Southeast Asia in the Modern World (HIST2119)

Week 1: Introduction to Southeast Asian History

LECTURE: Introduction to Southeast Asian History

(No tutorial this week, but try to do these readings)

INTRODUCTORY READINGS

Anthony Reid, “Merdeka: The Concept of Freedom in Indonesia”, in David Kelly and Anthony Reid, eds., Asian Freedoms: The Idea of Freedom in East and Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 141-160.

In this article Reid questions the idea that freedom is a "Western value" by surveying ideas of freedom in Indonesian history.

Victor Lieberman, "Part A: Rethinking Southeast Asia: Externalist Historiography", in Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c.800-1830: Volume 1: Integration on the Mainland (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 6-15.

In this excerpt from his award-winning book, Lieberman discusses the debate within Southeast Asian (and Asian) historiography as to whether historical change is driven by "internal" or "external" factors.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Anthony Reid, A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Wiley Blackwell 2015):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/anthony-reid-a-history-of-southeast-asia-critical-crossroads-wiley-blackwell-2015

Further Reading

Ian Mabbett, “Buddhism and Freedom”, in David Kelly and Anthony Reid, eds., Asian Freedoms: The Idea of Freedom in East and Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 19-36.

Anthony Reid, “Introduction: Slavery and Bondage in Southeast Asian History”, in Anthony Reid, ed., Slavery, Bondage and Dependency in Southeast Asia, (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1983), pp.1-43.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 2: Southeast Asia before Colonial Rule

LECTURE: Southeast Asia before Colonial Rule

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

What is the famous Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer trying to say in this excerpt below? How influential do you think religious and cultural traditions and “feudal” institutions have been on Southeast Asian political culture? According to Heine-Gelden, how did Hindu-Buddhist cosmology influence premodern Southeast Asian state and society? What do you think was the place of the individual in this cosmology? What was the Vietnamese anti-colonial reformer Phan Chau Trinh's view of monarchy in French Indochina? What was his view of democracy?

REQUIRED READINGS

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Bumi Manusia [This Earth of Mankind] trans. Max Lane (Penguin, 1996), pp. 120-26.

Robert Heine-Gelden, “Conceptions of State and Kingship in Southeast Asia”, The Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Nov. 1942), pp. 15-30.

Benedict Anderson, “The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture”, in Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990), pp. 17-38.

“Monarchy and Democracy”, Phan Chau Trinh and his Political Writings, Vinh Sinh eds., and trans. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009), pp. 125-139..

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017).

https://newbooksnetwork.com/chris-baker-and-pasuk-pongpaichit-a-history-of-ayutthaya-siam-in-the-early-modern-world-cambridge-up-2017

Further Reading

G. Coedes, “Conclusion” in The Making of South East Asia trans. H. M. Wright (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966), pp. 218-230.

Clifford Geertz, Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980).

Patrick Jory, Thailand's Theory of Monarchy: The Vessantara Jataka and the Idea of the Perfect Man (New York: SUNY Press, 2016).

Ian Kershaw, Monarchy in Southeast Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transformation (London and New York: Routledge, 2001).

Anthony Crothers Milner, Kerajaan: Malay Political Culture on the Eve of Colonial Rule (Tucson, AZ: Association for Asian Studies by the University of Arizona Press, 1982).

O. W. Wolters, History, Culture, and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives (Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 1984). [See Google Books http://www.google.com/books]

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 3: The Making of the Colonial States and Decline of the Aristocratic Order

LECTURE: The Making of the Colonial States and Decline of the Aristocratic Order

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

How was Southeast Asia colonized by the Western colonial powers? What effect did Western colonization have on Southeast Asian societies? How did the Western colonial states that formed in the late nineteenth century differ from the former Southeast Asian kingdoms? What did Furnivall mean by a "plural society" in colonial Southeast Asia? What happened to the traditional Southeast Asian rulers (eg. kings, "emperors", sultans, rajas, the aristocracy and nobility) under European colonial rule? What were Ho Chi Minh's criticisms of French colonial rule in Vietnam? How did communist and nationalist critiques of colonial rule differ?

