This book explains the political origins and evolution of capitalist institutions in developing countries by looking at distinct patterns in the electronics industry in three Southeast Asian countries: Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. An analysis of the political determinants of these patterns has a number of theoretical and practical implications. It includes a new explanation for family business behavior, a unified framework for explaining capitalist varieties, a guide for institutional reform, and a comparative examination of three dynamic Asian economies that provides important insights to students, scholars, and people in business.

This book devises an innovative new way of explaining how socioeconomic orders shape capitalism in Asia. Hundt and Uttam go beyond both the ‘varieties of capitalism’ approach, which is mainly used to analyse Western capitalism, and the 'developmental state' thesis, which is the primary framework for analysing capitalism in Asia, and propose a new and innovative approach to the emergence of capitalist systems. Rather than focusing solely or predominantly on the state, they argue, it is necessary to bring society back in to an analysis of capitalism. The authors apply this approach to case studies from across the region: Japan; South Korea and Taiwan; Hong Kong and Singapore; Malaysia and Thailand; and India and China. This volume will appeal to historians, political scientists and economists, as well as policymakers, who are interested in the transformation of the Asian region since World War II.

This book applies and develops the concept of “ersatz capitalism” in the analysis of industrial policy blockades to economic development in Malaysia and Indonesia. Drawing on insights from international political economy, development studies, industrial and innovation policy, and new institutionalism to refer to a specific type of capitalism, the book analyzes different paths and institutions of economic development within the entire East Asian region. Comprehensive theoretical insights are complemented by empirical case studies that relate to country and sectoral studies – the automotive and ICT industries – in Malaysia and Indonesia. Applying contemporary research on international political economy to refer to a specific type of capitalism, the author examines how conflicts of interest between factions of state apparatus, associations, and companies contribute to the failure of developmental policies. The unique combination of theory formation and empirical analysis provides a novel approach to international comparative research on capitalism. The book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of international political economy, development studies, new institutionalism, East Asian and Southeast Asian studies, and industrial and innovation policy.

This book examines five countries in South East Asia that are instructive case studies of how the region has had to negotiate pathways of development beyond crises and traps. At two ends of just one decade, 1997–2007, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam all had to weather the shocks of an East Asian financial crisis and a global financial crisis. Some economies might have buckled completely under those shocks and been condemned to long-term stagnation. Yet these five economies, part of the larger Asian region, emerged with continued if slower economic growth. An important theme of this book is that their resilience has been partly derived from the pursuit of growth and competitiveness along less known or recommended pathways. The chapters of this book take a novel approach to South East Asia’s search for growth and improvement. They do not begin by evaluating how far macro-level performances would take a particular country towards high-income status. Instead they provide original insights into actual cases of intermediate ways of achieving growth, upgrading and income improvement in non-privileged sectors. Such cases may hold more relevant lessons for the majority of developing countries than the experiences of highly developed economies.

Exploring the life of the world-shaping system of capitalism and the writings of leading thinkers, this book gives an account of recent developments of capitalism, including the impact of the global Climate Crisis, questions around democracy and capitalism, and the impact of COVID-19. Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance capitalism is still not widely understood. In this volume Paul Bowles addresses some of the key questions around the history of capitalism; What are the central, unchanging features of capitalism? How does capitalism vary from place to place and over time? Does capitalism improve our lives? Is capitalism a system which is "natural" and "free"? Or is it unjust and unstable? What about today’s global capitalism? Will capitalism destroy or liberate us? This third edition of a classic text includes updates to all chapters with the inclusion of more global material, as well as a new chapter focussing on the future of capitalism, the clash of different capitalisms including neoliberal versus state capitalism, and whether we are seeing the end of capitalism and, if so, what post-capitalism might look like.

