Religion and Commerce in Southeast Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Watson Andaya
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Timor Leste

Southeast Asia includes eleven countries, although this contemporary configuration disguises significant differences, especially in regard to religion and economic status. Theravada Buddhism is dominant in the “mainland” countries of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, while Vietnam is influenced by the religious and intellectual traditions of China, including Mahayana Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. In the “island” areas (Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and Timor Leste/Timor Lorosae), the dominant faiths are Islam and Christianity (the latter a majority in the Philippines, Timor Leste, and parts of the eastern Indonesian archipelago), with Bali retaining a localized form of Hinduism. There are also marked economic differences. Singapore and Brunei are among the world’s richest countries, with Laos and Timor Leste among the poorest. Despite this diversity, a regional theme concerns the interaction between religious change and commerce. A chronological and comparative approach that moves from early times to the present day shows that ideas about relationships to the cosmos have developed in tandem with expanding commerce. Although this relationship has never been static, the aim of establishing a beneficial interaction with the supranatural world remains a basic human goal. During the 1st millennium ce the rise of new polities, combined with increasing overland and maritime trade, encouraged the adoption and adaption of incoming religions, notably Hinduism and Buddhism. The 13th century marks the beginning of a new phase with the spread of Theravada Buddhism on the mainland and Islam and subsequently Christianity in the island world. The commerce-religion nexus, though still present, is less evident from the mid-19th century to World War II, when all of Southeast Asia except for Thailand was under colonial control. From the late 20th century transnational trade has allied with religious resurgence, generating new and dynamic forms of engaging with nonhuman forces.

U.S. Security Strategy and Southeast Asia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin C. Ott
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Spanish American ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Spanish American War ◽  
Spanish Colonial ◽  
Manila Bay ◽  
The U.S

With the exception of the Philippines, America’s strategic interest in and engagement with Southeast Asia begins with World War II. Prior to that “Monsoon Asia” was remote and exotic—a place of fabled kingdoms, jungle headhunters, and tropical seas. By the end of the nineteenth century European powers had established colonial rule over the entire region except Thailand. Then, as the twentieth century dawned, the Spanish colonial holdings in the Philippines suddenly and unexpectedly became available to the United States as an outcome of the Spanish-American War and Admiral Dewey’s destruction of the decrepit Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. This chapter examines the strategic pivot in Southeast Asia and the role China plays in affecting the U.S. position in this region.

scholarly journals SOUTHEAST ASIA: HISTORY, MODERNITY, AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE

Al-Albab ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumanto Al Qurtuby
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Cultural Legacies ◽  
State Organization ◽  
A Site

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia, with more than six hundred million populations, is home to millions of Buddhists, Muslims, Confucians, Protestants, Catholics, and now Pentecostals, as well as many followers of local religions and spiritual beliefs. Notwithstanding its great historical, political, cultural legacies, however, the region has long been neglected as a site for religious studies in the Western academia. Aiming at filling the gap in Asian and religious studies as well as exploring the richness of Southeast Asian cultures, this article discusses the dynamics, diversity, and complexity of Southeast Asian societies in their response to the region’s richly political, cultural, and religious traditions spanning from pre-modern era to modern one. The article also examines the “integrative revolutions” that shaped and reshaped warfare, state organization and economics of Southeast Asia, particularly in the pre-European colonial era. In addition, the work discusses the wave of Islamization, particularly since the nineteenth century, as well as the upsurge of religious resurgence that shift the nature of religiosity and the formation of religious groupings in the area. The advent of Islam, with some interventions of political regimes, had been an important cause for the decline of Hindu-Buddhist traditions in some areas of Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, the coming of Pentecostalism has challenged the well-established mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines. Keywords: history, modernity, religious change, Southeast Asia

World War II and the Japanese in the Prewar Philippines

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia N. Yu-Jose
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
World War

The prewar Japanese in the Philippines, the largest Japanese community in Southeast Asia, had humble beginnings. Due to their own efforts and support from the Japanese government, they rose economically and socially, only to lose everything at the end of the war.

A Model for the Study of Thai Buddhism

1976 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Terwiel
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Folk Religion ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Theravada Buddhism ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Central Thailand

THIS paper constitutes an attempt to reconcile—at least for one region of Southeast Asia: central Thailand—one of the discrepancies in analyses of contemporary Theravada Buddhism. The model proposed below—which is the outcome of comparing some of the relevant literature with my own field data—encompasses two distinct sections of society, each holding a different attitude towards Buddhism. The interaction between different interpretations of religion may well be one of the major factors n i the process of religious change in Thailand. Furthermore, this model may be of use for other Theravada Buddhist countries.Literature on the SubjectA survey of the literature on the practice of religion in Theravāda Buddhist countries reveals what may be a unique situation in the study of religions. Many authors state unequivocally that Theravāda Buddhists adhere to more than one religious tradition. Apart from “otherworldly” Buddhism, these Southeast Asian peoples adhere to other strands of religion, generally classed under rubrics such as “non-Buddhist beliefs,” “folk religion,” “animism,” or “supernaturalism.” Yet, though virtually all authors recognize this situation, there is no consensus in their views on how the different subsystems are interrelated.

