140360 SE VM1 / VM6 - Southeast Asian States and Societies (2018S)

We will explore these intriguing questions and more in this introductory module to 'Southeast Asia
States and Societies'. You are not expected to have taken any university-level modules on the
region beforehand, but a general familiarity will be beneficial. The module’s main objective is to
build a historically grounded and politically informed understanding of the major issues and
challenges confronting countries in this region. In other words, we strive to move far beyond the
headlines and a mere chronicling of current events.
The module is organized chronologically. We move from the colonial foundations of Southeast Asia
and the pressures that led to decolonisation to the impact of the Cold War and its messy aftermath.
Yet, in so doing, key concepts in political analysis that have played big roles in the politics of
Southeast Asia are also stressed. Conceptually, these include state formation, the development of
prevalent socio-political cleavages, nationalism, communism, separatism, authoritarianism and
lastly, democratisation (both its successes and failures). In keeping with the spirit of comparative
political science, most lectures involve a key paired comparison of two countries. We will also
demonstrate how paired comparisons are changeable, given the types of questions one is pursuing.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we will concentrate on eight countries: Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. The discussion
on Brunei and Laos will be included briefly in some lectures.