"This is not only the best collection of essays on the political economy of Southeast Asia, but also, as a singular achievement of the “Murdoch School”, one of the rarest of books that demonstrates how knowledge production travels across generations, institutions and time periods, thereby continually enriching itself. No course on Southeast Asia can afford to miss it as its core text." (Professor Amitav Acharya, American University, USA) "This book – the fourth in a path-breaking series – demonstrates why a critical political economy approach is more crucial than ever for understanding Southeast Asia's transformation. Across a wide range of topics, the book explains how capitalist development and globalisation are reshaping the societies, economies and politics of a diverse group of countries, casting light on the deep sources of economic and social power in the region. This is a book that every student of Southeast Asia needs to read." (Professor Edward Aspinall, Australian National University, Australia) "This book does what a work on political economy should do: challenge existing paradigms in order to gain a deeper understanding of the processes of social transformation. This volume is distinctive in three ways. First, it eschews methodological nationalism and focuses on how the interaction of national, regional, and global forces are shaping and reshaping systems of governance, mass politics, economies, labor-capital relations, migration, and gender relations across the region. Second, it is a bold effort to show how the “Murdoch School,” which focuses on the dynamic synergy of internal class relations and global capitalism, provides a better explanatory framework for understanding social change in Southeast Asia than the rival “developmental state” and “historical institutionalist” approaches. Third, alongside established luminaries in the field, it showcases the younger generation of political economists doing pathbreaking work on different dimensions of the political economy of the region." (Walden Bello, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA, and Former Member of the Philippines’ House of Representatives) "This very timely fourth edition explores Southeast Asia’s political economy within the context of hyperglobalisation and China’s pronounced social-structural impacts on international politics, finance and economics over the past decade and a half. The volume successfully adopts a cross-cutting thematic approach, while also conveying the diversity and divergences among the Southeast Asian states and economies. This will be an important resource for scholars of International Relations and Comparative Politics, who need to take an interest in a dynamic and increasingly significant part of Asia." (Professor Evelyn Goh, Australian National University, Australia) “This ambitious collection takes a consistent theoretical approach and applies it to a thematic, comparative analysis across Southeast Asia. The yield is impressive: the social, political and economic forces constituting the current conjuncture are not simply invoked, they are thoroughly identified and explained. By posing the deceptively simple questions of what is happening and why, the authors demonstrate the reciprocal relation between theory-building and empirical inquiry, providing a model of engaged scholarship with global resonance. Bravo!" (Professor Tania Li, University of Toronto, Canada) "Counteracting the spaceless and flattened geography of much literature on uneven development, this book delivers a forensic examination of the unevenness of geographical development in Southeast Asia and the relations of force shaping capital, state, nature and civil society. This is the most compelling theoretical and empirical political economy book available on Southeast Asia." (Professor Adam David Morton, University of Sydney, Australia) "A vital book for all scholars, students and practitioners concerned with political economy and development, this volume combines cutting-edge theory with rich and wide-ranging empirical analysis. It is terrific to see the continued success of this book with this fully revised fourth edition." (Professor Nicola Philips, Kings College London, UK) "The Political Economy of Southeast Asia has become a leading reference for students of the region. With its breadth of geographic scope, timely themes, clarity of prose and rigour of analysis, Carroll, Hameiri and Jones have ensured that with this fourth edition the volume will continue its landmark status. The book, which brings together prominent experts in the field, will not only be of immense interest to scholars studying Southeast Asia, but also those seeking to understand the multifaceted nature of the political economy of uneven development in contemporary capitalism." (Professor Susanne Soederberg, Queen’s University, Canada) "The Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University has long produced leading analyses of the social, economic and political developments in Southeast Asia. This volume carries on that wonderful tradition. It brings together top-class scholars to challenge our assumptions about one of the most dynamic parts of the world. This collection is a crucial read for anyone interested in understanding trends in Southeast Asia’s development today and into the future." (Professor Richard Stubbs, McMaster University, Canada) "This fourth volume in a distinguished series provides a welcome and timely update of the Murdoch School’s distinctive approach to understanding the evolving political economy of Southeast Asia. Its theoretical depth and wide empirical scope will be of great value to scholars, students and practitioners seeking a systematic understanding of the political economy dynamics in the Asian region and, more broadly, of states and regions embedded in a complex, unstable global political economy." (Professor Andrew Walter, University of Melbourne) This all-new fourth edition of The Political Economy of Southeast Asia constitutes a state-of-the-art, comprehensive analysis of the political, economic, social and ecological development of one of the world’s most dynamic regions. With contributions from world-leading experts, the volume is unified by a single theoretical approach: the Murdoch School of political economy, which foregrounds struggles over power and resources and the evolving global context of hyperglobalisation. Themes considered include gender, populism, the transformation of the state, regional governance, aid and the environment. The volume will be of interest to scholars and students across multiple disciplines, including political economy, development studies, international relations and area studies. The findings of contributors will also be of value to civil society, policymakers and anyone interested in Southeast Asia and its development.

