• Title/Summary/Keyword: Southeast Asian Studies

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The Marma from Bangladesh: A 'de-Arakanized' Community in Chittagong Hill Tracts

  • Htin, Kyaw Minn
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.133-153
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    • 2015
  • The Rakhine (Arakanese) from present-day Rakhine State (Arakan) in Western Myanmar and the Marma from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Southeast Bangladesh originated from the same region, share the same culture and practice the same religion. However, the people from CHT have developed a distinctive identity and are individualized by a different name "Marma". This development raises a number of historical questions. This paper explores how the Arakanese descendants became "Marma" in Bangladesh.

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Regional Identity and Belonging: Timor-Leste and ASEAN

  • Hooi, Khoo Ying
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.119-140
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    • 2020
  • Emerging from Portuguese colonialism and Indonesian occupation to become one of the newest states, Timor-Leste is an interesting example of modern nation-building. Geographically, Timor-Leste is located in the area covered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In such context, Timor-Leste has a strong claim to belonging to Southeast Asia. Timor-Leste nevertheless has not yet been admitted formally as a member despite its application for membership in March 2011. This paper locates Timor-Leste in a broader context of their construction of regional identity and as part of Southeast Asia. Drawing upon the constructivist approach, this paper suggests that the complexity of Timor-Leste's regional affiliation with ASEAN is made more challenging with its quest to assert itself as a nation-in-the-making.

Southeast Asia in Japan's Spiritual Market: The Sacralization of Exoticism

  • Gaitanidis, Ioannis
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.95-119
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    • 2016
  • From the migrant care-workers arriving in Japan from the Philippines and Indonesia to support the depleted social support system for the large population of the elderly (Ogawa 2012) to the increasing number of retiring Japanese embarking on long-stay tourism in Malaysia (Ono 2015), the Japanese image of Southeast Asia as an exotic destination offering cheap labor in return for official development assistance seems to be fading away. Yet these changes are not necessarily reflected in the way contemporary Japanese, especially those who belong to the global, "spiritual-but not-religious" (Fuller 2001) population, think of and "consume" Southeast Asia in their daily lives. Using three case-studies, spiritual tours, Thai massage, and an NGO founded by a Japanese spiritual therapist, this paper argues that in Japan's large spiritual market, which targets people seeking alternative ways to express their religiosity, the old-fashioned colonial exoticism of Southeast Asian narratives were integrated in a totalizing discourse, in which Japan remains the exceptional outlier (Tanaka 1993), a country still claimed to be "advanced" both spiritually and economically.

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The decentralized Austronesian polity: Of Mandalas, Negaras, Galactics, and the South Sulawesi Kingdoms

  • Druce, Stephen C.
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.7-34
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    • 2017
  • Various models have been presented to describe early Southeast Asian political formations that draw on both indigenous and imported Indic ideas. The most influential of these are the "Mandala" (Wolters 1968, 1982, 1999), "Galactic" (Tambiah 1976), "Negara" (Geertz 1980), and Anderson's 1972 "The idea of power in Javanese culture." This paper represents an initial attempt to compare the salient features of these models with historical and archaeological data from South Sulawesi where, exceptionally and importantly, societies developed independently of Indic ideas. South Sulawesi is unique in being the only region of maritime Southeast Asia where there are sufficient written and oral sources, often substantiated by archaeological data, to document the social evolution of its society from scattered, economically self-sufficient communities with ranked lineages practicing swidden agriculture to large political units (kingdoms) constructed around indigenous cultural and political concepts with economies based on wet-rice agriculture. This wealth of data provides us with a much more detailed picture of the emergence, development and support structures of early kingdoms than found in the models, which makes South Sulawesi of fundamental importance in understanding the social and economic evolution of pre-Indic influenced Austronesian societies in Maritime Southeast Asia.

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Transnational Labor Migration in Southeast Asia and Regional Governance: In Search of Good Governance (동남아시아의 이주노동과 지역 거버넌스)

  • Choi, Horim
    • The Southeast Asian review
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.135-178
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    • 2010
  • This study is to seek alternatives for regional governance related to transnational labor migration issues in Southeast Asia. This study examined the present situation and trends of labor migration in the region, reviewed involved transnational issues, and identified the current issues of governance to seek alternatives for regional governance. The increase in cross-border labor migration is no doubt a sign of growth and dynamism of the region and greater integration of their economies. But it also poses complex policy and management issues as well as transnational issues over such as unequal economic profits, illegal migration, human rights, and social security issues. In this reality, regional governance is a very important theme and the efforts to manage their migration inherently involve fundamental conflict and tension between related countries and regions. However, politics and governance of transnational migrant workers in Southeast Asia are still pursued at the national level. To resolve these issues, it is urgently required to secure not only collaboration between the parties concerned but also governance at the regional level. Findings of this study are: First, although labor migration has been a relatively long-time transnational issue, the history of addressing the issue at the regional governance is very short and still inceptive. Second, given its size, labor migration in Southeast Asia requires effective regional governance but no breakthrough was possible due to the conflict of interests between origin and destination countries and the conflict of logic between the labor market and the state. Third, the issue of labor migration is an important element for the formation of economic and socio-cultural communities the ASEAN countries have pursued. Fourth, it is urgently needed to seek alternatives for good and effective regional governance as a key to resolving these issues over migrant workers in Southeast Asia.

