAs Taustig remarks, the “language” emanating from our bodies expresses the significance of social dis-ease (1980). The above lurid imagery speaks ofthe women’s loss of contol aver their badies as well 5 their lack of control over social relations in the factory, Furthermore, the image ‘a body alienation algo reveals intense guilt ‘and repressed desire), and the felt need to be on ‘guard against vilation by the male management staff who, inthe far af fearsome predators, ‘may suddenly materialize anywhere a the factory Even the prayer room (surau), provided on factory premises fay the Muslim work force, was ot safe from spite harassment. woman told me of her aunt's fright inthe surau at the EJ] factory, "he wasin the mide of praying when she fainted because she sid... her head suddenly spun and something pounces on her fom bekind.” ‘As mentioned above, sprit tacks also aceurred when women were at the wark bench, usu ally during the “graveyard” shit, An ENT factory opertor described one incident which took place in May 1973. “was the ahernoan shit, at about rine o'clock Allwas quiet Seddenly, the victim] started sobbing, laughed and then snneked. She Fae af the machine. she was vcent, she fught a the foreman and technician pulled her away. Altogether, tee operators were afficted....Thestperisar ard fore ‘en tokethem fo the clinic ad olde diver to take ei homme ‘he did not ow whl ha? hopped. she case a hart, a were-get Only se saw it, and she saaned screaming. The foremen wad mot es lc ith bet fr Ter of vecuitence, People say thatthe workplace haunted bythe hart who dlls claw Wel, ds aed tg he all yung, a {3 buril ground before the factry was bul. The devi dures those who havea weak constitution” Spice possession episodes then were triggered by black apparitians, which materialized in “tuminal” spaces such as tiles (ee also Teoh, Soewondo, and Sidharta 1975-259, 262, and ‘Chew 1978:52), the locker root and the prayer roam, places where workers sought refuge frorn harsh work discipline. These were also rooms periodically checked by male supervisors determined to bring workers back ta the work bench. The micrascone, which after hours of use becomes an instrument af torre, sometimes disclosed spirits lurking within. Other workers painted tothe effect ofthe steady hum and the factory pollutants, which permanently disturbed sraveyard spirits. Unleashed, these vengeful beings were seen io threaten women for trans sgressing into the zone benveen the human and nanhuman warid, 35 well as mademn spaces formerly the damain of men. By intruding into hitherto forbidden spaces, Malay women work- ‘1s experienced anxieties about inviting punishment. Faina Sabbah observes that “(the invasion by women of economic spaces such as factories and offices... is often experienced as erotic aggression in the Muslim context” (1984:17). In Malay culture, men and women in public cantact must define the situation in nonsexual terms (cf, Banks 1983-88). iis particularly incurcbent upon young women to conduct thernselves with circumspection and to dllfuse sexual tension. Hawever, the modem factory is an arena consituted by a sexual division of labor and canstant male surveillance of nubile women in 2 close, daily contest tn Kuala Langat, young factory women feltthensselves placed a situation in which they unintentionally violated tahoos defining sacial and bodily boundaries. The shop {lor culture was also charged with the dangers of sexual harassment by male management saff as part of workaday relations.* To combat spint attacks, the Malay factory women felt 3 ‘reater need fr spiritual vigilance in the factory surroundings. Thus the victn inthe EN factory incident was said tobe: 34 american ethnologistpossessed, aye because sh was spirally weak. She wis na pritally igen, 0 that when she ‘iv the she as matary aod and steamed scaly, oe art kes peop who are siualy ‘Seok yes neshoul! guard epaitt being erly sated AAs Foucault observes, people subjected to the “micro-techniques of power are induced to regulate themselves (1979). The fear of spirit possession thus created self-regulation on the part of workers, thereby contributing tothe intensiicaton of corporate and self-control an the shop Moor. thus, a factory workers, Malay wamen became alienaied not only