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Article Excerpt
Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis. Edited by Erik Martinez Kuhonta, Dan Slater and Tuong Vu. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2008. Softcover: 455pp.
This audacious collection of articles takes on the insouciance of the American sub-field of "comparative politics" towards area studies in general and Southeast Asian studies in particular. The authors make a strong case for how Southeast Asia's dense history and politics can serve as a "laboratory" in which to test theories of comparative politics, thereby contributing to the drawn-out debate between area studies and the quest for "grand" theory (and over which methodology best explains political realities). The editors also claim that bringing Southeast Asian studies into comparative politics would help "in breaking down essentialist mindsets" (p. 328), notably "primordialist views of identity" and religion.
Where does this boldness come from? In part it derives from the authors, especially the authors at the rank of assistant professor, who have been well-trained in their craft. They deploy with ease the...
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