The Relation between the Use of Modern Burmese Prose as the Standard Language and Nation-Building in British Burma (식민시기 버마어 산문의 대중화와 버마 민족 형성의 상관성)

  • Myo, Oo
    • The Southeast Asian review
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.239-267
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    • 2012
  • 이 논문은 근대 민족국가 형성과 민족 공용어의 창출의 상관성을 염두에 두고 식민지기 버마에서 버마어가 어떠한 정치적, 사회적 환경 하에서 어떻게 공용어의 지위를 획득해나갔는지에 대해 주로 버마어 산문의 대중화라는 각도에서 분석한 것이다. 베네딕트 앤더슨의 연구가 시사하는 것처럼 근대적 인쇄매체의 출현과 더불어 근대 버마어의 등장 및 대중화는 버마의 근대적 민족 형성에 큰 영향을 미쳤다. 제1차 영국-버마 전쟁 종결 후, 정치, 사회, 경제적 상황 변화와 함께 인쇄산업의 발달과 더불어 버마어는 대중매체에서 공용어로서의 지위를 획득해갔다. 식민시기에 버마 내 여러 지역에 어학원이 설립되었고 버마인이 어학교육 담당자로 고용되었다. 1930년대 초반에 근대 버마어 산문이 많은 저자들에 의해 집필되었으며, 1930년대 후반에 들어서서 독자들 사이에서 널리 읽히는 호황을 누렸다. 일본군 점령 후에는 일본군 당국의 허가 하에 버마어는 제2차 세계대전 중에 공식적 언어로서 인정되었다. 이러한 바탕 위에 근대 버마어는 1947년 헌법에 버마의 공식 언어로 명기되었다. 이러한 과정에 대한 분석을 통해 이 논문에서는 버마어가 식민지기에 표준어로서의 지위를 획득하고 그 버마어로 작성된 근대 버마어 산문의 사용이 버마의 민족 형성과정에서 결정적인 역할을 하였다는 점을 부각시켰다.

From Zomia to Holon: Rivers and Transregional Flows in Mainland Southeastern Asia, 1840-1950

  • Iqbal, Iftekhar
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.141-155
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    • 2020
  • How might historians secure for the river a larger berth in the recent macro-historical turn? This question cannot find a greater niche than in the emerging critique of the existing spatial configuration of regionalism in mainland Southeastern Asia. The Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong and Yangtze rivers spread out like a necklace around Yunnan and cut across parts of the territories that are known as South, Southeast and East Asia. Each of these rivers has a different topography and fluvial itinerary, giving rise to different political, economic and cultural trajectories. Yet these rivers together form a connected "water-world". These rivers engendered conversations between multi-agentive mobility and large-scale place-making and were at the heart of inter-Asian engagements and integration until the formal end of the European empires. Being both a subject and a sponsor of transregional crossings, the paper argues, these rivers point to the need for a new historical approach that registers the connections between parts of the Southeast Asian massif through to the expansive plain land and the vast coastal rim of the Bay of Bengal and the China Seas. A connection that could be framed through the concept of Holon.

A policy analysis of nuclear safety culture and security culture in East Asia: Examining best practices and challenges

  • Trajano, Julius Cesar Imperial
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.6
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    • pp.1696-1707
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    • 2019
  • This paper conducts a qualitative policy analysis of current challenges to safety culture and security culture in Southeast Asia and emerging best practices in Northeast Asia that are aimed at strengthening both cultures. It analyses lessons, including strengths and limitations, that can be derived from Northeast Asian states, given the long history of nuclear energy in South Korea, China and Japan. It identifies and examines best practices from Northeast Asia's Nuclear Security Centres of Excellence in terms of boosting nuclear security culture and their relevance for Southeast Asia. The paper accentuates the important role of the State in adopting policy and regulatory frameworks and in institutionalising nuclear education and training programmes to deepen the safety-security cultures. Best practices in and challenges to developing a nuclear safety culture and a security culture in East Asia are examined using three frameworks of analysis (i) a comprehensive nuclear policy framework; (ii) a proactive and independent regulatory body; and (iii) holistic nuclear education and training programmes. The paper argues that Southeast Asian states interested in harnessing nuclear energy and/or utilising radioactive sources for non-power applications must develop a comprehensive policy framework on developing safety and security cultures, a proactive regulatory body, and holistic nuclear training programmes that cover both technical and human factors. Such measures are crucial in order to mitigate human errors that may lead to radiological accidents and nuclear security crises. Key lessons from Japan, South Korea and China such as best practices and challenges can inform policy recommendations for Southeast Asia in enhancing safety-security cultures.

Indigenization of Global Trade Negotiation Model: Perspective from Southeast Asia

  • Fathana, Hangga;Sutrisno, Nandang;Herdianto, Enggar Furi;Fauzi, Hilman
    • SUVANNABHUMI
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.251-268
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    • 2022
  • Over the last few decades, global trade activities showed a significant increase, resulting in a rise of the wider global economic growth. The achievement is partly due to the more integrated global trade system under global trade regime such as World Trade Organization (WTO) that standardized the practice of global trade. On the other hand, it could also be seen that regional trade negotiation became more important part of global trade activity. The trade negotiation itself was pushed and tailored by regional perspective, which indigenized trade agreement. This research aims to analyze the indigenization of ASEAN's trade negotiation model. How has the current trade negotiation model within the region represented indigenous needs and aspirations? This study also offers to revisit the conceptual framework in identifying the trade negotiation model to measure the indigeneity of Southeast Asian automotive industry's policy. This research concludes by explaining the case studies which measure the effect of indigenization to the practice of trade agreement in the region.