Southeast Asia Lecture Notes

Chapter 13: Southeast Asia Learning Objectives • Understand the unique biogeography of Southeast Asia • Learn about export-based economies, and how they fit into the global economy • Become familiar with the physical, demographic, cultural, political, and economic characteristics of Southeast Asia • Understand the following concepts and models: Introduction • Setting the boundaries – Coastal and island countries of Southeast Asia, joined in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). There is considerable variation in spatial extent, population, cultural traits, and levels of economic and social development • Southeast Asia illustrates both the promises and perils of globalization • This region has long been influenced by external sources because of its resources and its strategic location • Recent economic turmoil has come with increased ethnic and social tensions in many countries in the region • ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has brought a new level of regional cooperation to the area with a goal of the countries in the region to control – rather than to be controlled by – external global forces Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region • The Tragedy of the Karen • Nearly 7 million tribal people living in the mountainous border between Burma and Thailand – Rebelled against the Burmese government to gain independence – Burmese army overran most of Karen territory, and gained control of the teak forests there • The Deforestation of Southeast Asia • Export-oriented logging companies have reached deep into the region’s forests – Damages watersheds, landscapes are denuded, wildlife habitat destroyed – Many southeast Asian countries have established bans on the export of raw logs Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region (cont.) • Smoke and Air Pollution • Increasingly poor air quality from urban smog, dry conditions, smoke from clearing forests for other uses Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region (cont.) • Patterns of Physical Geography – Mainland Environments • Rugged uplands interspersed with broad lowlands associated with large rivers • Mountains on the Thai-Burma border, and through Laos and southern Vietnam • Rivers: Mekong, Irrawaddy, Red, and Chao Phraya • Khorat Plateau (Thailand) has thin poor soils and water shortages Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region (cont.) • Patterns of Physical Geography (cont.) – The Influence of the Monsoon • Tropical monsoon and tropical wet climates in SE Asia • Monsoon winds bring hot and rainy season (May to October) • Dry and hot conditions (November to April) Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region (cont.) • Patterns of Physical Geography (cont.) – Insular Environments • Is a region of countless islands – Indonesia has more than 13,000 islands – Philippines has 7,000 islands – Island Climates • More complex than on the mainland – Receives rain during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter • Typhoons: tropical hurricanes that bring heavy rainfall to the northern reaches of insular Asia • Islands experience very little seasonality because of the equatorial influence (temperatures are high year-round) • Rainfall is higher and more evenly distributed throughout the year as compared to the mainland Population and Settlement: Subsistence, Migration, Cities • Areas of infertile soil and rugged mountains influence settlement • Settlement and Agriculture • Island rainforests generally have poor soils • Volcanic soils tend to be fertile • Relatively dense populations in the region’s river deltas, coastal areas, and zones of fertile volcanic soil – Swidden in the Uplands • • Sparse settlement • Swidden system – AKA “slash-and-burn” agriculture or shifting cultivation is practiced in the region’s uplands • Mountainous area of region is often called the “Golden Triangle” – Large opium production Population and Settlement: Subsistence, Migration, Cities (cont.) Settlement and Agriculture (cont.) – Plantation Agriculture • Colonial period: rice, cane sugar, rubber, and other cash crops • Commercial crops today: tea and copra (dried coconut meat) – Rice in the Lowlands • Lowlands of mainland Southeast Asia are used for intensive rice cultivation Population and Settlement: Subsistence, Migration, Cities (cont.) • Recent Demographic Change – Population Contrasts • Philippines: high growth rate reflects influence of Roman Catholic Church on family planning • Laos has highest TFR because of low level of development Population and Settlement: Subsistence, Migration, Cities (cont.) • Recent Demographic Change (cont.) – Population Contrasts (cont.) • Cambodia has high TFR, possibly linked to high mortality rate • Thailand’s TFR has dropped dramatically in recent years • Indonesia has the largest population of the region (225 million) – Growth and Migration • Indonesia has an official policy of transmigration – Transmigration: relocation of people from one region to another within a national territory – From Java to other Indonesian islands Population and Settlement: Subsistence, Migration, Cities (cont.) • Urban