kom the products of thelr labor but alo experienced new forms psychic atnation. Their ntusin into economic spaces outside the home and village was experienced as moral disozder, symbolized by filth and dangerous sexuality. Some workers called for increased “discipline,” athes for Islamic classes on factory premises ta regulate interactions dincluding dating) hetween male and female workers. Thus, pint magery gave symbolic canfiguration a he worker’ fear and protest over sacial candansi the factories. However, these inchaate signs of moval and sacal chaos were routinely recast by management into an idiom: of sickness. the worker as patient ‘Studies of werk experiences in modern industrial systems have tended to facus on the ways lume and mation techniques (Taylor'sm) have facilcated the progressive adaptation ofthe hu: ‘man body to machines, bringing about the divorce of mental and manual labor (Braverman 1974), Others have maintained that control aver the exact maverments af the warkers allowed by Taylorism has banished fantasy and thoroughly depersonalized work relations inthe modern factory (Gramsci 1971;303; Ellul 1964:387-410), Indeed, Taylarist forms of work discipline ate taken to an extreme in the computer-chip manufacturing industries set up hy multinational corporations in Malaysia (see Ong, 1987. However, contrary tothe above claims, I would argue that the cecoding of the human body-work relation is 2 cetial and cantested dimension of daily conduct in the modern factory. have elsewhere described the everyday eifects ofthe sexual division of labor and Taylorist, lechniques on Malay factory waren (1987), Here, ! wish to discuss haw struggles aver the meanings of health are par of workers’ social critique of work discipline, and af managers attempts to extend conttal over the work force. The management use af workers as “instru _ments of labor" paralieled by another set of ideologies, which regards women’s bodies 2s the site of control where gender politics, health, and educational practices intersect (cf. Fau- aul 1980), In the Japanese factories based in Malaysia, management ideology constructs the female ‘body in terms ofits biological functionality far, and its anarchic disruption of, praductian ‘These ideologies operate to fix worien workers in subordinate positions in systems of dom nation that proliferate in high-tech industries. A Malaysian investment brochure advertises “the oriental gir" for example, 2s “qualified by nature and inhentance to contribute to the eff ciency of 2 bench assembly production line” (FIDA 1375, emphasis added}, This biological rationale for the commodification of women’s bodies is a art of a pervasive discaurse recon. cceptualizing wamen for high-tech production requirements, Jananese managers in the lree: ‘sade zone talk about the “ eyesight," “manual dexterity,” and “patience” of yaung women to perform tedious micro-assembly sobs. An engineer put the female nature-technology relation- Ship i a new light: "ur work is designed for females” Within international capitalism, this fotion of wamen’s bodies renders them analogous to the status of the computer chigs they make. Computer chips, like “oriental gies,” are identical, whether produced in Malaysia, T ‘wen, or ti Lanka. For multinational corporations, women are unitsof much cheap labar power repackaged under the “nimble fingers” label ‘The abstract made af scientific discourse also separates “normal ftarn “abnormal” workers, thatis, those wio da not perform accordingio factory requirements. Inthe El factory, the Malay the production of possession 35,‘personnel manager using the biomedical madel wo lacatethe cources of spirit possession armang ‘workers noted thatthe first spirit attack occurred five months alter the factory began operation in 1976, thereater, "we had cur courtermeasure.