scholarly journals The art of not being legible: Invented writing systems as technologies of resistance in mainland Southeast Asia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piers Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
State Power ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
New Literacy ◽  
The Many ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

James C Scott argued that the traditional non-literacy of highland minorities in mainland Southeast Asia may belong to a wider pattern of state evasion whereby lowland practices, including literacy, are strategically rejected. This position ignores the moral and material value attributed to literacy in upland folklore, as well as the many radical messianic movements that purported to bring writing back to the highlands. I review nine such cases of recuperated literacy among Southeast Asian minorities, all of which were created in circumstances of violent conflict with lowland states. Leaders of these movements recognised literacy as an important vehicle of state power but their appropriation of writing was limited to very specific purposes and domains. In short, the new literacy practices did not mirror its ordinary bureaucratic uses in lowland states. Instead, writing became a symbolic instrument for building state-like institutions of resistance.

scholarly journals L'art de ne pas être lisible: Les écritures inventées comme outils de résistance en Asie du sud-est

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piers Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
State Power ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
New Literacy ◽  
The Many ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

James C Scott argued that the traditional non-literacy of highland minorities in mainland Southeast Asia may belong to a wider pattern of state evasion whereby lowland practices, including literacy, are strategically rejected. This position ignores the moral and material value attributed to literacy in upland folklore, as well as the many radical messianic movements that purported to bring writing back to the highlands. I review nine such cases of recuperated literacy among Southeast Asian minorities, all of which were created in circumstances of violent conflict with lowland states. Leaders of these movements recognised literacy as an important vehicle of state power but their appropriation of writing was limited to very specific purposes and domains. In short, the new literacy practices did not mirror its ordinary bureaucratic uses in lowland states. Instead, writing became a symbolic instrument for building state-like institutions of resistance.

Zomian or zombies? What future exists for the peoples of the Southeast Asian Massif?

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Formoso
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
State Power ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Future ◽  
Dominant Society ◽  
Specific Identity ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractAgainst the simplistic thesis that hill peoples are marginal and unruly groups by choice, in conflict with state power, this article shows that, in the context of mainland Southeast Asia, hill peoples develop relationships with lowland state societies that are more complex and ambiguous than usually portrayed. Ethnographic and historical evidence reveals that they compromise and cooperate with the lowland state more often than they oppose it. Although hill peoples are commonly conceived as ‘barbarians’ of the periphery, and ill-treated or instrumentalized accordingly, in some circumstances they played a central role in the defence and the reshaping of pre-modern and modern Southeast Asian states. Moreover, their political and religious acculturation by lowland societies sometimes proves to have been instrumental in the perpetuation of a specific identity under the guise of surface assimilation. This article not only highlights the dynamics of past and present interactions between lowland and upland societies but also questions the future of the latter, in the context of an increasing engulfment by nation-states and, conversely, of new perspectives offered by globalization. The analysis thus demonstrates that hill peoples often take advantage of new forms of partnership resulting from globalization to renegotiate their image and status more favourably, and to counter the pressure exerted by the dominant society. Finally, they appear to be neither Zomian – that is, uncompromising rebels to ‘stateness’ in James C. Scott’s formulation – nor zombies, unable to adapt.

scholarly journals Writing right

Pragmatics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M.S. Pine
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Complex Form ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Ecological Context ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Language Literacy ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Literate Lahu, speakers of a Tibeto-Burman language in the ethnically and linguistically diverse uplands of Southeast Asia and southwest China, inscribe their language in an ecology of literacies shaped by the imbrication of a number of ideologies. As members of the larger category of chao khao or mountain people, the Lahu belong to a group which is persistently labeled as Other. (Laungaramsri 2001: 43-4). Lahu are also a people-without-writing (Pine 1999), despite the fact that at least three writing systems exist for Lahu, with a fourth in somewhat limited use and at least one other system in development. The ideological diversity of the entextualization of Lahu benefits seeing it within a particular historical and ecological context. This paper historicizes particular literacy practices within the context of the development of a particular form of written Lahu. It also traces the influence of a phenomenon termed "proprietary orthographies" which permeates the ecology of literacies in mainland Southeast Asia and, I argue, has a significant impact on Lahu language literacy practices. Focusing on a subtle issue of the representation of tone, and also drawing on self-reporting of literacy, as well as making use of Keane's concept of "semiotic ideologies", I argue that orthographies enjoy a complex form of indexicality in this region which differs in small, but important, ways from other areas.

scholarly journals The Complex Diversity of Southeast Asian Postsecondary Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 16-18
Author(s):  
Philip G. Altbach
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Education Development ◽  
Higher Education Development ◽  
The Many

Higher education in Southeast Asia constitutes a complex mosaic of cultures, languages, and academic traditions. This article argues that while there are some similarities, the many variations make it difficult to generalize about the region or to create a common approach to higher education development.

scholarly journals WATERS TOWARDS RICE TRADE FLOW IN 14TH CENTURY OF JAVA

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Riza Afita Surya ◽  
Rif'atul Fikriya
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Trade Flow ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Rice Cultivation ◽  
Water Impact ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia ◽  
Rice Trade

