A previous issue of EASTS (volume 5, number 2) presented four articles addressing the theme of rice science, rice technology, and rice societies, using approaches from both anthropology and science and technology studies (STS). This issue of the journal presents the second and final part of the collection, containing three more articles that focus on rice and materiality in different East Asian contexts and settings.
In our introduction to part 1, we noted that rice is an inescapable cornerstone of life in Asian societies, which makes rice a multifaceted object—an important food crop, a cultural resource, and an economic commodity. Consequently, it is also a vital concern among policy makers, regulators, politicians, farmers, traders, and consumers. Not surprisingly, over the last hundred years rice has been an object of study for scientists and plant breeders, who continue to generate new knowledge about rice and to design and carry out interventions intended to alter the characteristics of rice plants and grains, farming techniques, processing methods, or distribution systems.
