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Current Trends in the Economic History of Southeast Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

J. Thomas Lindblad
J. Thomas Lindblad
Affiliation:
Leiden University
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Extract

New winds are blowing in the writing of the economic history of Southeast Asia. The traditional Eurocentric perspective of the colonial economy is gradually giving way to a more Asian perspective stressing similarities and mutual links within the region itself. The issue of Western expansion now appears less vital than long-run economic developments in the Asian economies. Political power struggles in colonial relationships are squeezed aside and replaced by a more quantification and an increasing appreciation of dynamic change that does not readily fit into the model of Westernstyle modernization. The aim of this article is to discuss some positions and directions that have come to the fore in the economic history of Southeast Asia in recent years. Without claiming to offer a full coverage of the field, it is believed that trends thus identified may suggest, at least in part, the future course of Southeast Asian economic history.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 26 , 25th Anniversary Special Issue 1: Perspectives on Southeast Asian Studies , March 1995 , pp. 159 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1995

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References

1 The recent change of climate in Asian economic history at large is aptly described in Takeshi Hamashita, “Financial Structure of the East Asian Economic System with Special Reference to Hong Kong and Singapore”, in The Evolving Structure of the East Asian Economic System since 1700: a Comparative Analysis, ed. Latham, A.J.H. and Kawakatsu, H. (Milan: Universita Bocconi, 1994), pp. 51–56.Google Scholar

2 The category “Other” refers to non-historical topics such as ecology, archaeology or technology. Review articles, reactions or supplementary notes were not included.

3 The sample focuses on monographs and excludes source publications and official reports.

4 Other special issues on “Archaeology and Anthropology” and “Southeast Asian Archaeology” respectively are reflected in the high percentage for the category “Other” in 1987 and 1989.

5 The sample (60 items) is too small to allow comparisons over time. Moreover such comparisons would by unduly influenced by successive changes in review policies of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies since the early 1980s such as decisions to enlarge total coverage and to include also books in other languages than English. Because of the time-lag between appearance and review of books, the observations from the sample cannot be exclusively tied to the years 1982–93.

6 For full references to books mentioned see various issues of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vols. 13–24 (1982–1993).Google Scholar

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