| think hiss 4 method of how you give iia education othe wather, how you take cave of the medical welfare ofthe weyers. The worker who is weak, comes It without Dreaas, lacking lee, then she wll see ghosts” Inthe factory environment, “spirit attacks kena hanty) was often used interchangeably with “mass hysteria,” 2 rerm adopted fromm English language press reports an such incidents lathe manager's view, “hysteria” was a symptom of piysical adjustment as the women workers “move: from home idleness to factory discipline.” This explanatian alsa found favor with some members of the work force, Scientific terms like “envaki isteria”thysteria sickness}, and physiological peecanditions formulated by the management, became more acceptable ta some workers. One woman remarked, “they say they sa han, but dan thnow..fieve that maybe they when thes comet work, thay dee chew stomachs, they were nat fll so thattheyfltRungy. Bt they were nat ave encugh tosay ‘A male technician used more complex concepts, but remained doubtful. think that hss caused by eeling of conspex—that maybe “inlerianty comtles’ Ie ressing ther ove—ther spi, so that this can be called an ines of che spit, “conit wa,” ‘emational con lt Sometines they sae an old man, in black shrouds, they aay, mthee microscopes, hey sy" myself ont kngw have They see hanasin dierent laces. Sore ime ago an ‘emergency inert lice his ‘occured in aonrding school, The victim fainted Then she Gecare very sang i eqate en oF twenty persone ta handle her” In corporate discourse, physical “facts” that contributed to spirit possession were isolated while osychalagical notions were used as explanation and as a technique of manipulation. in ENI factory, a bomah was hired to produce the illusion of exarcism, lulling the workers inta 3 fake sense of security. The personnel manager claimed that unllke managers in other Japanese firms wha operated oa the "ass of feelings, is “psychological appraach” helped to nrevent recurtent spiat visitations "You cannot dispel kampung elit, Now and then ve cal the Borel ta come, every si months o¢ sata pray lle around. Then we ake pesres ofthe Lamah m he factry an hang Up he ices Somehow, the workers oeing these rctres eel a, [sing What he glace has Neer expres Similadly, whenever a new section of the factory was constructed, the famoh was sent for to sprinkle holy wacer, thereby assuring workers that the place was rid of ghosts. Regular bomoh Visits and their photographie images were different ways of defining 2 social realty, which si rmultaneously ackrawledged and manipulated the workers’ fear of spirits Medical personnel were also involved in the narraw definition af the causes af spirit inci- dents on the shop floar. A factory nurse periodically toured the shop floor o olfer coffee to tired cor drowsy workers, Workers had to wark eight-hour shifts six days week—morning, 6:30 A‘ 19 2:30 4; afternoon, 2:30 2a. to 10:30 Pat, oF night, 10:30 P94 0 6:30 am—which die vided up the 24-hour daily operation of the factories. They were permitied two ten-minute breaks and a halt-haut for a meal. Mast warkers had to change to a different shift every two ‘weeks, This regime allawed little time for workers to recover {ram ther ethaustvon between silts. addition, overtime was Kequenty ieposed. The shits also worked against the human, and especially, female cycle, many freshly recruited workers regularly missed their sleep, meals, and menstual cycles Thus, aldiough management painted to physiological problemnsas causing spirit atacks, they seldom acknowledged deeper scientific evidence of health hazards in microchip assembly plants, These include the rapid deterioration a eyesight caused by the prolonged use of micro: scopes in banding processes, General exposure to strong salvents, acids, and fumes induced headaches, nausea, dizziness, and skin Iritation in workers. More toxic substances used for 36 american ethnologistleaning purposes exposed! workers ta lead poisoning, kidney failure, and breast cancer (Fed- ‘eration of Wamen Lawyers 1983/16). Other materials used in the fabrication of computer chips have been linked to female warkers’ painful menstruation, their inabily to conceive, and peated miscarriages (Business Times (Asia, 9 Cxctober 1982:19; San Francisca Chronicle, 14 January 1987:23, 27) Within the plants, unhappy-loaking workers were urged total over their problems with the "industrial relations assistant.” Complaints of “pain in the chee” were ine ‘erareted to mean emotional distress and the worker was ushered into the clinic for medication inorder to maintain discipline and a relentless work schedule Inthe Ef factory, the shop flaar supervisor admitted,“ think that hysteria is related to the jab in