This issue of InTheFray explores the complexity of cultural change and the unpredictable outcomes that evolve when one way of life challenges another. This month, we explore the loss, liberation, conflict, and carnival that can ensue when old and new collide.

We start with the bad news. Modernization and assimilation often sound the death-knell for under-resourced minority groups. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Kaplan documents the fast fading indigenous cultures of China, Bolivia, and Thailand in Vanishing heritage.

Yet some old traditions die hard. Irene Kai’s The Golden Mountain chronicles four generations of Chinese women escaping the yoke of submission. In her review of the memoir, Always know your place, and in her interview with the author, Old traditions die hard, ITF Culture Editor Laura Madeline Wiseman explores both the limitations of a victim’s viewpoint and the liberation that comes of writing about suffering.

Former Peace Corps Volunteer Kathryn Brierley, in her essay Reflections on a new democracy, also shows that change comes slowly. Ten years after the end of apartheid, the writer encountered a South Africa that still bears many scars.

The good news, however, is that change can sometimes bring inspiration. In Girls just want to have fun, ITF Travel Editor Anju Mary Paul‘s second story on young Muslim women in the United States, innovative teenagers plan and execute an all-girls prom, joining in an American tradition, Muslim style. If only change were always reason for a party.

Meanwhile, here at ITF, we’re sure to inspire your inner media critic with our latest addition: weekly TV, film, and DVD reviews available only in our PULSE Web log.

Nicole Leistikow
Managing Editor
Baltimore, Maryland

Coming Up

In December: ITF publishes its 50th issue. To celebrate, we’ll highlight the best of the magazine so far — and introduce some new perks. Take a minute to vote for your favorite ITF stories from the past.

Nicole Leistikow