Windows on the World 2006
Identity and Power in Southeast Asia
Interdisciplinary Letters and Sciences 220
Windows on the World 2006
Identity and Power in Southeast Asia
223 Ingraham, 4:30 - 7 PM
This course explores issues of political dynamics in Southeast Asia
from the pre-colonial era to the present. In doing so the course breaks
the historical periods down into common themes that will help to understand
how various historical legacies continue to influence contemporary politics.
Theoretical discussions will revolve around how the theory may help
to understand the particular cases involved. Since Southeast Asia is
a very diverse region, it is impossible to cover the experiences of
all the nations in the region. Therefore, this course concentrates specifically
on Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
The first six weeks of the course concentrate on the historical themes
and emphasize the continuities and change in each respective country
as well as the similarities and differences between each country. Since
the purpose of this examination is to help in understanding the political
relationships influencing policy making in contemporary Southeast Asia,
the final two weeks will look at specific policy areas: natural resource
management and economic management. It is expected that the readings
leading up to these two weeks will help the student understand how the
solutions to these problems may require approaches that are specific
to the historic al/political context of each respective country. While
these particular policy arenas will be directly addressed in the readings,
others will be brought up in the discussions and/or through video presentations.
Although the weeks are arranged generally chronologically, the majority
of the articles have been selected according to that week’s theme.
Therefore, taken together many of the readings will not provide students
with a in-depth understanding of the way historical dynamics have unfolded
through time. To aid students who have limited knowledge about Southeast
Asian history, I have also included selections from Damien Kingsbury’s
South-East Asia: A Political Profile as one of the readings.
Although selections from this book are assigned week by week, three
chapters are grouped together at the beginning of the reader, and it
is recommended that students read each chapter from beginning to end
to get a better grasp of the way in which events have unfolded in the
respective countries.
The course will follow a lecture seminar format with time given to
both lectures for the clarification of the readings and discussions
to examine the broader issues and to compare the countries covered as
well as make comparisons outside the region. When possible, videos will
also be shown to supplement the readings and discussions.
Course Requirements and Grading
Students are required to be read and participate in discussions regarding
the reading materials and successfully complete a midterm and final
exam. Both the exams will be take-home essays with that are expected
to be roughly 8 to 10 double -spaced typed pages. Participation will
be graded not only by attendance, but also by the student’s active
participation in discussions during class.
Final course grades will be assigned according to the following weights:
Class participation - 20 percent
Midterm - 40 percent
Final - 40 percent
Readings
All the readings for this course are included in the reader available
in Law School Copy Shop. Through the course of the semester, the readings
will also be available online.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 (June 19 & 21): Pre -colonial Political Organization
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 140-5, 288-91, 345-9.
Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), pp. 120-47.
Laura Lee Junker, Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political
Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms (Honolulu: University of Hawai`i
Press, 1999), pp. 57–84, 373-86.
Charles F. Keyes, Thailand: Buddhist Kingdom As Modern Nation-State
(Boulder: Westview Press, 1987), pp. 24-42.
Damien Kingsbury, The Politics of Indonesia (New York: Oxford
University Press 2002), pp. 15-25.
Week 2 (June 26 & 28): Colonial Change
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 145-9, 291-6, 349-51.
Vicente L. Rafael, Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian
Conversion in Tagalog Society Under Early Spanish Rule (Manila:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1988), pp. 136-66.
Michael Cullinane, Ilustrado Politics: Filipino Elite Responses
to American Rule, 1898-1908 (Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 2003),
pp. 1-7, 331-43.
Heather Sutherland, The Making of a Bureaucratic Elite: The Colonial
Transformation of the Javanese Priyayi (Singapore: Asian Studies
Association of Australia, 1979), pp. 1-19, 144-64.
Chaiyan Rajchagool, The Rise and Fall of the Thai Absolute Monarchy:
Foundations of the Modern Thai State From Feudalism to Peripheral Capitalism,
(Bangkok: White Lotus, 1994), pp. 1-16, 81-111.
Week 3 (July 3 & 5): Nationalism and Early Democracy
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 149-58, 296-9, 351-8.
Paul Kratoska and Ben Baton, Nationalism and Modernist Reform, The
Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: From C. 1800 to the 1930s,
Vol. 3, Nicholas Tarling, ed. (New York: Canbridge University Press:
1999), pp. 245-72, 286-96, 299-301, 305-10, 312-4.
