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Southeast Asia is one of the world's most diverse and complex regions. At times it has been a beacon of hope for the developing world, at other times it has been synonymous with insecurity and economic failure. The second edition of this popular and critically acclaimed text has been extensively revised throughout and provides up-to-date coverage of the forces and dynamics that are shaping the region at both the national and regional level.
Contemporary Southeast Asia contains specially commissioned chapters – including seven which are entirely new to this edition – from leading area specialists. Carefully edited to ensure systematic coverage of key areas, it provides an accessible and thematically-structured comparative introduction to Southeast Asia and its distinctive patterns of strategic, political, economic and social organisation.
List of contents
1. Introduction: The continuing evolution of Southeast Asia; Alice D. Ba & Mark Beeson
2. Southeast Asia: Historical Context; Robert Cribb
3. Nationalism and Ethnicity; Claire Sutherland
4. Public Administration in the Age of 'Good Governance'; Scott Fritzen
5. The Political Economy of Southeast Asia; Greg Felker
6. Varieties of Authoritarianism and the Limits of Democracy in Southeast Asia; Aim Sinpeng & Aries Arugay
7. Culture as a Perspective on Southeast Asian Politics and International Relations; Alan Chong
8. Islam and Politics in Contemporary Southeast Asia; Eunsook Jung
9. Regionalism and Southeast Asia; Matt Davies
10. The Environment in Southeast Asia: Injustice, Conflict and Activism; Adam Simpson
11. Labour Migration in Southeast Asia: In Search of Regional Governance; Stefan Rother
12. Transnational Civil Society, the Market and Governance in Reform in Southeast Asia; Helen Nesadurai
13. Security in Southeast Asia; Andrew Tan
14. Southeast Asia and China: Engagement and Constrainment; Alice D. Ba & Cheng-Chwee Kuik
15. Japan and Southeast Asia; Hidetaka Yoshimatsu
16. The United States and Southeast Asia; David Capie
17. Looking Ahead; Alice D. Ba & Mark Beeson
About the author
Alice D. Ba is Associate Professor in Political Science and International Relations, University of Delaware, USA.Mark Beeson is Professor of International Politics at the University of Western Australia, Australia.
Summary
At the epicenter of the world’s most dynamic economic continent, Southeast Asia provides a window into some of the most important contemporary global developments in politics, and plays a crucial role in determining the wider region’s future. The 3rd edition of this highly-acclaimed text provides a comprehensive analysis of Southeast Asia’s remarkable variety of political systems, cultures and traditions, which are without exception all undergoing a variety of major changes. Written by a team of leading experts on Southeast Asia, this volume provides an accessible introduction to a region being buffeted by profound internal social transformation and great power confrontation, as well as the continuing challenges of economic development and environmental management.
Comprehensive in its analysis and ambitious in scope, this book will be the perfect introduction for students interested in the culture, politics, economy and society of the nations of Southeast Asia.
Additional text
An engaging, carefully curated, and timely text featuring a new generation of Southeast Asian scholars. Multi-disciplinary, eclectic in topics and theoretical starting points, written in fresh and accessible prose, it is an excellent resource for students looking to advance their thinking about a complex and diverse region, which is both important in its own right as well as increasingly pivotal in a fast-changing global order.
