Routledge Changing Constellations of Southeast Asia: From Northeast Asia to China (Routledge Studies in Emerging Societies)

Southeast Asia is among emerging economies that have become important drivers of the world economy. ASEAN has furthered the region’s economic integration. Yet, growth remains dependent on foreign investment. Inequality has grown or remained high. Democracy, instead of consolidating, has stalled or regressed. Changing Constellations of Southeast Asia seeks to: Shed light on the gap between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia from a variety of viewpoints, across trade and industry, services and education and language policies; Examine institutions and elite capture to understand why middle-tier Southeast Asian countries have failed in following the ‘East Asian miracle’; Examine China’s growing influence and how this growing role affects Southeast Asia as a constellation. Contributing to critical political economy and comparative development studies in East Asia, this timely volume will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in Southeast Asia studies, International Political Economy, Development sociology and economics, Social Policy and Asian Politics. Review Cast in terms of its embeddedness in two successive ‘constellations’ of economic, political and socio-cultural power (the first driven by Northeast Asia, the second by China), the chapters of this volume contain materials, ideas and arguments vital to rethinking Southeast Asia’s global significance. For anyone seeking cutting-edge knowledge about contemporary Southeast Asian development – including both the opportunities and dangers inherent in its future prospects – this is the book you need. Jeffrey Henderson, University of Bristol This volume contains gems on East Asian economies including China as well as for those interested in comparative analysis. Nederveen Pieterse, Rahman and Tham have provided editorial coherence to the chapters which reflect on the region’s miracle, debacle, trajectories and options for the future. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former economics professor, UN Assistant Secretary General, 2007 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought This is a most enlightening book about contemporary Southeast Asia. Readers will profit immensely from the useful comparisons between ASEAN and Northeast Asia, thoughtful analyses of the role of domestic institutions on socio-economic performance, and insightful projections of future China-ASEAN relations. I am proud that scholarship on Southeast Asia has advanced so impressively. Wing Thye Woo, University of California Davis, Fudan University, Shanghai; President of Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia, Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia About the Author Jan Nederveen Pieterse is Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Distinguished Professor of Global Studies and Sociology at University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Abdul Rahman Embong is Emeritus Professor in Sociology of Development and Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. Siew Yean Tham is a Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.