Southeast Asia across Borders
The political geography of Southeast Asia has, through the centuries, been characterized by weak definitions of territoriality and a great flexibility of borders. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, colonial dominance and modern processes of nation building have emphasized the geographic boundaries of the (colonial) states. Decolonization and the formation of independent nation-states in the 1940s-1950s in Southeast Asia have strengthened the crystallization of 'borders'. The new states pursued strong centralization policies, channelled profits from peripheral regions to the state coffers, and embarked on schemes of cultural nation building.
By JOHN KLEINEN, PETER POST, & REMCO RABEN
In the wake of their political ascendancy, national boundaries have become the dominant frameworks for history writing. In a sense, historians have come to believe in the successes of Southeast Asian nation building, writing their histories mostly from the perspective of the national centres. However, the nation-state perspective distorts our views of processes and events that took and takes place across borders: transnational commercial contacts, religious orientations and ethnic ties, migration, and issues of regionalization, irredentism, and separatism.The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation and the Amsterdam branch of the International Institute for Asian Studies are co-organizing a seminar series addressing issues of border transgressions in twentieth-century Southeast Asia. Instead of taking the nation or the (colonial) state borders as a point of departure, the seminars will focus upon the structures and mechanisms of economic and cultural exchange across borders. By emphasizing patterns of transnationalism that co-exist with a continuing pressure from the nations' capitals, the seminars will comment upon the success, stamina and scope of the territorial state in Southeast Asia. Among the themes to be addressed are: Chinese networking; the borderless South China Sea; changing economic geographies of insular Southeast Asia; separatism and the legitimacy of the nation-state; and transnational Islam.
Apart from dealing with specific manifestations of transnationalism in Southeast Asia, the seminars also contribute to the discussion on 'Southeast Asia' as a useful geographic concept for historical analysis. By stressing, for once, perspectives of liminal permeability and flexibility defining characteristics of pre-modern Southeast Asia which seem to have been lost over the last century we hope to sharpen the debate on the 'nature' of Southeast Asia.
The series will start on 21 September 2000 with a seminar on 'Nation and History in Southeast Asia'. Speakers will be Ruth McVey (professor emeritus, SOAS), Takashi Shiraishi (Kyoto University), and Robert Cribb (University of Queensland). Subsequent seminars will take place at three week intervals. Among the speakers are Clive Christie (University of Hull), Howard Dick (University of Melbourne), Robert Hefner (Boston University), Thomas Menkoff (National University of Singapore), and Stein Tønnesson (University of Oslo).
The series runs from September 2000 until March 2001. Venue: Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, Amsterdam. For up-to-date information on the seminar series, please visit our websites at http://www.oorlogsdoc.knaw.nl or http://www.iias.nl. *
For more information contact:
Dr Peter Post
Netherlands Institute for War Documentation,
Herengracht 380,
1016 CJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
Tel.: +31-20-523 3800
Fax: +31-20-523 3888
E-mail: p.post@oorlogsdoc.knaw.nl