some cases.” He explained that workers in the microscope sections were usually the tones to kena hantu, ard thought that perhaps they shauld not begin work doing those tasks Honever, he quickly offered ather interpretations that had litle to do with swork conditions ‘There wasone victim whose broken engagementhad incurred her mather’s wrath; at wark she cried and talked to herselt, saying, “I am not to be blamed, not met” Another worker, seized bay possession, screamed, “Send me home, send me home!” Apparently, she indicated, her mother had taken all her earnings. Again, though such psychological readings, the causes of spirit attacks produced inthe factories were displaced onto workers and theie families In corporate discaurse, bath the biomedical and psychological interpretaians of spirit pase session defined the alfiction as an attribute of individuals rather than stemming fram the gen= eal social situation. Scientific concepts, pharmaceutical weatment, and behavioral interven tugn all idenufied and separated recalcitrant warkers fram “normal” ones; disruative workers became patients According to Passos, the cosmopolitan mecical aparoach tolerates illness 25 sanctioned social deviance; however, patients have the duty to get well (1.985.146, 148) This attude implies that those who co not get well cannot be rewarded with “the privileges of being sick" (1985.1 49). I the ENI factory, the playing out af this logic provided! the rationale for dismissing workers who had hacl two previous experiences of set attacks, on the grounds of “security ” This palicy drew protests ram village elders, for whom spits nthe factary were the cause oftheir daughters’ insecurity. The manager agreed vetbally with them, but pointed ‘ut that these “hysterical, mental types" might hurt themselves when they failed against the machines, risking electincutian. By appearing ta agite with native theory, the management reinterpreted spit possession as 2 symbol af flawed character and culture.° The sick role was reconceptualized as internally produced by outmoded thought and behavior not adequately adjusted tothe demands offactory discipline, The warker-patient could have no claimon man- agement syrapathy but would have to bear responsibility for her own cultural deficiency. A woman in EN talked sadly about her friend, the victim of spirits and corporate palicy. “AU the time the management wanted to throw het out, t9 end her work, she cried. She did ak v9 be seiestaies, ut she has hed three epee’ aleady hin that whether wos ightor not Wo expel her! depends an the circumstances. becasse she has already worked here ar Tang te: now tt ‘she hasbeen hrown aut she das nat kaw what she can de, yu kr” ‘The norwecognition of social cbligatians to workers lies at the center of differences in worlds view between Malay workers and the foreign management. 8y treating the signs and symptoms of disease as "things in-themselves” (Taussig 1980-1|, the biomedical model freed managers from any moral debt awed the workers, Furtheemare, caraarate adoption of spirit idiom sti rmatized spirit victims, theceby ruling aut any serious consideration oftheir needs, Aficted and normal” workers alike were made to see that spitit passession was nothing but confusion and delusion, which should be aandoned in a rational worldview. the work of culture hygiene and dispossession ‘Moder factories transplanted to the Third World are involved in the work of producing ex change as well as symbolicyalues. Medicine, 25 branch of cosmopolitan science, hasattained the production of possession 372 place in schemes for effecting desired social change in indigenous cultues. While native statements about bizarre events are rejected as irrational, the conceptians of positivist science acquire & quasi-teligious flavor ckarnoouh 1984), kn the process, the native "work of culture, which transforms motives and affects into “publicly accepted sets of meanings and symbols (Obeyesekere 1985-1471, is being undermined by an authoritative discourse that suppresses lived experiences apprehended through the worldview of indigenous peoples. “To what exient can the bomoh's work of culture convert the rage and distress of possessed ‘women in Malaysia into socially shared meanings? As discussed above, the sprit