REQUIRED READINGS

Excerpts from Ho Chi Minh: Selected Articles and Speeches, 1920-1967 (London: Lawrence and Wishart Ltd. 1969), pp. 13-17.

Norman Owen, ed., The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2005), pp. 204-21.

John S. Furnivall, Colonial policy and practice: a comparative study of Burma and Netherlands India (New York: New York University Press, 1948), pp. 297-313.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Chris Goscha: Vietnam: a New History (Basic Books, 2016)

https://newbooksnetwork.com/christopher-goscha-vietnam-a-new-history-basic-books-2016

Alicia Turner, Laurence Cox, and Brian Bocking, The Irish Buddhist: The Forgotten Monk Who Faced Down the British Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020): 

https://newbooksnetwork.com/alicia-turner-the-irish-buddhist-the-forgotten-monk-who-faced-down-the-british-empire-oxford-up-2020

Further Reading

Clive Christie, “Colonial Rule and Southeast Asian Responses” in Ideology and Revolution in Southeast Asia: 1900-1980: Political Ideas of the Anti-Colonial Era (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon 2001), pp. 6-23.

John S. Furnivall, The Fashioning of Leviathan: the Beginnings of British Rule in Burma, edited by Gehan Wijeyewardene (Canberra: Economic History of Southeast Asia Project and Thai-Yunnan Project, 1991, originally published 1939).

Sally Francis Low, Colonial Law Making: Cambodia under the French (Singapore: NUS Press and ASAA, 2023).

The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume Two, Part One, From c. 1800 to the 1930s (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 1-189.

Nicholas Tarling, Imperialism in Southeast Asia: a Fleeting Passing Phase (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 3-18.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 4: Nationalism, World War II, the Japanese Invasion, and the Collapse of Colonial Rule

LECTURE: Nationalism, World War II, the Japanese Invasion, and the Collapse of Colonial Rule

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

In what ways was Southeast Asian nationalism a product of the colonial era? What was the social background of the leading nationalists (both politicians and intellectuals) in Southeast Asia? Discuss the different anti-colonial movements in Southeast Asia in the 1920s-40s. In the excerpts below, how would you describe the political views of Southeast Asian nationalist leaders in the late colonial era? How important was Japan's invasion and occupation of Southeast Asia during the Pacific War in ending European colonial rule? Why did colonial rule in Southeast Asia collapse so quickly?

REQUIRED READINGS

Mohammad Hatta, “Colonial Society and the Ideal of Social Democracy (1956)”, in Herbert Feith and Lance Castles, eds., Indonesian Political Thinking: 1945-1965 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1970), pp. 32-40.

Ho Chi Minh, “Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam”, in Ho Chi Minh, On Revolution: Selected Writings, ed. Bernard B. Fall, (New York and London: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967), excerpts.

“Translation of the Dobama Song” The Dobama Movement in Burma (1930-1938) (Ithaca: Cornell Southeast Asia Program, 1988), p. 9.

Aung San of Burma, compiled and edited by Maung Maung (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1962), excerpts, pp. 123-41.

Anthony Reid, “Understanding Southeast Asian Nationalisms”, in Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 25-48.

Further Reading

Anderson, Benedict R. O’G., Imagined Communities: Reflections of the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed., (London and New York: Verso, 1991).

Clive Christie, “Southeast Asian Nationalism before the Second World War: the Ideological Foundations”, in Ideology and Revolution in Southeast Asia: 1900-1980: Political Ideas of the Anti-Colonial Era (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon 2001), pp. 45-72.

Ken'ichi Goto, Tensions of Empire: Japan and Southeast Asia in the Colonial and Postcolonial World (Singapore: NUS Press and Ohio University Press, 2003).

Reynaldo Clemena Ileto, “Towards a History from Below” in Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 (Loyola Heights, Quezon City: University of Ateneo Press, 2003/1979), pp. 1-28. [See Google Books http://www.google.com/books]

Paul Kratoska, The Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore 1941-45: A Social and Economic History (Singapore: NUS Press, 2018).