Settlement • Southeast Asia is about 40% urbanized – Many of the region’s countries have primate cities (single, large urban settlements that overshadow all others) » Efforts to encourage growth of secondary cities » Urban primacy less pronounced in Vietnam and Indonesia – Squatter settlements are common in this region – Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) is Southeast Asia’s largest city » Development from government and private investors produced a modern city with the Petronis Towers (the world’s tallest building when built in 1996) – Singapore is a city-state, with modern infrastructure and no squatter settlements Singapore (Fig. 13.17) Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. • Introduction and Spread of Major Cultural Traditions – South Asian Influences • The first major influence arrived from South Asia 2,000 years ago – Hindu influence remains only on the Indonesian island of Bali • Second wave in 13th century brought Theravada Buddhism – Buddhism found today in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia • Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. Introduction and Spread of Major Cultural Traditions, cont. – Chinese Influences • Vietnam had stronger influences from East Asia than South Asia (1000 A.D. established a kingdom of their own) • Chinese immigration peaked in 19th and early 20th centuries • Cultural Coherence & Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures (cont.) The Introduction and Spread of major cultural traditions (cont.) – The Arrival of Islam • Brought to Southeast Asia by Muslim merchants around 1200 C.E. – By 1650, Islam dominated in Malaysia and Indonesia – Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country » 87% of the 225 million Indonesians are Muslim Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. Introduction and Spread … (cont.) • The – Christianity and Tribal Cultures • In late 19th and early 20th centuries, Christian missionaries brought Christianity to the region – Conversion greatest among Animists in Southeast Asia’s highland region – Religious Persecution • Religious practices have been strongly discouraged in Vietnam, and Laos since communism took hold in 1975 – Buddhist majority and Christians face harassment • Burma's authoritarian government supports Buddhism, but monitors monks to ensure that they don’t promote democracy Religion in Southeast Asia Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. • Geography of Language and Ethnicity • Southeast Asia has five major linguistic groups, with several hundred distinct languages – The Austronesian Languages • Extends from Madagascar to Easter Island – Today, almost all of the insular Southeast Asian languages are in this family – Malay became the lingua franca (a language used for trading purposes) of the region – Spanish influence in the Philippines – Tibeto-Burman Languages • • Burmese (spoken in Burma) is closely related to Tibetan and distantly to Chinese Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. Geography of Language and Ethnicity (cont.) – Tai-Kadai Languages • Originated in southern China and then spread into Southeast Asia around 1200 – In Thailand, Laos, uplands of Vietnam, and parts of southern China – Mon-Khmer Languages • Vietnamese and Khmer (national language of Cambodia) Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures, cont. • Southeast Asian Culture in Global Context • European colonial rule brought a new era of globalization to the region – Languages, Christianity, new governmental, educational and economic systems • Many countries chose isolation after decolonization – Philippines was the most profoundly influenced by its colonization by Spain, and later by the U.S. » Quicker to adopt Western culture than other countries – Thailand also receptive to Western influences • Malaysia and Singapore more resistant to Western Culture Geopolitical Framework: War, Ethnic Strife, and Regional Cooperation • 10 geopolitical states • Southeast Asian countries have joined together under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) • Before European Colonialism • Most of the Southeast Asian countries existed as independent kingdoms before Europeans arrived • The Colonial Era • Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive (around 1500) in eastern Indonesia • Dutch arrived in 1600s, followed by the British – Dutch became the most powerful in the region • U.S. was the final colonial influence, in Philippines (1898) • Decolonization was completed in 1963 Colonial Southeast Asia • The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath • France determined to maintain control of its Southeast Asian colonies – War between communist forces in the north and French in the south – Geneva Agreement in 1954 partitioned the country into north and south halves (North Vietnam, South Vietnam) – Communist guerrillas in the south, Pathet Lao forces in Laos, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia all fought to expel western influences – Using the domino theory (fear that if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of S.E. Asia would follow), the U.S. sent troops to