Transnational Flows and Permissive Polities Published online

This volume is one of the outcomes of a research programme entitled ‘Illegal But Licit: Transnational Flows and Permissive Polities in Asia’. We gratefully acknowledge that the programme – initiated by the University of Xiamen (China) and the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) – was financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Many other institutions facilitated the programme, including the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research; the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, India; the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition in Kathmandu, Nepal; and the University of Peshawar in Pakistan. In addition to the contributors to this volume, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank our many colleagues in China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Australia, the United States and the Netherlands for their stimulating involvement at various stages and in various events of the ‘Illegal But Licit’ programme. We acknowledge the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) for their support, and especially thank Paul van der Velde and Martina van der Haak. Barak Kalir and Malini Sur Amsterdam, April 2012 Published online