Nicholas Tarling, Nations and States in Southeast Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

“Revolution and Decolonization in the Cold War, 1948-1957”, in Nicholas Tarling ed., The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia Volume II, Part Two: from World War Two to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 33-55.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 5: Southeast Asia in the Cold War I: Communism and the Indochina Wars

LECTURE: Southeast Asia in the Cold War I: Communism and the Indochina Wars

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Why was communism appealing to many Southeast Asians between the 1930s and the 1980s? What was the theory of the "semi-colonial, semi-feudal society"? Where did it come from? How accurately do you think it described Southeast Asia at this time? How did Southeast Asian intellectuals on the Left understand communism as "democratic"? Why were communist movements crushed in some nations, but successful in seizing power in others? Was the Vietnam War an anti-colonial struggle, a civil war, or a Cold War conflict? Explain the reasons for the rise to power of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

REQUIRED READINGS

Aidit, “A Semifeudal and Semicolonial Society”, in Herbert Feith and Lance Castles, eds., Indonesian Political Thinking: 1945-1965 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970), pp. 247-51.

Ho Chi Minh, excerpts, in Allan W. Cameron, eds., Vietnam Crisis: a Documentary History, Vol. I: 1940-1956 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1971), pp. 158ff.

Jit Phumisak, “The Real Face of Thai Feudalism Today”, in Craig J. Reynolds, Thai Radical Discourse: The Real Face of Thai Feudalism Today (Ithaca, 1987), pp. 435-437.

Clive Christie, “The Cold War and the Ideological Foundations of Non-Alignment” in Clive Christie, Ideology and Revolution in Southeast Asia: 1900-1980: Political Ideas of the Anti-Colonial Era (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon 2001), pp. 124-37.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Shawn McHale, The First Vietnam War: Sovereignty and the Fracture of the South, 1945–1956 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2021)

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-first-vietnam-war

Olga Dror, Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965-1975 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018)

https://newbooksnetwork.com/making-two-vietnams

Chris Goscha, The Road to Dien Bien Phu: A History of the First War for Vietnam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022)

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-road-to-dien-bien-phu

Further Reading

Mark T. Berger, "Decolonisation, Modernisation and Nation-building: Political Development Theory and the Appeal of Communism in Southeast Asia, 1945-1975" in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Volume 34, Issue 3 (Oct 2003): 421 – 448.

Somsak Jeamteerasakul, The Communist Movement in Thailand (Clayton, Vic.: Monash University, 2003).

Bertil Lintner, The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) (Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1990).

Peter Lowe, Contending with Nationalism and Communism: British Policy Towards Southeast Asia, 1945-65 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Ruth Thomas McVey, The Rise of Indonesian Communism (Ithaca N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1965).

Nicholas Tarling, ed., The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia Volume II, Part Two: from World War Two to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 192-97; 268-283.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 6: Southeast Asia in the Cold War II: Anti-Communism and Military Ascendancy

LECTURE: Southeast Asia in the Cold War II: Anti-Communism and Military Ascendancy

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Why did democratic governments in Southeast Asia fail in the post-independence period? Why was the military so politically dominant in Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, South Vietnam, and the Philippines during the Cold War period? Describe the political thinking of military leaders in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. Explain the rise of anti-communism in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. Was the Republic of Vietnam ('South Vietnam') ever a viable state? Explain the conditions that culminated in the massacre of up to one million suspected communists in Indonesia in 1965-66 and the military takeover of Indonesia. What does Hyun mean by her argument to "indigenize the Cold War"?

REQUIRED READINGS

Zulkifli Lubis, “Militarism and Civilianism”, in Herbert Feith and Lance Castles, eds., Indonesian Political Thinking: 1945-1965 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970), pp. 420-425.

Soeharto, “Pancasila Democracy”, in David Bourchier and Vedi Hadiz, eds., Indonesian Politics and Society: A Reader (London and New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 37-41.

Abdulkadir Besar, “The Family State” in David Bourchier and Vedi Hadiz, eds., Indonesian Politics and Society: A Reader (London and New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 41-43.

