Taking a developmental approach, this book critically reviews Vietnam's reform process and shows how the country's reform agenda is still dominated by a 'developmental orthodoxy' inspired by a post-Washington consensus. The author argues that a wider debate is needed in order to give national policy makers the full spectrum of alternatives to support well-informed policy decisions. In particular, the book indicates that two issues central for any analysis of the Vietnamese development reform process are substantially underdeveloped in the current scientific debate: the experience of the...

Helen James considers security in Myanmar/Burma. She uses the ideas put forward in the United Nations Development Programme's 1994 report, of human, as opposed to state and security, going on to argue that freedom from want, and freedom from fear (of the regime) are in fact mutually supportive ideas, and that the security of the people and the security of the state are in fact in a symbiotic relationship with each other.

Presenting new and significant information of the security concept of Myanmar/Burma, James' original work considers economic development, health, education,...

Although over eighty percent of the country is Muslim, Indonesia is marked by an extraordinary diversity in language, ancestry, culture, religion and ways of life. This book focuses on the Christian Dani of West Papua, providing a social and ethnographic history of the most important indigenous population in the troubled province. It presents a fascinating overview of the Dani s conversion to Christianity, examining the social, religious and political uses to which they have put their new religion.

Based on independent research carried out over many years among the Dani...

Older persons are often portrayed as social and financial burdens because pensions, health and social care have to withstand increasing old age dependency ratios. Due to a lack of access to representation or a lack of social and economic power, older people have found few opportunities to have their voices heard, making age an immensely political issue.

Written by an impressive team of authors, this book provides an in-depth analysis of the experience of ageing in Singapore examining key issues such as health, work, housing, family ties and care giving. It looks at how social...

Taking a theoretical and multidisciplinary perspective, the essays in this collection provide compelling insight into contemporary Cambodian culture at home and abroad. The book represents the first sustained exploration of the relationship between cultural productions and practices, the changing urban landscape and the construction of identity and nation building twenty-five years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. As such, the team of international contributors address the politics of development and conservation, tradition and modernity within the global economy, and...

This highly relevant study provides an incisive analysis of a critical phase in recent East Asian financial history, exploring the underlying causes of the financial crisis that struck Indonesia during the second half of 1997.

Matsumoto's extensive commercial experience in Indonesian finance during these critical years, allows him to skilfully argue that the roots of the crisis lay in the period of capital liberalization undertaken during the boom years from 1994 to 1997 which encouraged the development of fragile and unstable financial structures, involving increased corporate...

The Indonesian term adat means 'custom' or 'tradition', and carries connotations of sedate order and harmony. Yet in recent years it has suddenly become associated with activism, protest and violence. This book investigates the revival of adat in Indonesian politics, identifying its origins, the historical factors that have conditioned it and the reasons behind its recent blossoming.

It considers whether the adat revival is a constructive contribution to Indonesia's new political pluralism or a divisive, dangerous and reactionary force, and examines the...

Through close scrutiny of empirical materials and interviews, this book uniquely analyzes all the episodes of long-running, widespread communal violence that erupted during Indonesia's post-New Order transition.

Indonesia democratised after the long and authoritarian New Order regime ended in May 1998. But the transition was far less peaceful than is often thought. It claimed about 10,000 lives in communal (ethnic and religious) violence, and nearly as many as that again in separatist violence in Aceh and East Timor.

Taking a comprehensive look at the communal violence that...

Based on research carried out over the three decades, this book compares the post-war political economies of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in the context of their individual and collective impact on contemporary efforts at regional integration. The author highlights the different paths to reform taken by the three neighbours and the effect this has had on regional plans for economic development through the ASEAN and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Through its comparative analysis of the reforms implemented by Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam over the last thirty years, the book draws attention...