THE QUEST FOR A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE IN ASIAN STUDIES By P.G.E.I.J. van der Velde The quest for a global perspective in Asian Studies takes The Netherlands as its point of departure. There is no other reason for this then that the contributions presented in this supplement are the written form of the speeches given during the official opening of IIAS on October 13, 1993, in Leiden. We have chosen this format to stress their transient nature. The lines of attack chosen by the contributors vary according to their nationality and disciplinary background. The value of the contributions must be sought in their inclination to seek a common ground for Asian Studies: How can Asian Studies be strengthened and be put in a global perspective? TURNING POINT The first contribution in this supplement is that by F. Husken, Professor of Anthropology at Nijmegen University and Chairman of the Board of IIAS. He looks back on the achievement of Dutch scholars and the Dutch heritage in the field of Asian Studies. Notwithstanding this glorious past, Asian Studies were on the verge of becoming extinct in the 1970s and 1980s, just at a time when Asia was clearly entering the world picture. Two reports compiled by concerned scholars in the field of the Humanities and Social Sciences constituted a turning point which led to the founding of the post-doctoral International Institute for Asian Studies which is a state supported institute that will stimulate international co-operation. IIAS MIDDLEMAN'S ROLE M. J. Cohen, State Secretary of the Ministery of Science and Education of the Netherlands, links the importance of Asian Studies directly to the ever growing economic importance of the Pacific Rim. Europeans have to do away with the old distorted Eurocentric picture of Asia in order to gain a more balanced new one. Moreover, Asian Studies in The Netherlands should be given a higher profile because the traditional Dutch middleman's role demands this. IIAS could play that role in the endeavour by creating a European Network for Asian Studies; a structure for pooling our knowledge of Asia. ASIAN STUDIES IN GERMAN PERSPECTIVE B. Dahm, Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Passau, before turning his attention to the German situation, he highlights the long tradition of Asian Studies in Europe and its fine achievements, at the same time not closing his eyes to the close links between Colonialism and Orientalism. Orientalism played a role in the German Romantic movement which stressed the unity of language and state. The independent attitude of the German States is still very much alive today as is witnessed by the decentralized build-up of Asian Studies in Germany and their predominantly linguistic and philological nature. There are 33 universities in Germany dealing with one or more aspects of Asian Studies and the German Association of Asian Studies tries to provide some co-ordination. In European perspective Dahm sees these kinds of national organizations, together with the European organizations and the renowned European Institutes in the field of Asian Studies, as the backbone of what Cohen labelled an European Network for Asian Studies in which the identities of the different schools will be guaranteed. LEARNING FROM ASIA Professor R. Rybakov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow which employs over 1000 researchers, informs us about the history of Asian Studies (which he consistently calls Oriental Studies) in Russia the origins of which he dates back to time of Peter the Great. Asian Studies in 19th century Russia were predominantly of a philological nature. Scholars incorporated words from languages of Asian people who had been conquered during the Russian expansion into the Russian vocabulary. Russia became an Asian country itself and Asian Studies a form of self study. After the communist revolution Asian Studies were completely politicized, although Rybakov states that the majority of Orientalists did not commit themselves to crude dogmatism. With the overthrow of communism a new generation of Orientalists, or should we say Asianists, is emerging which eagerly looks for inspiration to their economically successful Asian neighbours. DECOLONIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE Dr Taufik Abdullah, Senior Researcher at LIPI in Jakarta, sketches Asian Studies in a broad regional Southeast Asian perspective of countries such as Indonesia, The Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. He addresses the decolonization of knowledge in the context of Asian Studies, which was by no means an easy thing to do for the Asian scholars. In the 1950s and 1960s they searched for a proper academic perspective and in the 1970s and 1980s national identity and culture were high on the agenda. According to Taufik Abdullah, the research agenda of the 1990s will, on the one hand, be dominated by tribal orientated research, while on the other hand the awareness of the artficiality of national boundaries in the global village will stimulate international co-operation and enhance research in a broader regional Southeast Asian perspective. NEIGHBOURING AUSTRALIA From the contribution of Professor M.C. Ricklefs, Director of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University, one gets a clear impression of the urgent need felt by the Australians, who are still predominantly western orientated, to come to grips with the Asian 'challenge'. The Australian governement has reacted by making Asian languages compulsory. Australia realizes that it does not border on France or Germany but on Indonesia and Japan. Asian Studies in Australia is established in several regional centres but one can still speak of a concentration of Asian Studies in Canberra clustered around the Australian National University, its library, and the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Ricklefs is of the opinion that the prospective European Network of Asian Studies should be linked up with other existing networks including the Australian one. Post-doctoral exchanges within a global network could bring a beneficial global perspective within reach. TEACH OR PERISH David. K. Wyatt, Professor of Southeast Asian History at Cornell University and President of the Association of Asian Studies (AAS), states that Asian Studies in the United States is a big enterprise which has been institutionalized in many different universities across the country. Furthermore, if one looks at the membership of the AAS, which acts as a North American interest-group for Asian Studies, it becomes clear that traditional humanistic disciplines have continued to dominate the field. The support for Asian Studies in the United States comes from the general funding of higher education and is justified by the teaching of undergraduates. This leaves little room for new directions and has given Asian Studies in the United States a highly specialized and paraochial outlook. Nevertheless, Wyatt hopes that in future international co-operation will play a bigger role in Asian Studies. INTERCHANGE W.A.L. Stokhof, Professor of Austronesian Languages at the Leiden University and Director of IIAS, recapitulates the position of IIAS in the broad field of Asian Studies. He sees IIAS as an international facility and service centre, an interchange between organizations and groups of Asianists. Furthermore, he comes to the conclusion that Asian Studies are bound to flourish in view of the growing importance of 'vibrant' Asia which increasingly permeates the Western world and vice versa. THE QUEST HAS ONLY BEGUN Much research remains to be done to come to grips with Asian Studies in a global context. More attention will have to be given to Asian Studies in the Asian countries themselves. Therefore, it was a pity that the our Japanese guest had to cancel his trip to Leiden at the very last moment. Fortunately Taufik Abdullah could inform us about Asian Studies in the Southeast Asian region. But we are still ill-informed about Asian Studies in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and India. More attention will have to be paid to Asian Studies in the Latin-speaking countries in Europe and America. Fortunately Asian Studies in France and Great Britain have been charted in recent studies and Asian Studies in Scandinavia have been highlighted in an article in the previous issue of this Newsletter. With the assistance of data bases which are continuously updated and unstinting efforts we will be able to create a greater degree of transparancy in the world of Asian Studies. As a step in that direction in its next supplement the editorial staff of this Newsletter will venture to give a picture of Asian Studies in Europe.