M. C. Ricklefs., et al., A New History of Southeast Asia (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 367-77.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Jess Melvin, The Army and the Indonesian Genocide: Mechanics of Mass Murder (Routledge 2018):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/jess-melvin-the-army-and-the-indonesian-genocide-mechanics-of-mass-murder-routledge-2018

Nu-Anh Tran, Disunion: Anticommunist Nationalism and the Making of the Republic of Vietnam (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2022).

https://newbooksnetwork.com/disunion

Sinae Hyun, Indigenizing the Cold War: The Border Patrol Police and Nation-Building in Thailand (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2023).

https://newbooksnetwork.com/indigenizing-the-cold-war

Further Reading

H. Feith, The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia (Ithaca, N.Y.; London: Cornell University Press, 1962).

Fred Warren Riggs, Thailand: The Modernization of a Bureaucratic Polity (Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1966).

Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia In The 1990s (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1994).

Nicholas Tarling, Southeast Asia: a Modern History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 442-474.

Robert Taylor, The State in Burma (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987).

Nu-Anh Tran, Disunion: Anticommunist Nationalism and the Making of the Republic of Vietnam (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2022).

Thak Chaloemtiarana, Thailand: the Politics of Despotic Paternalism (Ithaca, N.Y. : Southeast Asia Program Publications, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 2007).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 7: Historiography, Methodology, and Theory in Southeast Asian History

LECTURE: Historiography, Methodology, and Theory in Southeast Asian History

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Discuss precolonial forms of indigenous Southeast Asian writing about the past. Can we call these works 'history'? What are the main features of colonial historiography? What was Van Leur's criticism of colonial historiography? What did Smail mean by 'autonomous history'? Discuss the origins of 'Area Studies'. What is its method? How does it differ from colonial historiography? Discuss the influence of nationalism and Marxism on Southeast Asian historiography. How has Western theory impacted upon Southeast Asian history writing? Does social science theory derived from Western historical experience distort the Southeast Asian historical reality?

REQUIRED READINGS

John R. W. Smail, "On the Possibility of an Autonomous History of Modern Southeast Asia", in Laurie Sears, ed., Autonomous Histories, Particular Truths: Essays in Honour of John Smail (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1993), pp. 39-70.

Patrick Jory, 'Thai Historical Writing', The Oxford History of Historical Writing, Vol. 5 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 539-558.

Further Reading

Robert Cribb, "Circles of Esteem, Standard Works, and Euphoric Couplets", Critical Asian Studies, 37:2 (2005): 289 - 304.

M. C. Ricklefs, "Preface", in M. C. Ricklefs et al., A New History of Southeast Asia (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. viii-xi.

Anthony Reid, "Preface", in Anthony Reid, A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), pp. xvii-xxi.

Laurie Sears, "The Contingency of Autonomous History", in Laurie Sears, ed., Autonomous Histories, Particular Truths: Essays in Honour of John Smail (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1993), pp. 3-35.

J. C. Van Leur, Indonesian Trade and Society: Essays in Asian Social and Economic History (The Hague: W. Van Hoeve 1955).

Yang Ruixin, "The Transformation of South East Asian Studies in China: Sinocentric and Desinocentric Paradigms", South East Asia Research Vol. 31, 2 (2023): 179-95.

Yu Insun, "Studies of Southeast Asian History in Contemporary Japan: The 1990s and 2000s", in Park Seung Woo and Victor King, eds,. The Historical Construction of Southeast Asian Studies, Korea and Beyond  (Singapore: ISEAS, 2013), pp. 73-111

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 8: Building Nation-States and the Issue of Ethnic Diversity

LECTURE: Building Nation-States and the Issue of Ethnic Diversity

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

What is ethno-nationalism? Why has it been such a problem for so many Southeast Asian nation-states in the period following independence? What did Clifford Geertz mean by the terms "integrative revolution" and "primordial sentiments"? Were ethnic separatist movements in Aceh, West Papua, East Timor, southern Thailand, southern Philippines, or Myanmar justified? Discuss the political ideology of the ethnic separatists in the post-independence era. How have Southeast Asian states attempted to integrate ethnic minorities? How successful have they been?

REQUIRED READINGS

“If Only I Were Free”, in David Bourchier and Vedi Hadiz, eds., Indonesian Politics and Society: A Reader (London and New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 265-69.

