Southeast Asia: Tradition And Modernity In The Contemporary World, Second Edition

Author: McCloud, Donald G
Edition: Second
Binding: Paperback
Number of Pages: 380
Release Date: 31-05-1995
EAN: 9781032032375
Package Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
Languages: English

Details:
Bridging the perceived gap between Southeast Asia's historical and contemporary situations, Donald McCloud focuses on the continuities in the region's internal dynamics as well as its relationship with the greater global environment. The author challenges the widely held views that diversity and fragmentation are the hallmarks of the region, identifying instead the commonalities that have bound the countries of Southeast Asia together for at least two millennia, forming the basis for a unique regional dynamic.

It has only been since World War II that Southeast Asians, long influenced by the global environment, have begun to define and develop their own institutions, social structures, and communities. Rejecting inadequate and unadaptable Western institutions, they have started creating structures that better align with their historical experiences. In the political sphere, many of these new structures initially seemed like straightforward military dictatorships. However, time has shown them to be more complex, with many unique organizational practices that may lead to more open political systems—if not democracies by strict Western definitions.

With the expansion of regional cooperation through ASEAN and strong economic growth, confidence among Southeast Asian states has grown. The growing references to an "Asian way" of life have given verbal expression to a surge in neotraditional values and behavior that have always been part of the fabric of Asian life but were once viewed negatively as "nonwestern." This text traces the evolution of Southeast Asia and, for the first time, focuses on the neotraditional bases for the contemporary, independent development of the region.