Nations and States in Southeast Asia

This reflective and provocative 1998 book will become a major interpretive synthesis of modern Southeast Asia.

Nicholas Tarling (Author)

9780521625647, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 May 1998

148 pages, 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.8 cm, 0.21 kg

'The study of nations, states, and nationalisms has taken on a particular urgency today … In spite of its importance, however, the emergence of modern nation-states in Asia has not been studied systematically in a historical and comparative way in the past … Nicholas Tarling's stimulating and cogent study therefore is a much welcome contribution to the literature on the nation-state, especially in the Southeast Asian context … Tarling's book : is a major comparative historical study of nations, states, and nationalism in the Southeast Asian context.' New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies

This reflective and provocative 1998 book outlines the emergence of the nation-states of modern Southeast Asia. It considers various ways of looking at Southeast Asian history, combining narrative, analysis, and discussion. The book focuses mainly on the period from the eighteenth century to the present. It is divided into three sections: the first gives a broad historical overview of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Burma/Myanmar, Vietnam, and Siam/Thailand; the second reflects, in a comparative context, on significant problems in understanding Southeast Asia's past and present; the third explores the current state of writing Southeast Asian history. Underlying the discussion is an awareness of how ongoing tensions between East and West shape history and frame the present. This book reflects a lifetime's scholarship and will become a major interpretive synthesis of modern Southeast Asia.

Preface
Part I. Present and Past: 1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei
3. The Philippines
4. Burma/Myanmar
5. Vietnam
6. Siam/Thailand
Part II. Problems and Policies: 7. Colonial and national frontiers
8. Colonial authority
9. The industrial revolution
10. Parliamentary government and Southeast Asia
11. Nationalism
12. The Japanese
13. Gaining independence
14. Democratic institutions
15. International factors in the winning of independence
16. Armies
17. Millenarianism
18. Foreign policy
Part III. Period and Perspectives: 19. Time and place
20. Septentrionalism.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]