“The Karen Memorial”; “The Montagnard Declaration”; “Declaration of the Independence of the South Moluccas”; “Manifesto of the Atjeh Rebels”; and Patani Petition” in Clive J. Christie, A Modern History of Southeast Asia: Decolonization, Nationalism and Separatism (London & New York: I.B. Tauris, 2000), pp. 224-28.

Ibrahim Syukri, History of the Malay Kingdom of Patani ("Sejarah Kerajaan Melayu Patani"), translated by Conner Bailey and John N. Miksic (Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 2005), pp. 94-101.

Clifford Geertz, "The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New States," in Clifford Geertz, ed. The Interpretation of Cultures (London: Hutchinson, 1975), pp. 255-289.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Ruth Streicher, Uneasy Military Encounters: The Imperial Politics of Counterinsurgency in Southern Thailand (Cornell UP: 2020):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/search?+q=Streicher

Further Reading

David Brown, ‘The Ethnocratic State and Ethnic Separatism in Burma,’ in The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. (London: Routledge, 1995), pp. 33-65.

Wan Kadir Che Man, Muslim Separatism: THe Moros in Southern Philippines and the Malays in Southern Thailand  (SIngapore: Oxford University Press, 1990).

John Furnivall, “The Plural Society” in Colonial Policy and Practice: A Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India (New York, New York University Press, 1956), pp. 305-312.

Duncan McCargo, Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand (Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 2012).

Anthony Reid, “Conflicting Histories: Aceh and Indonesia” in Anthony Reid, An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and Other Histories of Sumatra (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2005).

Martin Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity, 2nd ed. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999).

Tim Kell, The Roots of Acehnese Rebellion, 1989-1992 (Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, 1995).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

EASTER + MID-SEMESTER BREAK: 18th -25th April

NO LECTURE OR TUTORIAL THIS WEEK

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 9: The Ethnic Chinese and Southeast Asia's Capitalist Transformation

LECTURE: The Ethnic Chinese and Southeast Asia's Capitalist Transformation

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Why did King Vajiravudh (r. 1910-25) refer to the ethnic Chinese as "the Jews of the East"? Describe the position of the ethnic Chinese in the colonial societies of Southeast Asia. How did the rise of Chinese nationalism in the early twentieth century affect the position of the Southeast Asian Chinese? How did independence in Southeast Asia and the victory of the communists in China in 1949 change the position of the Southeast Asian Chinese? What role did the ethnic Chinese play in Southeast Asia's economic transformation since the 1960s? Discuss the relationship between the ethnic Chinese and Southeast Asian political regimes. Discuss the different degrees of social integration of the ethnic Chinese in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. How has the relationship between the Southeast Asian Chinese and the People's Republic of China changed since Chin's 'Reform and Opening Up' period to the present? 

REQUIRED READINGS

Wang Gungwu, “Chinese in Southeast Asia” in Southeast Asia: a Historical Encyclopaedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Ooi Keat Gun (Santa Barbara CA: ABC Clio, 2004), pp. 344-348. 

Jamie Mackie, “Introduction” in Anthony Reid, ed., Sojourners and Settlers: Histories of Southeast Asia and the Chinese: in Honour of Jennifer Cushman (St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1996), pp. xvii-xxx.

Benedict Anderson, “Sauve Qui Peut”, in The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism: Southeast Asia and the World (Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 2004), pp. 299-317.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Wasana Wongsurawat, The Crown and the Capitalists: The Ethnic Chinese and the Founding of the Thai Nation (Seattle: University of Washington Press: 2019): https://newbooksnetwork.com/wasana-wongsurawat-the-crown-and-the-capitalists-the-ethnic-chinese-and-the-founding-of-the-thai-nation-u-washington-press-2019

Wang Gungwu, Home Is Not Here (Singapore: NUS Press, 2018):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/wang-gungwu-home-is-not-here-nus-press-2018

Further Reading

Edmund Terence Gomez and Xinhuang Xiao, Chinese Business in Southeast Asia: Contesting Cultural Explanations, Researching Entrepreneurship (New York; London: RoutledgeCurzon 2004).