imagery speaks of danger and violation as young Malay women intrude inta hitherto forbidden spirit or male domains. Their participation 2s an industrial force is subconsciously nerceived by them- selves and their families as a threat tc the ordering of Malay culture, Second, their employment 8 production workers places them directy inthe contro of riale strangers who monitor their every mave. These social relations, brought about in the process of industrial capitalism, are experianced as a moral disorder in which workers ar alienated (om ter bodies, the products (of their work, and sheie own culture. The spirit idiom is therefore a language of pratest against these changing social circumstances. A male zechnician evaluatedéhe tresses they were under “Therein lotof discipline... but when there stan much discipline ts aot good. Because of his the operators, wich ter sail wages, wl lways contest. They often break che machines if ways ta sre not apparent... Someties, thy damage dhe produc.” Such Luddite actions in stalling production reverse momentarily the arrangement whereby ‘work egimentation controls the human body. However, the workers resistance" isnot limited to the technical probiem of work organization, but addresses the violation of moral codes, A ‘young woman explained her sense of having been “tricked” into an intolerable work arrange ment, “Fon instance, sometimes -they want ust rise production. This is what we sometimes ch lenge The worers wart far vestment, as fr instance, in elation to wages aa edhe matters. We fee that thi station tee ate many [sive ta dispute quer wit ve management. with our wapes Solow we fel 35 inough we have been ticked a orcad ‘She demands "justice, because sometimes they exhaust us very much as if they do not think, that we too are human beings!” Spirit passessian episades may he taken as expressions both of fear and of resistance against the multiple violatians of morai boundaries in the modern factory. They aré acts of rebellion, symbolizing what cannothe spaken directly, calling far a renegotiation of obligations between the management and workers, However, technocrats have turned a deaf ear to such pratests, tothis moral indictment oftheir woeful cultural judgments about te dispossessed. By choosing, to view possession episodes narrowly as sickness caused by physiolog cal and psychological maladjustment, the management also manipulates the fomoh to serve the interests of the fac- tory rather than express the needs ofthe workers Both Japanese factonies in Kuala Langat have commenced operations in a spate of spirit pos session incidents. A year after operations began in the E lactory, 25 well-known bamoh and his retinue were invited to the factory surau, where they read prayers over a basin of “pure water.“ Thase who had been visited by the devil drank rom itand washed their faces, a ritual which made them immune to future spirit attacks. The bornok pronounced the hanty control ling he factory site "very kind”; he merely showed himselfbut dd nat disurb people. A month ater the ritual, the spirit attacks resumed, but invalving smalier numbers of wamen (ane or wo) ineach incident. The manager claimed that after the exorcist rites, sprit altacks occurred anly ‘once a month. {In an interview, an eve witness reported what happened after 2 split incident erupted “The work «ction yas not sbuk down, we had ta continue working, Whenever it happened the other workers fe ghtened, They sista allowed to look hecae (he management fared contagion. Tey would nt permit us to Teave, When an incident rake out, we bad fo move away. Ata 38 american ethnologist‘clock they called the bamoh to come... because he knew that te hana had already entered the ‘woman's body. He came im and scattered ice laut water afer the area where We incident broke Ou, erected oayers aver holy water. He speinkled ice lag water on places iguched oy te hart Thetbamoh chanted incartavions jam aml chasing the hantu ay He then gave some medicine tothe aficted He lea coteed the clini te promauncel jam amt ‘The primary rele ofthe bomoh hired by corporate management was to ritually cleanse the prayer ro0m, shop tloar, and even the factory clinic. After appeasing the spurts, he ritually healed the victims, wha were viewed 2s nal respansible