Southeast Asian sex workers are stereotypically understood as passive victims of the political economy, and submissive to western men. The advent of HIV/AIDS only compounds this image, as sex workers come to represent the victims of, and vectors for, a deadly virus. From sensationalist stories of Bangkok bar girls to United Nations conventions on global sex trafficking, the media, activists and academics alike condemn uneven processes of economic development and uneven relations of power in the sale of sex. Whilst the goal of such commentary may be to transform the economic and social...

Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world - hosting a wide range of languages, ethnicities, religions, economies, ecosystems, and political systems. Amidst this diversity however has been a common desire to develop. This provides a uniting theme across landscapes of difference.

This Handbook traces the uneven experiences that have accompanied development in Southeast Asia. The region is often considered to be a development success story; however, it is increasingly recognized that growth underpinning this development has been accompanied by patterns of...