Acknowledgements
This edited volume comes into existence as the result of two scholarly meetings organized by the Asia Theories Network (ATN), which were its 2021 online workshop on “Oceanic Capitalism” and the “Entangled Waterscapes in Asia” seminar in the 2022 annual conference of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA). The two meetings were conducted online during the pandemic. The participants were in different time zones and separated by oceans. Unlike the conventional ATN meetings, which are usually held twice or thrice annually to allow participants to meet in person, these exceptional and virtual two led us to turn our dynamic discussion into something more concrete and solid in a time of precarity. We want to take this opportunity to thank the ATN, co-coordinated by Hung-chiung Li and David Theo Goldberg, for its administration and support that made this publication possible. We also need to express our gratitude to Shu-mei Shih, the 2021–2022 president of the ACLA, who invited us to propose the said seminar, which further enhanced the development of this publication project. During the process of our working from 2021 to 2024, we received sponsorship from two sources to which we are indebted: the Henry Luce Foundation, which provided a grant to the ATN through the administration of the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and the “Navigating from Cultural Diversity and Archipelagos to Many Worlds” research project pertaining to the College of Liberal Arts at National Taiwan University. We feel incredibly grateful to the ATN colleagues who consistently provided support, encouragement, and inspiration, which significantly pushed our efforts. We thank Howard Choy, the series editor of African and Asian Anthropocene for his trust and support, and Stephanie Carta, Brill’s Associate Editor, for her assistance. Last and above all, we hope to express our sincere appreciation to this volume’s contributors for their dedication, cooperation, and patience throughout the process.