IIASN9-Convergence/Divergence

An evaluation through contact situations between the 13th and the 19th century

Convergence and Divergence Between Southeast Asian Societies and States

A series of annual international conferences held alternately in Paris and Tokyo between 1986 and 1989 on the theme "Religions and Asian Societies" þ their proceedings have been published in four separate volumes, Catholicisme et sociétés asiatiques (Paris, L'Harmattan, 1988), Bouddhismes et sociétés asiatiques: Clergés, sociétés et pouvoirs (Paris, L'Harmattan, 1990), Confucianisme et sociétés asiatiques (Paris, L'Harmattan, 1991), Cultes populaires et sociétés asiatiques: Appareils cultuels et appareils de pouvoir (Paris, L'Harmattan, 1991) þ have brought European and Japanese scholars together to discuss the complex interconnectedness between religion and society in various Asian countries. These meetings have provided the opportunity for renowned specialists to share their expertise and research experiences. Deeming it worthwhile to pursue such fruitful cooperation, the Laboratoire "Péninsule Indo- chinoise" (research unit sponsored by both the CNRS and the IVe Section of the Ecole Pra- tique des Hautes Etudes), the Institute of Asian Cultures (Sophia University, Tokyo), and the International Institute for Asian Studies have decided to forge on with the organization of joint workshops focusing on what has set Southeast Asia apart as a distinctive region in its own right. Specifically, a common reflection stressing the conditions allowing Southeast Asian societies to converge or to diverge seems to be of particular interest.

In order to keep the project from boiling down to a mere inventory of resemblances and differences, in which various phenomena would be placed on the same plane, without the essential being distinguished from secondary considerations, the emphasis will be on: (1) the historical approach, (2) the study of contact situations, (3) the period from the thirteenth to the end of the nineteenth century.

The historical approach
The study of dynamic historical factors þ both convergent and divergent þ that have determined the history of the diverse Southeast Asian societies; that have drawn them together or set them against each other during their historical evolution; that are at the origin of contemporary splits and have, nevertheless, led to the emergence of an original area, in which the different societies are growing steadily more conscious that they are bound by a common destiny.

Contact situations
It is assumed that a society reveals itself best in what it enshrines as most fundamental (i.e., economic and demographic concerns, ethical, cultural, and religious systems, socio-political structuring...) in such situations. "Contact situations" is interpreted to mean: the phenomena of diffusion, the situations of conflict (or of peace), the various movements of exchange between diverse societies; the reactions to outside events, either from other Asian areas or from the West (trade, Christianity, etc.) between the sixteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century; and the first "contacts" with the colonial powers.

13th - late 19th century
If the truth be told, the history of the 13th-19th century has been so far neglected, particularly when it comes to Mainland Southeast Asia. This remark is equally pertinent of the history of pre-thirteenth century "great builder kingdoms" or of modern history since the beginning of the 20th century, or of investigations into political science or ethnology in the societies of today.
An understanding of this period is crucial to the comprehension of the present, particularly regarding the formation of the modern states; the determination of vast cultural zones (Theravâda Buddhism countries, Confucian and Mahâyâna Buddhism countries, Islamized or Christianized societies); and the representation of the position of Southeast Asia in the Western world vision (including Europe's interests and ambitions), then the partition of this region into areas of colonization or of influence.

For more information
Prof. Nguyên Thê Anh
Directeur d'Etudes, EPHE (Sciences historiques et philologiques)
Director, Laboratoire "Péninsule Indochinoise"
URA 1075 - Maison de l'Asie
22 Avenue du Président Wilson
75116 Paris
France
Fax: +33-1-53701872

28-31 October 1996
Paris, France
Workshop 1

The Conduct of Relations between States: War and Peace in Southeast Asia

The themes offered for discussion in this workshop include:
a)What does peace mean in each of the societies considered ?
Visions of a country's space, its internal order, its relations with neighbouring societies; Diplomatic relations.
b) "Internal" conflicts: causes, forms, and developments.
Conflicts between majorities and minorities: causes, forms, and developments; conflicts between states; the basic factors (in particular economic and demographic) of the conflicts; the "foci" of these conflicts (short historical account); the "pretexts" that were put forward; the stakes: territories, frontiers (what are the "borders" in a Southeast Asian context?); the conduct of the conflicts (the army as a revealing element of the links between the governing power and the subjects; the art of warfare); how the conflicts were concluded (slavery, territorial conquests, what symbolized that peace was considered achieved with the victorious or defeated country ?)
c) The conflict as conducive to a "common history" (under this somewhat provocative heading particular attention will be paid to analyzing the Vietnamese case -- especially the situation of Tonkin in which concerns were essentially turned towards China: does Tonkin belong to Southeast Asia ?).

1-4 october 1997
Tokyo, Japan
Workshop 2

Trade and navigation in Southeast Asia

The objective to be pursued, which consists fundamentally in eliciting "convergence and divergence between Southeast Asian societies", will, it is hoped, contribute towards correcting the abusive generalization of trendy theorizations that tend, for instance, to present Southeast Asia as a region entirely innervated or alternately vitalized by international trade, or as comparable to a "Mediterranean" world. This workshop will therefore emphasize:
a) The exchanges (products, circuits, and markets) and their evolution
Long-distance flows; products, junctions and ports of call (or markets) of the inter-Asiatic trade and of the intercontinental trade; axial routes; secondary (maritime and mainland) routes and stages; short-distance flows (for instance, lowlands-highlands, hinterland-delta); connections and deviations.
b) The practices and their evolution
Practices of the governing power and commercial practices; the countryside and the markets (peasantry and trade); examples of traders.
c) Exchanges, economic changes, social changes, cultural changes
Trade flows and religious diffusions (or mutations ?); trade and the socio-economic crises prior to Western colonization; trade as a factor of integration and regional identification ?

Of great significance is the question of whether trade transactions, on the one hand, and relations regarding trade, on the other, would provide the scope to outline designated subgroups in Southeast Asia.