America’s Legacies in Southeast Asia

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-61
Author(s):  
David Shambaugh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Korean War ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
North Vietnam

This chapter traces the history of American presence in Southeast Asia. The American legacy in the region began with traders and missionaries during the first half of the nineteenth century, then progressed to diplomats and official relations during the second half, and then to the arrival of American armed forces at the turn of the twentieth century. Meanwhile, America’s commercial interests and footprint continually broadened and deepened; educational and religious ties also blossomed. Except in the Philippines, America was largely seen as a benevolent partner—but not yet a power. That would change in the wake of World War II and the Cold War. With the advent of communist regimes in China, North Vietnam, and North Korea, and the ensuing Korean War, Southeast Asia took on a completely different cast in Washington. It became one of two major global theaters of conflict against communism. Thus began America’s long and draining involvement in Vietnam and Indochina (1958–1975). But with the end of the long and exhausting Indochina conflict, which tore the United States itself apart, American attention naturally began to wane and dissipate. Yet, the United States continued to engage and build its relations with the region from the Carter through the Bush 43 administrations.

Philippine-Japanese Professorial Exchanges in the 1930's

1968 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-240
Author(s):  
Grant K. Goodman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
World War ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Japanese Student ◽  
Student Exchanges

During the 1930's the pace of contact between the Philippines and Japan quickened noticeably. This was, of course, the result of the concurrence of the promise of the United States to grant independence to the Philippines, embodied firmly in the Tydings- McDuffie Act of 1934, and of the intensified interest in Southeast Asia at all levels in Japan. One manifestation of this phenomenon was the development of mutual Philippine-Japanese undertakings in what might broadly be called the cultural realm. I have already described elsewhere the establishment and operation of such organizations at the Philippine Society of Japan1 and of Philippine-Japanese student exchanges. However, in the paragraphs which follow I will turn my attention to the inception and subsequent scope of the exchange of university professors between Japan and the Philippines. In so doing, I hope to suggest that these exchanges, though limited in nature, were meaningful cultural interchanges for both countries and that their termination was precipitated not by any lack of enthusiasm on the part of either Japan or the Philippines but rather by the impasse in American-Japanese relations which immediately preceded the outbreak of World War II.

scholarly journals Book Reviews

1999 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-736
Author(s):  
Chris Ballard ◽  
Jeroen A. Overweel ◽  
Timothy P. Barnard ◽  
Daniel Perret ◽  
Peter Boomgaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
Social Anthropology ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
Indonesian Archipelago ◽  
National University

