Books on Southeast Asian nationalist movements make very little - if any - mention of women in their ranks. Biographical studies of politically active women in Southeast Asia are also rare. Women in Southeast Asian Nationalist Movements makes a strong case for the significance of women's involvement in nationalist movements and for the diverse impact of those movements on the lives of individual women activists. Some of the 12 women whose political activities are discussed in this volume are well known, while others are not. Some of them participated in armed struggles, while others pursued peaceful ways of achieving national independence. The authors show women negotiating their own subjectivity and agency at the confluence of colonialism, patriarchal traditions, and modern ideals of national and personal emancipation. They also illustrate the constraints imposed on them by wider social and political structures, and show what it was like to live as a political activist in different times and places. Fully documented and drawing on wider scholarship, this book will be of interest to students of Southeast Asian history and politics as well as readers with a particular interest in women, nationalism and political activism.

This book aims to contribute to the discourse on women and politics in Southeast Asia. The chapters, covering Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Singapore, analyse the asymmetrical power relationships between the sexes and how power differentials between men and women play out in the realm of politics are a reflection of the power contestations women face with men in other spheres of everyday life. Each chapter seeks to ask a different question in terms of where women viz. men stand in the political landscape of their countries, in an effort to answer the question of Where are the women in the gender trope in Asian politics. While the chapters are primarily empirical as they delve into the challenges, contradictions and conflicts Southeast Asian women encounter, the main assertion is that womens struggles in the realm of politics are a result of having to operate within power structures created principally by men, thereby producing barriers for women to enter politics, on the one hand, and to increase their numbers and widen their sphere of influence, on the other. Recognizing that Asian politics is dominated by men, the question of how women have negotiated a value system that is inherently male-centred and male-controlled is also discussed. The implicit narrative demonstrated in this book is that the political arena should not be considered in isolation from other arenas but instead is essentially a mirror of other arenas whether the home, workplace, nation, and/or global spaces each marked by power contestations between men and women and having a spill-over effect on the other, as well as shaping womens experiences in the political realm.

This handbook presents a comprehensive survey of the formation and transformation of nationalism in 15 East and Southeast Asian countries. Written by a team of international scholars from different backgrounds and disciplines, this volume offers new perspectives on studying Asian history, society, culture, and politics, and provides readers with a unique lens through which to better contextualise and understand the relationships between countries within East and Southeast Asia, and between Asia and the world. It highlights the latest developments in the field and contributes to our knowledge and understanding of nationalism and nation building. Comprehensive and clearly written, this book examines a diverse set of topics that include theoretical considerations on nationalism and internationalism; the formation of nationalism and national identity in the colonial and postcolonial eras; the relationships between traditional culture, religion, ethnicity, education, gender, technology, sport, and nationalism; the influence of popular culture on nationalism; and politics, policy, and national identity. It illustrates how nationalism helped to draw the borders between the nations of East and Southeast Asia, and how it is re-emerging in the twenty-first century to shape the region and the world into the future. The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia is essential reading for those interested in and studying Asian history, Social and Cultural history, and modern history.

This collection of essays examines how Southeast Asian women writers engage with the grand narratives of nationalism and the modern nation-state by exploring the representations of gender, identity and nation in the postcolonial literatures of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Bringing to light the selected works of overlooked local women writers and providing new analyses of those produced by internationally-known women authors and artists, the essays situate regional literary developments within historicized geopolitical landscapes to offer incisive analyses and readings on how women and the feminine are imagined, represented, and positioned in relation to the Southeast Asian nation.The book, which features both cross-country comparative analyses and country-specific investigations, also considers the ideas of the nation and the state by investigating related ideologies, rhetoric, apparatuses, and discourses, and the ways in which they affect women’s bodies, subjectivities, and lived realities in both historical and contemporary Southeast Asian contexts. By considering how these literary expressions critique, contest, or are complicit in nationalist projects and state-mandated agendas, the collection contributes to the overall regional and comparative discourses on gender, identity and nation in Southeast Asian studies.

This book brings together a wide range of case studies to explore the experiences and significance of women warriors in Southeast Asian history from ancient to contemporary times. Using a number of sources, including royal chronicles, diaries, memoirs and interviews, the book discusses why women warriors were active in a domain traditionally preserved for men, and how they arguably transgressed peacetime gender boundaries as agents of violence. From multidisciplinary perspectives, the chapters assess what drove women to take on a variety of roles, namely palace guards, guerrillas and war leaders, and to what extent their experiences were different to those of men. The reader is taken on an almost 1,500-year long journey through a crossroads region well-known for the diversity of its peoples and cultures, but also their ability to creatively graft foreign ideas onto existing ones. The book also explores the re-integration of women into post-conflict Southeast Asian societies, including the impact (or lack thereof) of newly established international norms, and the frequent turn towards pre-conflict gender roles in these societies. Written by an international team of scholars, this book will be of interest to academics working on Southeast Asian Studies, Gender Studies, low-intensity conflicts and revolutions, and War, Conflict, and Peace Studies.

Southeast Asia, an economically dynamic and strategically vital region, seemed until recently to be transiting to more democratic politics. This progress has suddenly stalled or even gone into reverse, requiring that analysts seriously rethink their expectations and theorizing. The Routledge Handbook of Southeast Asian Democratization provides the first book-length account of the reasons for democracy’s declining fortunes in the region today. Combining theory and case studies, it is structured in four major sections: Stunted Trajectories and Unhelpful Milieus Wavering Social Forces Uncertain Institutions Country cases and democratic guises This interdisciplinary reference work addresses topics including the impact of belief systems, historical records, regional and global contexts, civil society, ethnicity, women, Islam, and social media. The performance of political institutions is also assessed, and the volume offers a series of in-depth case studies, evaluating the country records of particular democratic, hybrid, and authoritarian regimes from a democratization perspective. Bringing together nearly 30 key international experts in the field, this cutting-edge Handbook offers a comprehensive and fresh investigation into democracy in the region This timely survey will be essential reading for scholars and students of Democratization and Asian Politics, as well as policymakers concerned with democracy’s setbacks in Southeast Asia and the implications for the region’s citizens.

This book focuses on education and Afghan women in the pre-Taliban period, under the Taliban and today. More specifically, it explores the educational prospects for women under and following the fall of the Taliban, the significant improvements that have been achieved during the past few years and the challenges that still lie ahead. Against this background, concepts such as education, empowerment and personal development are discussed, as well as the progress and the challenges that women in Afghanistan will face in the event of the Taliban returning to power. This publication offers a unique, original and current insight into the world of Afghan women, encompassing contributions from academics, journalists and civil society advocates.

With thirty-two original chapters reflecting cutting edge content throughout developed and developing Asia, Women of Asia: Globalization, Development, and Gender Equity is a comprehensive anthology that contributes significantly to understanding globalization’s transformative process and the resulting detrimental and beneficial consequences for women in the four major geographic regions of Asia—East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Eurasia/Central Asia—as it gives "voice" to women and provides innovative ways through which salient understudied issues pertaining to Asian women’s situation are brought to the forefront.

The World Today Series: East & Southeast Asia provides historical background on the evolution of Modern East & Southeast Asia to help readers gain a thorough understanding of contemporary developments in this vital region. Broad introductory regional chapters are followed by sections on each country in the region. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors, and students to understand the immediate background of contemporary developments.

The World Today Series: East & Southeast Asia provides historical background on the evolution of Modern East & Southeast Asia to help readers gain a thorough understanding of contemporary developments in this vital region. Broad introductory regional chapters are followed by sections on each country in the region. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors, and students to understand the immediate background of contemporary developments.