Book Description

This is an open access book. Each country in Southeast Asia has experienced numerous adversities, from pandemic and disasters, to inequalities and threats to democracy. Adding to these challenges, are our common experience of colonialism where its legacies still resonate in the present. Despite these challenges, Southeast Asia continue to participate in global commitments geared towards realizing sustainable development, democracy, and countervailing the imbalance global power relation. Furthermore, Southeast Asia has been the center of studies that critically examined the global power of knowledge production. Categories of ‘developing, undeveloped, or third world’ have been largely questioned, as these categories created more segregation and reflected Orientalist notion rather than acknowledging countries of Southeast Asia and others as a distinct entity. Under this backdrop, the conference will explore these important questions: what makes Southeast Asia resilient? Why? What brought Southeast Asia together as ‘Southeast Asia’? What are the challenges for Southeast Asia today? How do we overcome them? How does Southeast Asia contest and cooperate with global powers within the international network? This conference will bring together academics, educators, activists, or even policy makers who work on Southeast Asia to discuss those questions. Experts within and outside the countries of Southeast Asia are welcome to share their research and knowledge on various issues about the region.