Chee Kiong Tong, Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia: Racializing Chineseness (Dordrecht: Springer, 2010). Available online.

K. S. Jomo and Brian C Folk, Ethnic Business: Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia (New York: Routledge, 2003).

P. A. Mathew, "In Search of El Dorado: Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia" China Report, Vol. 48, 3 (2012 ): 351-364. Available online

Victor Purcell, The Chinese in Southeast Asia (London: Oxford University Press, 1965).

Anthony Reid, Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) Available online.

Wang Gungwu, The Chinese Overseas: from Earthbound China to the Quest for Autonomy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2000).

……………….., and Jennifer W. Cushman, Changing identities of the Southeast Asian Chinese since World War II (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press,1988).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 10: Gender Relations in Southeast Asian History and the Impact of Modernization

LECTURE: Gender Relations in Southeast Asian History and the Impact of Modernization

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Describe the social and economic status of women in early modern Southeast Asian states. How did it differ from East Asian, South Asian and European societies in the early modern period? How influential were the various religions in defining gender status? How did European colonization affect gender relations in Southeast Asia? How has the rise of new institutions such as bureaucracies, political parties, the military, the mass education system, etc. impacted on the status of women in Southeast Asia? How did socialists view the role of women? How has rapid economic development since the 1960s changed relations between men and women? Discuss the social position of gay and lesbian men and women and transgender people in Southeast Asia, in both precolonial and contemporary Southeast Asian societies.

REQUIRED READINGS

Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680, Volume One: The Lands below the Winds (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988), pp. 146-72.

Daw Mya Sein, "Towards Independence in Burma: The Role of Women", Asian Affairs 3, 3 (1972): 288-99.

Jessica Harriden, The Authority of Influence: Women and Power in Burmese History (Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press, 2012), pp. 174-205.

Nguyen-vo Thu-huong, The Ironies of Freedom: Sex, Culture, and Neoliberal Governance in Vietnam (Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 2008), pp. 3-24. [Available via Google Books]

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Thomas Baudinette, Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture (Bloomsbury Publishing 2023).

https://newbooksnetwork.com/boys-love-media-in-thailand

Further Reading

Barbara Watson Andaya, The Flaming Womb: Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006).

Scot Barme, Woman, Man, Bangkok: Love, Sex, and Popular Culture in Thailand (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books: 2002).

Thomas Baudinette, Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture (Bloomsbury Publishing 2023).

Joost Coté, trans. & ed., Kartini: The Complete Writings, 1898-1904 (Clayton, Vic.: Monash Asia Series, 2014). Open Access: https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/monograph/_/14429024

Penny Esterik, ed. Women of Southeast Asia (De Kalb IL: Northern Illinois University, 1996).

Hildred Geertz, The Javanese Family: A Study of Kinship and Socialization (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989).

Peter Jackson, and Gerard Sullivan, Lady Boys, Tom Boys, Rent Boys: Male and Female Homosexualities in Contemporary Thailand (New York: Haworth Press, 1999).

Trude Jakobsen, Sex Trafficking in Southeast Asia: A History of Desire, Duty, and Debt (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge 2017).

Dede Oetomo and Tom Boellstorff, "Afterword: Reflections on Sexual Rights, Politics, and Sexuality Studies in Indonesia", in Linda Rae Bennet and Sharyn Graham Davies, Sex and Sexualities in Contemporary Indonesia: Sexual Politics, Health, Diversity and Representations (Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, 2015), pp. 307-17

Michael Peletz, “Gender Pluralism and Transgender Practices in Early Modern Times,” in Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia since Early Modern Times (New York: Routledge, 2009): 20-83. [Ebook: access via UQ Library]

Annie Pohlman, Women, Sexual Violence and the Indonesian Killings of 1965-66 (London: Routledge, 2014).

