Suchergebnisse

Scholar Activist Khoo Khay Jin: Reflections on the Penan Sarawak and Malaysia is a tribute to a towering yet unassuming intellectual, Khoo Khay Jin, one of the best-read scholars of his generation in Malaysia and a brilliant statistician. Undoubtedly, 'Scholar-Activist' is a very appropriate description of the man, Khoo Khay Jin. So too the title of this book. He was never an arm-chair critic confined to providing analytical input from behind a desk as he personally took part in a number of focus group discussions with communities across the two states to obtain and analyse data and input from various stakeholders including grassroots communities and to ensure their voices were heard and taken into consideration in national and state planning. His commitment towards providing a voice to these communities continues to be inspiring and noteworthy for all Malaysian development practitioners.

At the end of the last century the discovery of tin-deposits made the Kinta District of Malaysia the most productive alluvial tin-mining region in the world with a rapidly increasing population, mainly comprising Chinese immigrants. This study of the Chinese working people in Kinta explores how their lives and the economic structures of the region have changed over a period of hundred years. (DÜI-Bsn)

The mainstream media typically gives credit to the "Pak Lah" factor in explaining the spectacular electoral victory of Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in the March 2004 general elections. Abdullah Badawi, nicknamed Pak Lah, replaced Malaysia's long-time leader Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysia's new prime minister. Malaysia's voters supposedly became impressed with Abdullah's more endearing public image as well as his impressive reform initiatives. However, this only partially explains the victory. More importantly, the BN always wins because it maintains undemocratic controls over Malaysia's electoral politics through its possession of large amounts of capital, its more comprehensive electoral machine, and its control over the mainstream media. Moreover, the Mahathir government abused its powers by arresting prominent opposition leaders under suspicious charges, manipulating the courts, and amending the Election Act to terms favorable to the BN but detrimental to the opposition parties. The war on terrorism provided a further opportunity to advance the prestige of the BN as Mahathir emerged as an international symbol for moderate Islam as well as a leader of the Global South. Finally, the powerful new political culture which the author refers to as "developmentalism" also plays a prominent role in the Malaysian electorate's decision to keep the BN in power. Malaysia's recent economic growth and political stability has been perceived to result from the BN's neoliberal policies of privatization, deregulation, and attracting foreign investment. Because of the general improvement in living standards, Malaysians value the development and modernization of their country above ethnicism. Moreover, Malaysians cannot imagine having political stability without BN rule, and the opposition lacks experience in promoting development. Thus, a "self-policing" system has emerged that has led the Malaysian citizenry to rely on the BN for economic growth and stability.

Analyses discourses pertinent to democratic politics in Malaysia, including the political elite's interpretation of 'Asian values' and 'Asian democracy', contending Islamic views on democracy, the impact of developmentalism on political culture, and the recovery of women's voice in everyday politics

It is now apparent, especially in the aftermath of the regional financial crisis of 1997, that globalization has been impacting upon the Southeast Asian economies and societies in new and harrowing ways, a theme of many recent studies. Inadvertently, these studies of globalization have also highlighted that the 1980s and 1990s debate on democratization in the region _ which focused on the emergence of the middle classes, the roles of new social movements, NGOs and the changing relations between state and civil society _ might have been overly one-dimensional. {0B}{0B}This volume revisits the theme of democratization via the lenses of globalization, understood economically, politically and culturally. Although globalization increasingly frames the processes of democracy and development, nonetheless, the governments and peoples of Southeast Asia have been able to determine the pace and character _ even the direction of these processes _ to a considerable extent. This collection{0B}{0B}of essays (by some distinguished senior scholars and other equally perceptive younger ones) focuses on this globalization_democratization{0B}{0B}nexus and shows, empirically and analytically, how governance is being{0B}{0B}restructured and democracy sometimes deepened in this new global era. A historical review introduces the volume while an analytical assessment{0B}{0B}of the ten case-studies concludes it

It is now apparent, especially in the aftermath of the regional financial crisis of 1997, that globalization has been impacting upon the Southeast Asian economies and societies in new and harrowing ways, a theme of many recent studies. Inadvertently, these studies of globalization have also highlighted that the 1980s and 1990s debate on democratization in the region _ which focused on the emergence of the middle classes, the roles of new social movements, NGOs and the changing relations between state and civil society _ might have been overly one-dimensional. #xB;#xB;This volume revisits the theme of democratization via the lenses of globalization, understood economically, politically and culturally. Although globalization increasingly frames the processes of democracy and development, nonetheless, the governments and peoples of Southeast Asia have been able to determine the pace and character _ even the direction of these processes _ to a considerable extent. This collection#xB;#xB;of essays (by some distinguished senior scholars and other equally perceptive younger ones) focuses on this globalization_democratization#xB;#xB;nexus and shows, empirically and analytically, how governance is being#xB;#xB;restructured and democracy sometimes deepened in this new global era. A historical review introduces the volume while an analytical assessment#xB;#xB;of the ten case-studies concludes it.--