A Situated History of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (1960 - 1979)

Abstract

The thesis presents a situated history of the origins of JSEAH and JSEAS and the early development of their scholarship as represented in the published articles. It explores JSEAH and JSEAS position in supporting, defining and determining the scope and direction of Southeast Asian studies and Southeast Asian history. The thesis does not try to prove the existence or define an indigenous perspective; but attempts to demonstrate the close relationship between scholarship and its immediate (institutional and intellectual) surroundings. The pursuit (and subsequent organisation) of knowledge is affected by intellectual currents, institutional imperatives as well as individual initiative. Examining their evolving functions and scholarship, the thesis focuses on the interactions between the immediate situation of JSEAH and JSEAS, and the broader intellectual context of post-war regional scholarship.