- Chris Ballard, Jeroen A. Overweel, Topics relating to Netherlands New Guinea in Ternate Residency memoranda of transfer and other assorted documents. Leiden: DSALCUL, Jakarta: IRIS, 1995, x + 146 pp. [Irian Jaya Source Materials 13.] - Timothy P. Barnard, Daniel Perret, Sejarah Johor-Riau-Lingga sehingga 1914; Sebuah esei bibliografi. Kuala Lumpur: Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Pelancongan Malaysia/École Francaise d’Extrême Orient, 1998, 460 pp. - Peter Boomgaard, Om Prakash, European commercial enterprise in pre-colonial India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, xviii + 377 pp. [The New Cambridge History of India II-5.] - U.T. Bosma, Oliver Kortendick, Drei Schwestern und ihre Kinder; Rekonstruktion von Familiengeschichte und Identitätstransmission bei Indischen Nerlanders mit Hilfe computerunterstützter Inhaltsanalyse. Canterbury: Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1996, viii + 218 pp. [Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing Monograph 12.] - Freek Colombijn, Thomas Psota, Waldgeister und Reisseelen; Die Revitalisierung von Ritualen zur Erhaltung der komplementären Produktion in SüdwestSumatra. Berlin: Reimer, 1996, 203 + 15 pp. [Berner Sumatraforschungen.] - Christine Dobbin, Ann Maxwell Hill, Merchants and migrants; Ethnicity and trade among Yunannese Chinese in Southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1998, vii + 178 pp. [Yale Southeast Asia Studies Monograph 47.] - Aone van Engelenhoven, Peter Bellwood, The Austronesians; Historical and comparative perspectives. Canberra: Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 1995, viii + 359 pp., James J. Fox, Darrell Tryon (eds.) - Aone van Engelenhoven, Wyn D. Laidig, Descriptive studies of languages in Maluku, Part II. Jakarta: Badan Penyelenggara Seri NUSA and Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, 1995, xii + 112 pp. [NUSA Linguistic Studies of Indonesian and Other Languages in Indonesia 38.] - Ch. F. van Fraassen, R.Z. Leirissa, Halmahera Timur dan Raja Jailolo; Pergolakan sekitar Laut Seram awal abad 19. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka, 1996, xiv + 256 pp. - Frances Gouda, Denys Lombard, Rêver l’Asie; Exotisme et littérature coloniale aux Indes, an Indochine et en Insulinde. Paris: Éditions de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 1993, 486 pp., Catherine Champion, Henri Chambert-Loir (eds.) - Hans Hägerdal, Timothy Lindsey, The romance of K’tut Tantri and Indonesia; Texts and scripts, history and identity. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1997, xix + 362 + 24 pp. - Renee Hagesteijn, Ina E. Slamet-Velsink, Emerging hierarchies; Processes of stratification and early state formation in the Indonesian archipelago: prehistory and the ethnographic present. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1995, ix + 279 pp. [VKI 166.] - David Henley, Victor T. King, Environmental challenges in South-East Asia. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1998, xviii + 410 pp. [Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Man and Nature in Asia Series 2.] - C. de Jonge, Ton Otto, Cultural dynamics of religious change in Oceania. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1997, viii + 144 pp. [VKI 176.], Ad Boorsboom (eds.) - C. de Jonge, Chris Sugden, Seeking the Asian face of Jesus; A critical and comparative study of the practice and theology of Christian social witness in Indonesia and India between 1974 and 1996. Oxford: Regnum, 1997, xix + 496 pp. - John N. Miksic, Roy E. Jordaan, In praise of Prambanan; Dutch essays on the Loro Jonggrang temple complex. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1996, xii + 259 pp. [Translation Series 26.] - Marije Plomp, Ann Kumar, Illuminations; The writing traditions of Indonesia; Featuring manuscripts from the National Library of Indonesia. Jakarta: The Lontar Foundation, New York: Weatherhill, 1996., John H. McGlynn (eds.) - Susan de Roode, Eveline Ferretti, Cutting across the lands; An annotated bibliography on natural resource management and community development in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1997, 329 pp. [Southeast Asia Program Series 16.] - M.J.C. Schouten, Monika Schlicher, Portugal in Ost-Timor; Eine kritische Untersuchung zur portugiesischen Kolonialgeschichte in Ost-Timor, 1850 bis 1912. Hamburg: Abera-Verlag, 1996, 347 pp. - Karel Steenbrink, Leo Dubbeldam, Values and value education. The Hague: Centre for the Study of Education in Developing Countries (CESO), 1995, 183 pp. [CESO Paperback 25.] - Pamela J. Stewart, Michael Houseman, Naven or the other self; A relational approach to ritual action. Leiden: Brill, 1998, xvi + 325 pp., Carlo Severi (eds.) - Han F. Vermeulen, Pieter ter Keurs, The language of things; Studies in ethnocommunication; In honour of Professor Adrian A. Gerbrands. Leiden: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, 1990, 208 pp. [Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde 25.], Dirk Smidt (eds.)

Economic Progress in Southeast Asia

1963 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Paauw
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Real Income ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
World War ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Per Capita

Since the end of World War II, Southeast Asian economies have grown at widely diverging rates. Consistent and relatively rapid growth has occurred only in the Philippines; in that country rehabilitation from World War II was completed relatively early and the economy has gone on to provide gains in per capita real income, though at a falling rate. In Thailand and Malaya, rehabilitation and growth have occurred, but progress has been unsteady. In Burma, Indonesia, and the Indo-Chinese countries of Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam progress has taken die form primarily of restoring prewar levels of per capita production; it is unlikely that gains above prewar levels have been achieved.

scholarly journals Causes, Effects, and Forms of Factionalism in Southeast Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Paul Chambers ◽  
Andreas Ufen
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Timor Leste

This paper is the introduction for a special issue which examines intra-party factions and factionalism in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia, looking at the cases of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste, in that order and rounding up with a comparative conclusion. The study centres primarily upon one query: in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia, what accounts for the rise of factionalism in some party systems relative to others? The paper at hand frames this special issue, reviewing the literature and examining the causes, effects and forms of factionalism in general and more specifically in Southeast Asia.

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