Locating Liberalisms in Southeast Asia

An Introductory Essay

Bibliographic Data

ID12349372
AuthorsMichael K Connors (0000-0002-2180-3553, Monash University Malaysia, corresponding author), Mark R Thompson (0000-0002-7004-3669, City University of Hong Kong)
Year2023
Volume47
Issue1
Pages1-15
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1035-7823 • E-ISSN: 1467-8403
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10357823.2022.2153798
OpenAlexW4316040108
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited43

This Introduction argues that Southeast Asian liberalisms have often been misrecognised – or even ignored – by scholars because liberals in the region do not conform to the expectations of ‘benchmark’ liberalism of the West. It points to efforts by liberal actors to promote a viable political discourse or to defend a liberal minimum in hostile environments, often leading localised pragmatic liberalisms to travel far from the ideals of benchmark liberalism. In seeking to advance the study of liberalism in Southeast Asian Studies it introduces the work of two major theorists, Duncan Bell and Michael Freeden, whose distinctive approaches offer an opportunity to think of liberalism in ways that enable its identification in Southeast Asian locations. It then provides brief summaries of each of the papers, which offer comparative or country-level analysis, bringing into view historical and contemporary manifestations of liberalism in the region. It concludes with comments about possible research paths

Ethnology · Identification (biology · Liberalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Southeast asia · Asian Studies and History · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies