Regionalisation and Political Development in Southeast Asia: Towards new modernism

Abstract

Political development in Southeast Asia is re-written by regional elites. In the context of the Southeast Asia, a series of interrelated ideological systems, including the formation of elite political consensus is involved. The article argues that there are still long-term challenges in the construction of narrative-discourse systems for forming one's own identity, and defining development space. This paper makes the case that the political spectrum in Southeast Asia does not simply reflect the liberal, conservative, political thought found in Europe, but rather represents a narrative system of civilizational integration based on the region's demands of the contemporary world.