The increasing economic and political importance of East Asia in the global political economy requires a deeper analysis of the nature of the capitalist systems in this region than has been provided by the existing literature on comparative capitalisms. This volume brings together conceptual and empirical analyses of the evolving patterns of East Asian capitalism against the backdrop of regional and global market integration and periodic economic crises since the 1980s. Focusing on China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, it provides an interdisciplinary account of variations, continuities, and changes in the institutional structures that govern financial systems, industrial relations, and product markets, and that shape the evolution of national political economies. While the volume encompasses a range of different cases, specific issues, and diverse methodologies, all the chapters address two dominant themes - the continuities and changes in the institutional underpinnings of capitalist development and the main driving forces behind them. The book thus provides an integrated analysis of how changing institutional practices in business, financial, and labour systems interact and affect the evolution of capitalist political economies in the region.

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.

World trade and investment law is in crisis: new and progressive ideas are needed. Rules that facilitated globalization and supported global economic growth are being challenged. A system of global governance that once seemed secure is now at risk as the United States ignores the rules while developing countries struggle to escape restrictions. Some want to tear global institutions and agreements down while others try desperately to maintain the status quo. Rejecting both options, a group of trade and investment law experts from 10 countries, South and North, have joined hands to propose ideas for a new world trade and investment law that would maintain global growth while distributing costs and benefi ts more fairly. Paying special attention to those who have suffered from trade dislocation and to restrictions that have hampered innovative growth strategies in developing countries, they outline a progressive trade and investment law agenda in World Trade and Investment Law Reimagined.

The Philippines is a fascinating example of a "poor country democracy" where issues of economic development and poverty, political participation and stability, as well as ethnicity and migration are crucial. The Routledge Handbook of the Contemporary Philippines provides a comprehensive overview of the current political, economic, social, and cultural issues of the country. The Handbook is divided into the following four sections concentrating on a different aspect of the Philippines: domestic politics; foreign relations; economics and social policy; cultures and movements. In terms of domestic politics, chapters discuss clientelism, bossism, dynasties, pork barrel and corruption as well as institutions - the presidency, congress, the judiciary, the civil service, political parties, and civilian-military relations. The Philippines is confronted with many overseas challenges, with the foreign relations section focused on the country’s relationship with China, Japan, and the USA as well as assessing the impact of the Filipino diaspora community around the world. Regarding economics and social policy, authors examine industrial policy, capital flight, microfinance, technocracy, economic nationalism, poverty, social welfare programs, and livelihoods. The final section on Philippine cultures and movements highlights issues of customs, gender, religion, and nationalism while also examining various social and political forces - the peasantry, the middle class, indigenous peoples, NGOs, the left, trade unionism, the women’s movement, and major insurgencies. Written by leading experts in the field, the Handbook provides students, scholars, and policymakers of Southeast Asia with an interdisciplinary resource on the evolving politics, society, and economics of the Philippines.