for their affliction. However, his work did no extend to curing them after they had been given sedatives and sent horne. Instead, through his exorcism and incantations, the bomah expressed che Malay undersanding of tse disturbing events, perhaps impressing the alher warkers that the factory had been purged of spirits. However, he failed ta convince the management about the need to create a moral space, Jn Malay terms, on factory premises. Management cid pa respond to spirit incidents by recan- sidering social relationships an the shop floor; instead, they sought to eliminate the afflicted from the work scene, Asthe ENI factory nurse, an Indian woman, remarked, “Ibis an expenence ‘working with the Japanese. They da not consult women. To tll you the truth, they don't care about the prablem excent that it goes away.” ‘This avoidance of the moral challenge was noted by warkers in the way management han- led the Ken, the ritual feast that reselved a dispute by bringing the opposing sides together ‘ivan agreement aver future cooperation. Inthe American factory incident in Penang, a bomob as sent for, but worker demands fora feast were ignared. Atthe fl factory, cleansing etuals ‘were brought to a close by a feast of salron rice and chicken curry. This was served to factory managers and officers, but nol a single worker (or victin} was invited. This distortion of the Malay rite of commensaity did not fal to impress on workers the management rejection of moral responsibilty to personal needs—muafakat (see Banks 1983:123-124). Women workess remained haunted by their fear of negotiating the liminal spaces between female and male worlds, old and new morality, when mutual abligations between the afflicted and the bomah, workers and the management, had noc been fuliled. The work of dhe Bomoi: was furtive thwarted by the medicalizatian of the afflicted. Spit possession incidents in factories made visible the confcted women who did not fit the cor porate image of “normal” workers. By standing apart from the warkaday routine, possessed workers inadvertently exposed themselves tothe cold ministrations of modern medicine, rather than the increased social supper they sought. Other workers, tercified of being attacked and by the threat of exnuision, kept up a watchful vigilance, This induced self-regulation was rein forced by the scientific gaze of supervisors and nurses, which further enervated the eecaleitvant and frustrated thove who resisted. A worker observed, Ihe possess) dant erember thei experiences. Maybe the heats werking an their madness, maybe bacause tet eariences have no been silled maybe tei souls ate nat relly dst Tey sa these are ev spd that place thas acon” In act, spin vicims maintained a disturbed silence afte thelt “recovery.” Neither thelr Fam lis, fiends, the Bomoh, nor | could get thems to talk about theit experiences. Spirit possession episodes in different societies Rave been labeled “mass psychogenic ills ness" or “epidemic hysteria” In psychological discourse (Caligan, Pennebaker, and Murphy 1982), Different altered states of consciousness, which variausly spring from indigenous un derstanding of social situations, ae reinterpreted in cosmapalitan terms considered universally applicable. In multinational factories located overseas, this ethnatherapeatic madel (Lute 1985) is widely applied and made to seem objective and rational. However, we have seen that such scientific knowledge and practices can display adelinte prejudice against the people they ae intended to restore to well-being in particular cultural comtexs. The reinterprelation of spirit, possession may therelore be seen as a shift of locus of patriarchal authority irom the bomah, ‘sanctioned by indigenous religious beliefs, award arofessionals sanctioned by scientific tain ing. the production ot possession 39lo Third World contexs, cosmopolitan medical conceats ad drugs atten have an anesthe tisng elect, which erases the authentic experiences ofthe sick. More frequently, the prolifer ion of positivist scientific meanings also produces a fragmentation ofthe body, a sharing 0 social ebligations, and a separation of individuals from thee cw culture. Gramsci (1971 has defined hegemony 2 afm of ideological domination based cn the consent ofthe dom nated, a