Scholars have given questions about the perpetrators of nameless violence in Southern Thailand little consideration, leaving the motives that drive Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) heavily cloaked in secrecy and speculation. This book offers a rare glimpse behind the veil that shrouds BRN-Coordinate. Using exclusive access to and detailed interviews with BRN-Coordinate members, this book analyses the communicative dimension of the insurgency. It depicts the hidden channels and organized violence that drive the regions enduring rebellion as well as BRN's dichotomous existence between silence and communication.

This collection examines the current stage of multicultural challenges and their influence on democracy in 12 countries of Europe and East Asia. Contributors draw out the differences between European and East Asian approaches to universalizing locality and localizing global norms regarding human rights and democratic individuality.

Southeast Asia is among emerging economies that have become important drivers of the world economy. ASEAN has furthered the region’s economic integration. Yet, growth remains dependent on foreign investment. Inequality has grown or remained high. Democracy, instead of consolidating, has stalled or regressed. Changing Constellations of Southeast Asia seeks to: Shed light on the gap between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia from a variety of viewpoints, across trade and industry, services and education and language policies; Examine institutions and elite capture to understand why middle-tier Southeast Asian countries have failed in following the ‘East Asian miracle’; Examine China’s growing influence and how this growing role affects Southeast Asia as a constellation. Contributing to critical political economy and comparative development studies in East Asia, this timely volume will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in Southeast Asia studies, International Political Economy, Development sociology and economics, Social Policy and Asian Politics.

This book examines the lives of the Malay and Cham Muslims in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and examines how they co-exist and live in societies that are dominated by an alternative consensus and are illiberal and non-democratic in nature. Focusing on two major Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, both of whom live as minorities in societies that are not democratic and have a history of hostility and repression towards non-conforming ideas, the book explains their circumstances, the choices and life decisions they have to make, and how minorities can thrive in an unfriendly, monocultural environment. Based on original field work and research, the author analyses how people live, and how they adapt to societies which are not motivated by Western liberal ideals of multiculturalism. The book also offers a unique perspective on how Islam develops in an environment where it is seen as alien and disloyal. A useful contribution analyzing historical and post-colonial experiences of Muslim minorities and how they survive and evolve over the course of state monopoly in mainland Southeast Asia, this book will be of interest to academics working on Muslim minorities, Asian Religion and Southeast Asian Studies.

In China, social development has fallen far behind economic development. This book looks at why this is the case, and poses the question of whether the conditions, structures and institutions that have locked China into unbalanced development are changing to pave the way for the next stage of development. Based on an empirical examination of ideological, structural and institutional transformations that have shaped China’s development experiences, the book analyses China’s reform and development in the social domain, including pension, healthcare, public housing, ethnic policy, and public expenditure on social programs. The book moves beyond descriptive analyses to understand the role of broader changes in shaping and redefining the pattern of development in China.