Asian Journal of Social Science最新文献

This article seeks to tell the story of how the development of Singapore's multiracial housing nation involved resettling all of the islanders on one of the Southern Islands, Bukom Kechil. Little has been written about the development of the housing nation vis-a-vis the Southern Islands, about its manner and consequences. The aim of the essay is to study the resettlement of a particular small island population into, relatively speaking, a large city with a completely different physical and socioeconomic ecology. In what follows, I will examine four key mechanisms that underpinned the resettlement of the Southern Islands and un-homed its majority Malay population: (1) the harnessing of key institutions, such as gotong royong, for political canvassing, (2) the appropriation of the land by the state, (3) the pecahan (breakup) which un-homed the Malay islanders, and (4) the tight political and economic alliance with global investors.

In this paper, we explore the impacts of political forces within local governance mechanisms during and in the aftermath of climate change led disasters in the Indian Sundarbans. Analyzing post-disaster scenarios after recent cyclones like Amphan and Yaas we aim to answer analytical questions like, what costs are born by people in vulnerable landscapes when disaster mitigation action plans are marred by climate politics? How do political capacities of different actors shape the implementation of climate action in the aftermath of disasters? These questions might justify whether climate actions are part of a comprehensive strategy of vulnerability reduction or merely symbolic gestures that lack a deeper understanding of place-based environmental and social complexities that are intertwined with the seemingly visible impacts of climate change. Drawing on empirical observations from selected disaster affected villages of the Indian Sundarbans, we argue that competing models of climate change led disaster management requires protracted engagement with the overarching role of electoral politics in mediating the crisis scenario and post-disaster recovery.

Since the turn of the 21st century, aging populations and low fertility rates have alarmed governments across Europe and East Asia. The Communist state of Vietnam is now experiencing the same situation. The government has recently started a propaganda campaign to encourage its citizens to not postpone marriage and having children. This article explores one recent attempt—a viral post published on the government's Facebook page in November 2023 urging young citizens to marry before 30, attracting hundreds of thousands of reactions and comments. The article examines this heteronormative message and netizens’ comments, which show humor, resistance, and critiques of the government's welfare system. Using the concepts of (counter-) interpellation, it reveals the nuances of the power relations between the state and its people in this case study where biopolitics and personal choice intersect, illuminating how social networks provide a discursive space for mundane political engagement.

Drawing on interviews with 55 Muslim sex workers in Surabaya City, Indonesia, this study challenges prevailing narratives that portray a “Third World sex worker” as a “powerless victim” by presenting their dynamic experiences in sex work. The study examines the moral conflicts and societal stigma these women endure within the context of Indonesia's Islamic moralistic stance, which condemns sex work, along with legislative restrictions inherent in the country's political Islamic structure. It also sheds light on how these women exercise agency by employing psychological and distancing strategies to navigate the inherent challenges of sex work. By incorporating an Islamic perspective into the gender analytical framework, this study provides culturally specific insight into the interplay between “Islam, sex work, and agency” in studies on sex work.

This article looks at the structure of “public” and its meanings in colonial South Malabar. What factors influence various social groups to engage with colonial public and unfold as key political players? How did upper caste-dominated colonial publics affect local political contexts? Why were certain social groups silenced as other groups were overwhelmingly favored in colonial publics? By analyzing the case of Kalpathy struggles in Palakkad, this paper brings the nuances of how claims for public were articulated, the responses of the state and nationalist movement, regional politics, and contestations. This essay demonstrates how the modern political process facilitates the formation of groups into political subjectivities, as well as how they influence exclusionary community power structures.

In China, when top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meet intractable intraparty struggles, they may resort to revision of party history for the settlement. This has become an idiosyncratic tactic in China's elite politics that draws scholars’ interests. How does party history revision solve leadership struggles? I argue that this repetitive phenomenon can be explained to a certain degree by path dependence. This research investigates the historical process of how party history was enmeshed in intraparty struggles, institutionalized, and exerted path-dependent impact. By reviewing the process, I find that a political tactic at an early critical juncture may engender institutionalization, generate path-dependent effect, and push historical development along a particular path. Path dependence may lead the same phenomenon to repetitively occur across time.

Cambodian garment factories are involved in upstream processing for the global apparel value chain, and its industrial relations (IR) governance differs from the tripartite system, demonstrating the characteristics of multiple international actors participating in governance. Based on field work in Cambodia, including in-depth interviews with stakeholders in the garment industry, this study aims to answer two questions: How does IR governance in Cambodian garment industry reach internationalization? What “weapons” do the various actors use to fight, negotiate, and cooperate in IR governance in the Cambodian garment sector? Our data analysis reveals that in the governance of IR systems in the upstream garment industry of the global apparel value chain, international actors play a dominant role, which is different from the traditional "tripartite labor relations system." International actors include stakeholders from exporting and importing countries, international organizations, and lead firms. These actors utilize four “weapons”: political authority, economic leverage, public mobilization, and professional training to impact outcomes of the IR system in the sector.

This study explores the attachment to hometown among nonmetropolitan youths in postgrowth Japan. The existing literature suggests that they feel attached to their hometowns due to intimate bonds with their families and friends or easy access to shopping and leisure facilities, even amid uncertain employment prospects. However, these observations often assume that those remaining in the provinces have lower academic attainment and a lack of motivation to seek better opportunities in urban centers. In contrast, this study, conducted through online interviews with 22 Japanese youths graduating from prestigious universities in Kyushu, examines their willingness to find stable employment and their decision to remain in their hometowns. Through an examination of their educational and career transitions and exploring their social networks, this study demonstrates that this phenomenon of remaining in rural hometowns reflects emerging cultural and societal attitudes shaped by the prolonged recession and tremendous disasters that impact their residential preferences.

In times of crisis, activating public collective consciousness is crucial. Applying national identity aids in building this consciousness, enhancing social identity, fostering social solidarity, and motivating a joint “state-society” response. Traditional top-down approaches to national identity, relying on symbols and rituals rooted in collective memory, may falter during crises due to formalism. Micro-social interactions, aligned with governance, construct relevant meanings through interaction rituals. Participation in these rituals energizes individuals, shaping national identity and fostering social unity. However, limited research explores this bottom-up approach. Integrating interaction ritual chain theory, this study examines shaping national identity from the bottom up. It concludes that symbolic meanings from governance behavior, social norms, and group identity through interaction rituals yield national symbols, consensus order, and emotional responses. Ultimately, interaction rituals mobilize emotions and reconstruct social order. This study's conclusion holds reference value for enhancing the government's meaning making and enriching interaction ritual chain theory.