the region – U.S. defeat and withdrawal 1973–1975 » Refugees from the region as a result, including many migrating to the U.S. Geopolitical Issues • Geopolitical Tensions in Contemporary Southeast Asia – Conflicts in Indonesia • War in Irian Jaya for independence from Dutch, joined Indonesia • East Timor independence (1999), other independence movements • Political tensions between Muslim groups in Java (Indonesia) – Regional Tensions in the Philippines • Persistent problems in Islamic southwest, and possible links to Al Qaeda network – Burma’s Many Problems • Conflict between the Burman and non-Burman societies – The Shan, United Wa State Army, the Karen, The Mon – Thailand’s Troubles • Has freedoms and free press, but 2006 coup threatens democracy • Religious, ethnic conflict (Muslims in extreme south) • International Dimensions of Southeast Asia • Philippines and Malaysia conflict over their border • Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam all make claims to the Spratly and Paracel islands – China and Taiwan, too • Formation of ASEAN has had a calming influence in the region – Cooperation – Concerns about outside influences (Chinese, Western) Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics • Until the economic downturn of the 1990s, economic development in the region was a paragon for new global capitalism – Instability persists • Uneven Economic Development – The Philippine Decline • • Philippines was the most highly developed Southeast Asian country in the 1960s • In 1980s and 1990s the Philippines’ population outpaced its economic growth, and living standards declined – Decline attributed crony capitalism under Marcos regime • Many Filipinos have sought employment in other countries – Send money home (“remittances”) – Brain drain Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. Uneven Economic Development (cont.) – The Regional Hub: Singapore • Has transformed itself from an entrepôt (a port city where goods are imported, stored, and transshipped) to one of the world’s most modern states • Encourages investment by multinational firms, and has invested in itself – The Malaysian Boom • Has recently experienced rapid economic growth • Began with plantation agriculture and natural resource extraction, then manufacturing in labor-intensive high-tech sector • Wealth of Chinese (esp. in Malaysia) led to affirmative action for Bumiputra (“sons of the soil” Malaysians) • Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. Uneven Economic Development, cont. – Thailand: An Emerging Tiger? • Japanese companies were leading actors in Thailand’s earlier economic boom – Japanese factories in the region • Industrialization greatest in historical core (including Bangkok) • “Sex tourism” industry – Unstable Economic Expansion in Indonesia • • Indonesian economy began to expand in the 1970s – Fueled by oil exports and logging • Multinational corporations now attracted to the low-wage labor of the region • Indonesia remains poor; political instability a concern Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. Uneven Economic Development, cont. – The Recent Rise of Vietnam • As of 2006, Vietnam’s economy was growing at over 8% per year • Vietnam follows the Chinese model of economics; embracing market economies while retaining political forms of communism • Development uneven – Persistent Poverty in Laos, Cambodia, East Timor • Subsistence farming and foreign aid important to Laos, Cambodia – Laos pinning hopes on hydropower, mining, tourism, investment from Thailand and China – Cambodia face difficulties from rugged terrain, relative isolation, and ravages of war, government repression • East Timor has weakest economy in Southeast Asia – Recovering from its war for independence – Agreement with Australia to share revenues of offshore natural gas • Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. Uneven Economic Development, cont. – Burma’s Troubled Economy • Low economic development, but has great potential – Abundant natural resources and fertile farmland – Civil war a major problem – Burma beginning to trade with China and SE Asian neighbors Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. • Globalization and the Southeast Asian Economy • Southeast Asia as a whole has undergone rapid integration into the global economy – Significant development in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia • But development can bring problems – Environmental degradation – Growing social inequality – Outside of Singapore and Malaysia, workers wages are “miserably low,” and discipline may be harsh • Movements beginning in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere to pressure multinational corporations in Southeast Asia to improve working conditions Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics, cont. • Issues of Social Development • Singapore and Brunei lead the region in health and education • Laos and Cambodia rank low • Most countries place high priority on basic education – Literacy rates are relatively high – University and technical education still lagging; many study abroad • Countries of Southeast Asia must invest in their own human resources