Waters as rain, rivers, and seas are one the most common feature found upon Southeast Asian region. It has been establishing this region significantly distinctive along with others. Water is such profound thing everywhere, but it helds most importantly in Southeast Asia Maritime region, with its long shorelines in relation to it landmass, and with the enormous expanses of surrounding Island of Southeast Asia and abutting the shores of Mainland Southeast Asia. Waters in form such rain, rivers, and seas undoubtly giving a certain pattern of social and economical circumstance towards society. Java was known as the biggest rice producer until 19th century, especially manufactured among Javanese kingdoms. Rice had been the trademark of exchange in Java that was contributed across the land overtime. Here, wet rice cultivation has been a typical technique engaged in Java and remains until presents. This article discusses the water impact towards rice trade in Java during 14th century.

scholarly journals Areal Typology of Mainland Southeast Asia: What We Learn from the Wals Maps

MANUSYA ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Comrie
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The World ◽  
Language Area ◽  
Asian Languages ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia ◽  
Dividing Line

Mainland Southeast Asia has long been recognized as a classic example of a linguistic area, but earlier characterizations of this language area have typically been intuitive, for instance providing seemingly impressive lists of features known to be shared by Mainland Southeast Asian languages but without considering a list of features on which these languages differ, without explicitly considering the extent to which the features in question are common or rare across the world as a whole. By using the maps in the World Atlas of Language Structures, it is possible to build up a more structured assessment of the extent to which Mainland Southeast Asia constitutes a linguistic area. Many maps show a clear delimitation between Mainland Southeast Asia and the rest of Eurasia, although the precise boundary varies from map to map, as does the presence and location of intermediate zones. The dividing line between Mainland Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia is much less clear-cut, thus providing some evidence for a more general Southeast Asian linguistic area.

scholarly journals The Volatile State in Southeast Asia: Evidence from Sumatra, 1600–1800

2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 497-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freek Colombijn
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
State Formation ◽  
State Power ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
The State ◽  
Central State ◽  
Seminal Work ◽  
Clifford Geertz ◽  
State Capital

The communis opinio of historians is that early modern, or precolonial, states in Southeast Asia tended to lead precarious existences. The states were volatile in the sense that the size of individual states changed quickly, a ruler forced by circumstances moved his state capital, the death of a ruler was followed by a dynastic struggle, or a local subordinate head either ignored or took over the central state power; in short, states went through short cycles of rise and decline. Perhaps nobody has helped establish this opinion more than Clifford Geertz (1980) with his powerful metaphor of the “theatre state.” Many scholars have preceded and followed him in their assessment of the shakiness of the state (see, for example, Andaya 1992, 419; Bentley 1986, 292; Bronson 1977, 51; Hagesteijn 1986, 106; Milner 1982, 7; Nagtegaal 1996, 35, 51; Reid 1993, 202; Ricklefs 1991, 17; Schulte Nordholt 1996, 143–48). The instability itself was an enduring phenomenon. Most polities existed in a state of flux, oscillating between integration and disintegration, a phenomenon which was first analyzed for mainland Southeast Asia by Edmund Leach (1954) in his seminal work on the Kachin chiefdoms. This alternation of state formation and the breaking up of kingdoms has been called the “ebb and flow of power” and the “rhythm” of Malay history (Andaya and Andaya 1982, 35). In this article, I will probe into the causes of the volatility of the Southeast Asian states, using material from Sumatra to make my case.

scholarly journals What Awaits Myanmar’s Uplands Farmers? Lessons Learned from Mainland Southeast Asia

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Jepsen ◽  
Matilda Palm ◽  
Thilde Bruun
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Mainland Southeast Asia (MSA) has seen sweeping upland land use changes in the past decades, with transition from primarily subsistence shifting cultivation to annual commodity cropping. This transition holds implications for local upland communities and ecosystems. Due to its particular political regime, Myanmar is at the tail of this development. However, with Myanmar’s official strategy of agricultural commercialization and intensification, recent liberalization of the national economy, and influx of multinational agricultural companies, the effects on upland land transitions could come fast. We analyze the current state of upland land use in Myanmar in a socio-economic and political context, identify the dynamics in three indicator commodity crops (maize, cassava, and rubber), and discuss the state driven economic, tenurial and policy reforms that have occurred in upland areas of mainland Southeast Asian countries in past decades. We draw on these insights to contextualize our study and hypothesize about possible transition pathways for Myanmar. The transition to annual commodity cropping is generally driven by a range of socio-economic and technical factors. We find that land use dynamics for the three indicator crops are associated with market demand and thus the opening of national Southeast-Asian economies, research and development of locally suitable high yielding varieties (HYVs), and subsidies for the promotion of seeds and inputs. In contrast, promotion of HYVs in marginal areas and without adequate agricultural extension services may results in agricultural contraction and yield dis-intensification. The environmental impacts of the transition depend on the transition pathway, e.g., through large-scale plantation projects or smallholder initiatives. The agricultural development in upland MSA follows a clear diffusion pattern with transition occurring first in Thailand, spreading to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. While these countries point to prospects for Myanmar, we hypothesize that changes will come slow due to Myanmar’s sparse rural infrastructure, with uncertainty about tenure, in particular in areas still troubled by armed conflicts, and unwillingness of international investors to approach Myanmar given the recent setbacks to the democratization process.

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