Anthony Milner

There is something mercurial about being labeled a ‘Malay’. Connotations run the gamut – from Joseph Conrad’s mysterious and dangerous pirates to the ‘lazy natives’ of colonial-era economies. Another early stereotype tagged them as the ‘best-mannered’ gentlemen of the East. More modern portraits point to the ‘New Malays’ as entrepreneurs of a modern, triumphant Malaysia, skillful region-builders of ASEAN, and a people divided over the proper role of Islam. Their geographical boundaries aren’t much clearer. Often, the Malays are said to consist of groups clustered on the Malay Peninsula and along coasts and rivers of Sumatra and Borneo. Sometimes they are described as a vast race reaching across Indonesia and the Philippines and on to Madagascar. So just who are the Malays? This provocative study poses the question and considers how and why the answers have changed over time, and from one region to another. Anthony Milner develops a sustained argument about ethnicity and identity in an historical, 'Malay' context. The Malays is a comprehensive examination of the origins and development of Malay identity, ethnicity, and consciousness over the past five centuries.

The Malays

This innovative book is a pioneering study of political debate in an important Southeast Asian society. It re-examines the formative period in Malay nationalism and argues against using nationalism as the paradigm of analysis. By "interrogating" key Malay texts from the 19th and 20th centuries, Anthony Milner shows how contested, and problematic, the sphere of nationalism was.

Contesting Nationalism and the Expansion of the Public Sphere

The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya

This innovative book is a pioneering study of political debate in an important Southeast Asian society. Now available in paperback it re-examines the formative period in Malay nationalism and argues against using nationalism as the paradigm of analysis.'This magnificent book is certainly essential reading for Malaysianists and Malaysians interested in the intrigues and mystique of Malay politics, in the past and at present.' Shamsul, A.B., Asian Studies Review'The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya is a model of its kind and will undoubtedly become a landmark in Malaysian studies and an example to those in other fields. It is a stylish and highly readable essay in cultural history.' William R Roff, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

A decade ago there was talk of the "end of history". Francis Fukuyama assured us that no ideology, even Islamic ideology, could challenge the universalist claims of liberal democracy. Influential analysts spoke of an international convergence of value systems as well as economies. Today some have gone to the other extreme and accept the idea of a "clash of civilizations". At the very least, we can say history has returned with a vengeance. When commentators of a decade ago assumed change was moving in one direction, they tended to dismiss ASEAN as a "talk shop" and pour scorn on attempts to formulate "Asian values". Today, even tough-minded security specialists attend to specific vocabulary and nuances of the conversation of this region. What role will the historian play in this era of the return of history? Professor Anthony Milner, Basham Professor of Asian History and Dean of Asian Studies at the Australian National University, addresses this question. In 2002, Professor Milner was Raffles Visiting Professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. Contents include: Critiquing ASEAN; The Convergence Era; Security and Talk; Regionalism in Europe; Recognizing Difference; Difference in the Regional Conversation; The Historian; Excess, Islam.

Region, Security and the Return of History

Azirah Hashim

Rahul Mishra

How are the rising mutual concerns of Asian and European countries shaping their approaches to the international order? Contributors to this volume discuss emerging critical issues in International relations, including the Indo-Pacific constructs, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the progress of established regional security mechanisms like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. They also compare western and non-western approaches to these issues, with a holistic perspective on the origins and evolutions of these approaches. Both the Indo-Pacific constructs and BRI present a remarkable set of opportunities for Europe as well as Asia. This book presents key implications of the changing politico-security dynamics in the two regions from the perspectives of both Asian and European scholars and theoretical traditions. A must-read for scholars of International Relations with a focus on relations between Asia and Europe.

New Anxieties, New Opportunities

Asia and Europe in the 21st Century

Kevin Blackburn

Karl Hack

A.J. Stockwell

Ping Tjin Thum

John Bastin

Kelvin W.K. Ng

Jason Lim

C.M. (Mary) Turnbull's contributions to historical writing on Singapore extended from her 1962 thesis, published in 1972 as "The Straits Settlements, 1826-1867: Indian Presidency to Crown Colony", to her magisterial history of Singapore, first published in 1977 and re-issued in 2009 in an updated edition as A History of Singapore, 1819-2005. Her approach to history involved detailed work with documents and published materials, with a particular focus on political and economic history. One contributor to the present volume described the book as an "exercise in endowing a modern 'nation-state' with a coherent past that should explain the present." As styles in history evolved, younger scholars including some of her former students and colleagues began exploring new approaches to historical research that drew on non-English-language souce material and asked fresh questions of the sources. Mary enjoyed controversy and expected debate, and had a deep interest in these accounts, which were in many ways a natural progression from her own publications even when they raised questions about her interpretations and conclusions. Studying Singapore's Past had its origins in a conference organised to discuss her work. The volume includes ten contributions, some from long-established scholars of Singapore's history, others from a new generation of researchers. Their work offers an evaluation of established understandings of Singapore's history, and gives an indication of new directions that researchers are exploring. In publishing the book, the editor not only pays tribute to a distinguished historian but also seeks to make a contribution to the historiography of Singapore and to ongoing debates about Singapore's past.

Anthony Milner

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