DSPO 22A10 - Southeast Asian Political Dynamics

The notion of Southeast Asia is relatively recent, emerging as a geographical concept only in the 1920s and as a potentially political construct during the Second World War. Yet quite rapidly elites in this new region established in 1967 one of the oldest regional organizations in the world the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Unlike the European Union which finds its roots in a shared historical and religious past, ASEAN, on the contrary revels in the diversity of its members. Indeed, it is precisely because of this diversity that Southeast Asia offers a unique field of observation for the student of comparative politics. Southeast Asia is the only region in the world where the six great religious/philosophical traditions are present - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism and Islam - are not only present but impact profoundly on the everyday lifes and political culture of its people. For better or worse all of the Western colonial powers - the Americans, British, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish - have left an imprint on the political systems that emerged after Independence in the second part of the 20th century and the efforts to adapt Western notions of power and liberal democracy to societies with their own deeply based political cultures. The fourfold typology mentioned in the course title is somewhat arbitrary: it would be more appropriate to think in terms of an evolving continuum stretching from anarchy to totalitarian control. However, the typology is designed to help pursue the first of the course's objectives: a comparative analysis of regime type. This is designed to complement your more generally theoretical courses in political science. The second objective of the course is to prompt a more in-depth study of one particular country in Southeast Asia in the joint semester essay to be undertaken between 2 or 3 students. The third concern of the course is to attempt to draw the links between the ten individual member states and their regional organization, ASEAN. The question is posed: do the principles of consensus, non-interference and centrality determined only by external geopolitical constraints or do they spring from the nature of the individual member states themselves.

David CAMROUX

Séminaire

English

Dr David Camroux is Honorary Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po. Within Southeast Asia he has been a Visiting Professor at Ateneo de Manila University, Chulalongkorn University, Gadjah Mada University, the University of Malaya, the University of Mandalay and the Vietnam National University. Researching and teaching in an interdisciplinary way at the interface between Comparative Politics and International Relations, he is the author of numerous articles on Southeast Asian politics and history, the international relations of the Asia-Pacific and EU-Asia relations. He is the co-editor of The Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs and at Sciences Po, co-cordinates the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. Dr Camroux studied for his first degree at the University of Sydney and for his doctorate at the Sorbonne.

Spring 2024-2025

To validate the course, the student is expected to pass the following assignments (at least three grades): 1°) An end of semester joint essay (70%). As I wish to encourage group work this should be written by 2-3 students (maximum), one Asian and the other not. The essay should be of 10-15 pages maximum each page of 1 500 characters. Students are encouraged to use bibliographical resources in the native language. 2°) A reading report to be presented in mid semester (20%) 3°) Class participation (10%)

At the end of the course, the student is expected to have 1°) Developed a clearer idea of these various regime types 2°) Obtained some basic ideas of the recent political trajectories of the countries of Southeast Asia 3°) Have honed his/her ability to write academic papers in a team context