The Development of Production and Trade in Southeast Asia : A Historiographical Analysis

Abstract

This article takes a critical look at the development of production and trade in Southeast Asia in the 19th to 20th century from a historiographical perspective. It attempts to determine the extent to which a colonial framework has been used in the study of Southeast Asia's economic history, the resulting contribution to the knowledge of the forces and dynamics of historical changes, and their effect on Southeast Asian society. By surveying academic works published between the decades of 1970 to 1990, we find that the use of a colonial framework did contribute significantly to the understanding of the economic progress of the last 200 years. However, the emphasis on the colonial period, or colonial framework, has certain limitations since it sees economic change of modern times as a turning point rather than a continuous process. This gives rise to questions when considering that Southeast Asia had been part of the global trading network since ancient times. The study concludes that future studies should move beyond both the colonial and the subsequent modern nation-state framework, and concentrate instead on finding networks and transitions that can demonstrate links between various localities and the global economic system.