consent thats secured Brough the difusion ofthe worldview ofthe dominant class. InMalaysia, medicine has become part of hegemonic discourse, constructing a "moder" cut Jock by clearing away the nighimarish visions of Malay workers. However, asa technique of bata cancealment and conto, itoneates in a more sinister way than native belies in demons Malay factory women may radially become dispossessed of spirits and thee own culture, but they remain profoundly ds eased im the “orave new workplace ""* notes ‘Acknauedement. Lam grateful to the National Science Foundation (rant no. BNS-78763%), and the Intemational Chevelopment Sevearch Cente, Ottawa, for funding the Fieldwork and wring he ojeee Some af the material contained i thus paper has heen puilished In my book, Spits of Resstance and Captafise ciple: Factory Women in Malays (1987) "vF1ee ede zones” are fenced off areas in which multinational corporations aze pm ea locate cexpartpracesing indestes i the hos curry. These Zones a event from many txation ard labor regulation: tiatmey apaly elsewhere nthe economy. ‘singapore 9a sand sate situated south of Feniatar Malaysia, Although separate counties, they sherelwstoncal rats and many cfural similares ard icerests "hati, West Malaysia. East Malaysia 1s constituted bythe tates of Sabah ard Sarawak in eorthern Besnee in Peninsular Malaysia, more than Pal the populaton opeosimately 13 rullon is made up of Malays Ethnic mess form de main minoiy group, fellawed by Indians "Mainly betweun the age of 16 and 26 years. Many dropped out afer si or seven years because they Saweno inroverientin thei jobs 3s production workers and because a! mariage, ln eis, re women Ive in roaming hauses or darmories with relauves. Mos village rls bexaruyng and wearng sanitary ads ate theyerlledin secular sehoalsorbegan work in actors Ia Same case, Schools and factories supplied these marke ems to encoucage the girs towea them, een again heron Vilage gis Pad previously warn homemade gids lined wih ka ak. Most of the factory women in the Kuala Lang free-wade zone lived with tei fami in the nearby villages, commuting to work every day. Although parents were eager ter thir daughvers co earn wages, they were alo anous td the social effects of ther parbeipation inthe wider, culturally alien wo (eee Ong 198?:Pars i ane tl ‘Goverment eegulations required multinational factories 10 provide female workers wit materity leave of 60 conserve days, This ight ha had the unictended affect of cicourseing multinational tc tories from recruting married wren. Those wp go! matted on the jab were feted family planing Clsies wd foe contraceptives, ‘tn 2 surmy, the Malaysian Federation of Women Lawyers found dat sore managerial staff ie mule alone factories were gully of demanding sal tava: eam for ramises of wars bereits, bane, nd promotion. However, thet victims “grarantat heirriaht Inae nanodyr urn toca vce eir wes (feseation of Women Lswyers 1983-18) *such ait nat confined ta lapasesecerpaatins. Inthe world of semiconductor production, American and Europesn ts al perpetuate such views. "slteretore see a move complex proces at werkthan Ackerman ard Lee who pte thatby veiling spit passesuion asthe cae of these Dzare incidents, the management ofa Shae factory served "a vinorce the bitin the realy of spi posession” (1989.292), "The vas majority af elacwanice workers n Malaysian [ee ade zones are unionized, even though government poley doesnot fully forbie union organization. However, he Mins of Labour hase este frsrated te eons ol electanics workers ta unionize ‘This phrase fs borcwed fm Howard's (1985) study of changing work relations eceasoned by the imroccnon of camautartechnolngy ino fies and vadesties. 