Studying Southeast Asia in a Globalized World

Studying Southeast Asia in a Globalized World

即便美國的區域研究在九零年代遭致抨擊與自我質疑，但東南亞研究卻由於諸如東南亞裔美國人等新的研究旨趣的出現以及全球性的「文化轉變」而得以維繫。美國之外的地區，例如歐洲、日本以及澳洲，由於健全多樣的學術傳統本身，避免了面臨類似美國在研究風潮上的擺盪。不斷傾向單一整合的知識體系，使得許多形式的區域研究失去其必要性，然而，「文化轉變」卻又確保其他形式的區域研究不可或缺。東南亞研究在東南亞區域內再度復甦的現象，即是此學科健全發展的最佳指標。

Despite criticism and self-doubts about area studies in the US in the 1990s, Southeast Asian Studies is being sustained by new factors such as the interest of Southeast Asian-Americans, and the “cultural turn” world-wide. Outside the US, in Europe, Japan and Australia, the healthy variety of institutional forms prevented such swings of fashion. The increasing unification of knowledge systems makes some forms of area studies less essential, but the “cultural turn” ensures that others are more necessary than ever. And the revival of interest in studying Southeast Asia in the region itself is the best pointer to the healthiness of the discipline.