The Making Of South East Asia

Developing a framework to study "what makes a region," Amitav Acharya investigates the origins and evolution of Southeast Asian regionalism and international relations. He views the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) "from the bottom up" as not only a U.S.-inspired ally in the Cold War struggle against communism but also an organization that reflects indigenous traditions. Although Acharya deploys the notion of "imagined community" to examine the changes, especially since the Cold War, in the significance of ASEAN dealings for a regional identity, he insists that "imagination" is itself not a neutral but rather a culturally variable concept. The regional imagination in Southeast Asia imagines a community of nations different from NAFTA or NATO, the OAU, or the European Union. In this new edition of a book first published as The Quest for Identity in 2000, Acharya updates developments in the region through the first decade of the new century: the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1997, security affairs after September 2001, the long-term impact of the 2004 tsunami, and the substantial changes wrought by the rise of China as a regional and global actor. Acharya argues in this important book for the crucial importance of regionalism in a different part of the world.

The modern states of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, and East Timor were once a tapestry of kingdoms, colonies, and smaller polities linked by sporadic trade and occasional war. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the United States and several European powers had come to control almost the entire region - only to depart dramatically in the decades following World War II. perspective on this complex region. Although it does not neglect nation-building (the central theme of its popular and long-lived predecessor, In Search of Southeast Asia), the present work focuses on economic and social history, gender, and ecology. It describes the long-term impact of global forces on the region and traces the spread and interplay of capitalism, nationalism, and socialism. It acknowledges that modernization has produced substantial gains in such areas as life expectancy and education but has also spread dislocation and misery. Organizationally, the book shifts between thematic chapters that describe social, economic, and cultural change, and country chapters emphasizing developments within specific areas. will establish a new standard for the history of this dynamic and radically transformed region of the world.

In a path-breaking series of essays the contributors to this collection explore the development of anthropological research in Asia. The volume includes writings on Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

This book provides the basis for a reconceptualization of key features in Southeast Asia's history. Scholars from Europe, America, and Asia examine evolutionary patterns of Europe's and Japan's Southeast Asian empires from the late nineteenth century through World War II, and offer important insights into the specific events of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. In turn, their different perspectives on the political, economic, and cultural currents of the "post-colonial" era - including Southeast Asia's gradual adjustment to globalizing forces - enhance understanding of the dynamics of the decolonization process. Drawing on new and wide-ranging research in international relations, economics, anthropology, and cultural studies, the book looks at the impact of decolonization and the struggle of the new nation-states with issues such as economic development, cultural development, nation-building, ideology, race, and modernization. The contributors also consider decolonization as a phenomenon within the larger international structure of the Cold War and the post-Cold War eras.

The rapid postwar economic growth in the Southeast Asia region has led to a transformation of many of the societies there, together with the development of new types of anthropological research in the region. Local societies with originally quite different cultures have been incorporated into multi-ethnic states with their own projects of nation-building based on the creation of "national cultures" using these indigenous elements. At the same time, the expansion of international capitalism has led to increasing flows of money, people, languages and cultures across national boundaries, resulting in new hybrid social structures and cultural forms. This book examines the nature of these processes in contemporary Southeast Asia with detailed case studies drawn from countries across the region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. At the macro-level these include studies of nation-building and the incorporation of minorities. At the micro-level they range from studies of popular cultural forms, such as music and textiles to the impact of new sects and the world religions on local religious practice. Moving between the global and the local are the various streams of migrants within the region, including labor migrants responding to the changing distribution of economic opportunities and ethnic minorities moving in response to natural disaster.

The idea of the ‘nation’ is a Western concept which has been applied to Southeast Asia. It is a project which has been in progress since the last century but is still incomplete. Various theoretical frameworks which are associated with nation and nation-building in the Southeast Asian region have been briefly dealt with. The book aims to examine the making of the nations in Southeast Asia using both historical and political science approaches. Concepts related to nation such as ethnicity, state, indigenism and citizenship have also been analysed in the Southeast Asian context. Specific examples of nation-building in five major Southeast Asian countries are presented. Problems and prospects of Southeast Asia's nation-building and citizenship building in the era of globalisation are also discussed. Contents:Multi-Ethnic Society, Conflict Regulation and Nation-BuildingNation, State, Ethnicity and IndigenismNation, Citizenship and IndigenismEthnicity, Indigenism and Southeast Asia's Citizenship LawsEthnic Chinese and the Formation of Southeast Asian NationsChina's Citizenship Laws and Southeast Asian ChineseNation-Building or Citizenship-Building in Singapore?Indigenism, Islam and Nation-Building in MalaysiaEthnicity, Religion and Nation-Building in IndonesiaThe Philippines and Thailand: Ethnicity and Islam in Nation-BuildingCitizenship, Nation-State and Nation-Building in Globalizing Southeast AsiaAppendices:Ethnic and Religious Compositions of Southeast Asian CountriesCitizenship Law of Brunei DarussalamCitizenship Law of CambodiaCitizenship Law of IndonesiaCitizenship Law of LaosCitizenship Law of Malaysia (The Citizenship Section of Constitution)Citizenship Law of MyanmarCitizenship Law of the Philippines (The Citizenship Information in the Constitution)Citizenship Law of SingaporeCitizenship Law of ThailandCitizenship Law of Vietnam Readership: Undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, academics, and members of the general public who are interested in Southeast Asian politics, in particular, the topic of nation-building. Key Features:The book is written by a Southeast Asian scholar, familiar with both Asian and Western culturesThe making of Southeast Asian nations is topical as many nations, including Singapore, are celebrating their “nationhood”The discussion on citizenship is based on the Citizenship Laws of the Southeast Asian statesKeywords:Nations;State;Ethnicity;Indigenism;Citizenship;Southeast AsiaReviews: “Professor Suryadinata has spent much of his life studying the modern polity called a nation. This volume brings together his thoughts on the multiple aspects of that very elusive ideal. It will provide generations of students with a useful guide through the labyrinth of the new forces at work in our region. It therefore gives me great pleasure to welcome his contributions here.” Professor Wang Gungwu