Shawna Tan and Hendri Yulius Wijaya, eds. Queer Southeast Asia (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge 2023).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 11: Islam in Southeast Asia: History, Modernity, and Democratization

LECTURE: Islam in Southeast Asia: History, Modernity, and Democratization

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Does Islam in Southeast Asia have a distinctive character? Discuss the historical tensions between "traditionalist" and "modernist" Islam in Muslim societies in Southeast Asia in the twentieth century. Discuss the relationship between Islam and nationalism in the late-colonial and post-independence periods. How did Indonesia's New Order military regime deal with Islamist political movements? According to Hefner, what are the reasons for the "Islamic revival" in the Muslim-majority regions of Southeast Asia? How is it related to democratization? How can we explain the "conservative turn" in Southeast Asian Islam over the last three-four decades? How dependent are political and religious trends among Southeast Asia’s Muslims on events in the Middle East? How does Reid explain the rise of "puritan Islam" in modern Southeast Asia? Is he right?

REQUIRED READINGS

Nurcholish Madjid, “Islam yes, Islamic parties no!”; H.M.S. Mintaredja, “Development Oriented Islam”, in David Bourchier and Vedi Hadiz, eds., Indonesian Politics and Society: A Reader (London and New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 88-93.

Berjihad di Patani ["The Fight for the Liberation of Patani"], in Rohan Gunaratna et al., Conflict and Terrorism in Southern Thailand (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005), pp. 140-45.

Robert Hefner, “Democratization in an Age of Religious Revitalization”, in Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), pp. 3-20.

Anthony Reid, "Puritan Globalism" in A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Chichester: WileyBlackwell, 2015), pp. 400-405.

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

James Rush, Hamka's Great Story: A Master Writer’s Vision of Islam for Modern Indonesia (University of Wisconsin Press, 2016):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/james-r-rush-hamkas-great-story-a-master-writers-vision-of-islam-for-modern-indonesia-u-wisconsin-press-2016

Further Reading

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, “The Extensive Salafization of Malaysian Islam”, Trends in Southeast Asia, No. 9, Yusof Ishak Institute, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2016.

Kamaruzzaman Bustamam-Ahmad, Islamic Law in Southeast Asia: A Study of Its Application in Aceh and Kelantan. Chiang Mai: Silkworm, 2009.

Martin van Bruinessen, ed., Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the "Conservative Turn" (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2013), pp. 1-20.

R. E. Elson, "Two Failed Attempts to Islamize the Indonesian Constitution", Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 28 No.3 (November 2013), pp. 379-437.

Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1976).

Robert W. Hefner and Patricia Horvatich, eds., Islam in an Era of Nation-States: Politics and Religious Renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997), pp. 3-40.

Patricia A. Martinez, “The Islamic state or the state of Islam in Malaysia”, Contemporary Southeast Asia 23: 3, December 2001.

Judith Nagata, “How to be Islamic without being an Islamic State: Contested Models of Development in Malaysia”, in Akbar S. Ahmed and Donnan Hastings (eds.), Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity (London and New York: Routledge, 1999).

Farish Noor, The Malaysian Islamic Party PAS, 1951-2013: Islamism in a Mottled Nation (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2014).

P. G. Riddle, “The Diverse Voices of Political Islam in Post-Suharto Indonesia”, in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 13:1 (2002): 65-83.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 12: The Military and Monarchy Strike Back: Thailand's Conservative Turn

LECTURE: The Military and Monarchy Strike Back: Thailand's Conservative Turn

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

What were the reasons for the overthrow of Siam's absolute monarchy in 1932? How did the People's Party view the monarchy? How did the royalist conservative, Prince Dhani Nivat, justify Thailand's monarchy in the post-1932 era? What were the reasons for the restoration of the Thai monarchy during the Cold War? What is the relationship between the monarchy and the Thai military? How has Buddhism been used to justify the political dominance of the Thai monarchy? What effect has the passing of King Bhumibol (r. 1946-2016) had on the Thai monarchy? How democratic is the Thai middle class?

REQUIRED READINGS

Prince Dhani Nivat, "The Old Siamese Conception of the Monarchy", Journal of the Siam Society 36, pt. 2 (1947): 91-106.

"Announcement of the Peoples’ Party No. 1" (1932), in Pridi by Pridi: Selected Writings on Life, Politics and Economy, translated and introduced by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2000), pp. 70-72.

