Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia

ISBN-13: 9780521694124 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 264 str.

Anthony Reid

Opis

The mid-twentieth century marked one of the greatest watersheds of Asian history, when a range of imperial constructs were declared to be nation-states, either by revolution or decolonisation. Nationalism was the great alchemist, turning the base metal of empire into the gold of nations. To achieve such a transformation from the immense diversity of these Asian empires required a different set of forces from those that Europeans had needed in their transitions from multi-ethnic empires to culturally homogeneous nations. In this book Anthony Reid explores the mysterious alchemy by which new political identities have been formed. Taking Southeast Asia as his example, Reid tests contemporary theory about the relation between modernity, nationalism, and ethnic identity. Grappling with concepts emanating from a very different European experience of nationalism, Reid develops his own typology to better fit the formation of political identities such as the Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Acehnese, Batak and Kadazan.

Recenzje

'How is it that the imperially-shaped states and borders of Southeast Asia have shown such tenacious resilience in the face of the bewildering ethnic variety of the region? Anthony Reid's stylish, magisterial Imperial Alchemy explores how 'the base metal of empire' was 'transmuted into the gold of nationhood'. Drawing on a lifetime of close research into local histories of identity of Southeast Asia, Reid combines probing theoretical reflection, brilliant synthesis, and a command of the intricacies of regional ethnicity as broad as it is unmatched to create an absorbing, provocative account of the often troubled gestation and maturation of the nation-state in Southeast Asia.' R. E. Elson, The University of Queensland

Spis treści

1. Nationalism and Asia; 2. Understanding Southeast Asian diversities; 3. Chinese as the Southeast Asian 'other'; 4. Malay (Melayu) and its descendants: multiple meanings of a porous category; 5. Aceh: memories of monarchy; 6. Sumatran Bataks: from statelessness to Indonesian diaspora; 7. Lateforming ethnie in Malaysia: Kadazan or Dusun; 8. Imperial alchemy - revolutionary dreams.