Benedict R. O'G Anderson, Old State, New Society: Indonesia's New Order
in Comparative Perspective, Journal of Asian Studies 42(3)
1983: 477-96.
Robin Broad and John Cavanagh, Plundering Paradise the Struggle
for the Environment in the Philippines (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1993), pp. 8-10 and Toni Leviste, Equestrian Through
the Years, Lifestyle Asia , January February 2003, pp. 67-9.
Mark R. Thompson, The Anti-Marcos Struggle: Personalistic Rule
and Democratic Transition in the Philippines (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1995), pp. 15–32.
Week 4 (July 10 & 12): Authoritarianism
Midterm handed out
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 158-62, 300-1, 303-7,
358-62.
John L. S. Girling, The Bureaucratic Polity in Modernizing Societies:
Similarities, Differences, and Prospects in the ASEAN Region (Singapore:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1981), pp. 9-44.
Patricio N. Abinales, State and Army: State Leaders, Apparatuses and
Local Strongment: The Philippine Military Under Marcos, Images of
State Power: Essays on Philippine Politics From the Margins (Quezon
City: University of the Philippines Press, 1998), pp. 100-36.
Week 5 (July 17 & 19): Ethnic Conflict and Resistance
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 162-3, 302, 310-3,
371-7.
Patricio N. Abinales, Making Mindanao: Cotabato and Davao in the
Formation of the Philippine Nation-State (Quezon City: Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 2000), pp. 155-89.
Charles F. Keyes, Cultural Diversity and National Identity in Thailand,
Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific,
Michael E. Brown and Šumit Ganguly, eds. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 1997), pp. 197-232.
R. W. Liddle, Coercion, Co-optation, and the Management of Ethnic Relations
in Indonesia, Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and
the Pacific , Michael E. Brown and Šumit Ganguly, eds. (Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press, 1997), pp. 273-320.
Week 6 (July 24 & 26): Democratization
Damien Kingsbury, South-East Asia: A Political Profile, 2nd
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 164-9, 307-18, 356-7,
363-71, 378-91.
Adam Schwarz, Introduction: The Politics of Post-Suharto Indonesia,
The Politics of Post-Suharto Indonesia, Adam Schwarz and Jonathan
Paris, eds. (New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999), pp.
1-15.
John T. Sidel, Philippine Politics in Town, District, and Province:
Bossism in Cavite and Cebu. Journal of Asian Studies 56(4)
1997: 947-66.
Ruth McVey, Of Greed and Violence, and Other Signs of Progress, Money
and Power in Provincial Thailand, Ruth McVey, ed. (Honolulu: University
of Hawai'i Press, 2000). pp. 1-29.
John T. Sidel, Siam and Its Twin? Democratization and Bossism in Contemporary
Thailand and the Philippines. IDS Bulletin 27(2) 1996: 56-63.
Week 7 (July 31 & August 2): Issues—Natural Resource
Management
George J. Aditjondro, Large Dam Victims and Their Defenders: The Emergence
of an Anti-Dam Movement in Indonesia, The Politics of Environment
in Southeast Asia: Resources and Resistance, Philip Hirsch and
Carol Warren, eds. (New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 29-55.
Michael Ross, Conditionality and Forestry Reform in the Philippines
and Indonesia. In Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and
Promise, Robert O. Keohane and Marc A. Levy, eds. (Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press, 1996), pp. 167-97.
Antonio Contreras, The Kingdom and the Republic Forest Governance
and Political Transformation in Thailand and the Philippines (Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2003), pp. 41-78.
Week 8 (August 7 & 9): Issues—Economic Management
Anak Laothamatas, From Clientalism to Partnership: Business-Government
Relations in Thailand, Business and Government in Asia , Andrew
MacIntyre, ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 195-215.
Paul Hutchcroft, Booty Capitalism: Business-Government Relations in
the Philippines, Business and Government in Asia , Andrew MacIntyre,
ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp. 216-44.
Andrew MacIntyre, Power, Prosperity and Patrimonialsm: Business and
Government in Indonesia. Business and Government in Asia ,
Andrew MacIntyre, ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), pp.
244-68.
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