Patrick Jory, "Republicanism in Thai History". In Maurizio Peleggi (Ed.), A Sarong for Clio: Essays on the Intellectual and Cultural History of Thailand (Ithaca, NY United States: Cornell University Press, 2015), pp. 97-117.

Chris Baker, “The 2014 Thai Coup and Some Roots of Authoritarianism”, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2016, pp. 1-17

Further Reading

Thak Chaloemtiarana, Thailand: the Politics of Despotic Paternalism (Silkworm Books & Cornell Southeast Asia Program: Chiang Mai, 2007).

Paul Handley, The King Never Smiles: a Biography of Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006).

Soren Ivarsson and Lotte Isager, eds., Saying the Unsayable: Monarchy and Democracy in Thailand (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2010).

Roger Kershaw, "Thailand: a King for All Seasons", in Monarchy in South-East Asia: the Faces of Tradition in Transition (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 136-153.

Eugénie Mérieau, Constitutional Bricolage: Thailand’s Sacred Monarchy vs. The Rule of Law (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2022).

Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, Thaksin: the Business of Politics in Thailand (Chiang Mai, Thailand : Silkworm Books, 2004).

David Streckfuss, Truth on Trial in Thailand: Defamation, Treason and Lèse Majesté (London and New York: Routledge, 2011).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 13: China's Relations with Southeast Asia: Then and Now

LECTURE: China's Relations with Southeast Asia: Then and Now

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Discuss the relationship between Southeast Asian kingdoms and the Chinese Qing empire prior to the coming of the European colonial powers. What was the “Tributary System”? How did the rise of European power in East Asia in the nineteenth century affect the Tributary System? Discuss the PRC's relationship with newly independent Southeast Asian nations after 1949. Discuss the increasing influence of China on Southeast Asian economies, politics, and foreign relations since China's "Reform and Opening Up" at the end of the 1970s. What is the current dispute in the South China Sea really about? Is US hegemony in Southeast Asia in decline? How is US-China rivalry affecting Southeast Asian countries?

REQUIRED READINGS

Anthony Reid and Zheng Yangwen, eds., Negotiating Asymmetry: China’s Place in Asia (Singapore: NUS Press, 2009), pp. 1-25.

Amitav Acharya, “China’s Rise and Security in the Asian Century”, East Asia Forum: Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific, 6 May 2012. <http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2012/05/06/china-s-rise-and-security-in-the-asian-century/>

Hugh White, “China’s choices and ours” East Asia Forum: Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific, May 7th, 2012 <http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2012/05/07/chinas-choices-and-ours/>

PODCASTS: New Books in Southeast Asian Studies (Optional)

Sebastian Strangio, In the Dragon's Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020):

https://newbooksnetwork.com/in-the-dragons-shadow

Further Reading

Amitav Acharya, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problem of Regional Order (London, New York: Routledge, 2011).

John D. Ciorciari, The Limits of Alignment: Southeast Asia and the Great Powers since 1975 (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2010).

John King Fairbank, ed., The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968).

Takeshi Hamashita, Mark Seldon and Linda Grove, eds., China, East Asia, and the Global Economy: Regional and Historical Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2008).

Bill Hayton, "The Modern Origins of China’s South China Sea Claims: Maps, Misunderstandings, and the Maritime Geobody" Modern China, Vol. 45(2) (2019), 127–170.

Patrick Jory, "Siam as a 'Tributary State' of Imperial China and the Age of Empire", History Australia 18, 2 (2021), 302-21.

David C. Kang, East Asia before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).

Alfred W. McCoy, “The Geopolitics of American Global Decline: Washington Versus China in the Twenty-First Century”, Tom Dispatch.com, June 7, 2015.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176007/tomgram%3A_alfred_mccoy,_washington's_great_game_and_why_it's_failing_/ (1 July 2016)

Martin Stuart Fox, A Short History of China and Southeast Asia: Tribute, Trade and Influence (Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 2003).

Geoff Wade and James Chin, ed., China and Southeast Asia: Historical Interactions (London: Routledge, 2019).

Brantley Womack, China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymetry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05