40 american ethnologistreferences cited Ackerman, Susan, and Raymond Lee 1981 Comancation nd Cognitive Puralism in a Sprit Possession Event in Malaysia. AmesicanEtb- nelogist 341 769-799. Banke, David 1983. Malay Kinship. Philadelphia, PA. ISH Bravermen, Hary 1974" Labor and Monodoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York: ‘ety Review Press, chew, PK 1978 "Howto Handle Hysterical Factory Workers Occepaticeal Health and Salety 470)50-53 Colgan, Michael, ames Pennebaker and Lawrence Murphy, eds 1982 "Mass Psjchagen ness. A Soca| Psychological Analysis. Hillsdale, N):Laweence Erbaum As Crapanzane, Vincent 1977 eiedtction ta Case Stdles in Spt Possession Vincent Crapanzane and Vivian Garson, eds 1a New Vouk. Join Wiley. rapsnzano, Vincent, and Vivian Gatsor eds 1977 Case Stciesin Sint Possession New York oho Wiley. Dougls. Mary 1965 Putty and Danger: an Analysis of Pllrion and Taboo, Harmondsworth, Englind: Pengurn tu acques ii¢4 The Technological Society. Jain Wilkinson, rans, New Yer: Vintage Endicot, Kil 1976" Analyt of Malay Magic. Oxford, England: Clarendon Pass Federation of Women Lawyers Malaya) 1983 Women ard Employment in Malaysiz. Presented atthe Semanar an Women and the Lav, 28 Agii-I May, 1983, Kuala Lumpur. Uepubishee manusenpe FIOA ederaltus al Development uthery, Malaya 1375. Malaysia: The Solid Stuer Elecancs Kuala Lupa Fi, Raynor 1967 iual and Drama fn Malay Sprit Mediumdnin Comparative Studies in Society and istry 5199-207, Foucault, Michel 1965 Madness and Clizatan: A History of Insanity inthe Age of Reason. R. Howard ans. New "arke Pantheon 1879" Discaline 2nd Punish: The Birth ofthe Prison, Alan Sheridan, tans, New York: Vintage 1980. An Inraduction. istry af Sexuality, Va. 1 Robert Hurley, cans, New York Vite. crams. Antona 1971 Selections ram the Prism Notebooks. Chenin Hoare anc Geafrey Navell Smith, vans. New otk: Iveteatgnal Publishing, Howard, Robert 1985 | Brave New Workplace, New Vatk: Viking Baal lamilh Artin 460. Indust Oeveloomentin Peninsular alaysia ard Rual-Lthan Migration of Women Werkers Impact and imliestane. hal Ekonem’ Malaya 141-58 emooui claude 198 Gullure and Development. Telos 6171-82. Kessler Clive 1897 Cantict and Sovereignty in Kelantan Malay Spint Seances. n Case Stes n Spire Possession, “iecentCrapinzara and Vielen Gartsn, eds pp. 295-131. New Yet John Wiley Laderman, Ca 1983 Wives and Midwives. Cilebieh ard Nutri in Rul Malaysia, Berkeley: Unversity of al fornia Pres, Lewis asn 1971 esate Religion: An Anthropological Study of Spit Possession and shamanism. Hatmonds wort, Enalend: Penguin, Lum, Lindo 1976. Women Wakes in Shinational Corporatians: The Cate athe Elects ncusty in Malaysia 2nd Singapore. Ara Aer: Michagan Occanonsl Papersin Women's Studies, No. sue Catherine 1985" Destession and the Tratslation af Ematcnal Works, in Culture and Depression, Aithut Klein ‘man and Byron Good, es. |ap. 83-100, Berkeley: Univeraty of Calfomia Pree. Moxwel, We 1927 Shamanism in Perak. ia The Centenary Volume, 1877-1977. pp. 222-282, Singapore: the ‘Coun, Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asate Society, 1977/1978 (Ciinaly nublched 12531 the production of possession 41Mohd, Fab in Osman, 1972 "Paters of Supematueal Precises Lindedving the lstitution of the Borah in Malay Culture deepen lat de Taal Landon Vluekure 126°219-254, ‘Obeyesekore, Garznath 1889. Dscresson, Gudahis an the Wer of Cultce in SriLankan Culture and Cepression.Anher Kleinman and Byron Gach, ede pp. M152, Berkeley: Univeraty of Calitnria Press (Org. Aik 1587 Spins of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline: Factary Women in Malaysia, Albany: State Uni wesity of New Yok Press Poesos,Taicor 1585) Illes ad the Role ofthe Physician: A Sociological Perspective. t2 Readings tam Talcon Pat sas, Peter Harton, e699, 143-155, New York Tavistock hoon, WH, 1983. Outbreaks of Mass Hystete at Workplaces in Singapare: Some Panes ana Modes cl Present. tion. In Mass Psychogenic ness: A Socal Psychological Analy, Michael Colgan, James Penne [ster and Lawrence Murphy, ec: po. 21-31 Filldale,N] Lawrence Eau Associstes Sabah, Fara A 1524 Waman in he Muslim Unearscious. Mary Jo Lakeland, trans New York: Pergamon Pres, Scheer Hughes, Nancy, and Margaret Lock 1987 The Mirdul Bay A rolegamenoo ta Future Week in Medical Anthconeogy Medical Anthea ology Quartery WTh-36 ‘Sheat Walter W. T965(1900) Malay Magic. London: Fan’ Cass Tusa, Michael TSA) Retfalicn and the Consciousness ofthe Patiest, Sac Science and Madizine 148:3-13 Teoh, jan, Saesmal jah Saeweando, and Myra S dha 1925. Epidemic Hystena in Malaysian Schools: An Mlugeative Episode, Psychisey 38:258-268, Winstet, Richard O, T9861 The Malays. A Cultural History. Loedon: Routledge and Kegan Paul suchited 40 uly 1987 ‘evced version submited 18 Senterber 1987 seeepeed 5 October 1987 42° amerieanethnologist