Charting Socio-Legal Scholarship on Southeast Asia: Key Themes and Future Directions

Lynette J. Chua

doi:10.1515/asjcl-2014-0067

Article

Charting Socio-Legal Scholarship on Southeast Asia: Key Themes and Future Directions

Lynette J. Chua

Published/Copyright: October 21, 2014

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From the journal Asian Journal of Comparative Law Volume 9 Issue 1

Abstract

This article discusses the state of socio-legal scholarship on Southeast Asia and situates the special journal issue in relation to its key patterns, emerging trends, and future directions. Southeast Asian literature in leading socio-legal journals exhibits an imbalanced geographical coverage and tends to cluster around research on state law’s intersection with Islamic and/or customary norms, women’s equality and legal status, and land and the natural environment. These prevailing patterns lead to uneven attention paid to Southeast Asia. However, growing bodies of work along the major themes of legal pluralism, law and development, and dispute processing show the potential of Southeast Asian research to advance important debates and sub-fields in the scholarship at large. Proposals from a December 2012 workshop initiative further identified research directions that could enrich this field of study as well as understandings of law-society relations in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: socio-legal; law and society; Southeast Asia

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Andrew Harding, David Engel, Melissa Crouch, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and Jannelle Lau and Khine Khine Zin for their research assistance.

Appendix

Invited participants of the 10–11 December 2012 workshop, Socio-legal Research on Southeast Asia: Themes, Directions, and Challenges, at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore.

Melissa Crouch, University of New South Wales ^[97]
David Engel, State University of New York, Buffalo
Michael Feener, National University of Singapore
John Gillespie, Monash University
Terence Halliday, American Bar Foundation
Stacia Haynie, Louisiana State University
Michael Hor, University of Hong Kong
Sulistyowati Irianto, University of Indonesia
Laurence Leong Wai Teng, National University of Singapore
Michael McCann, University of Washington
Maznah Mohamad, National University of Singapore
Frank Munger, New York Law School
Jothie Rajah, American Bar Foundation
Victor Ramraj, University of Victoria
Mark Sidel, University of Wisconsin, Madison
tan beng hui, University of Malaya
Eugene Tan, Singpaore Management University
Absent with apologies:
Keebet von Benda-Beckmann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
David Nelken, King’s College
Amanda Whiting, University of Melbourne

Table 2

Full reference list of Southeast Asian articles in leading socio-legal journals

Indonesia	Benda-Beckmann & Benda-Beckman (1994), note 33; Benda-Beckmann & Benda-Beckman (2006a), note 33; Keebet von Benda-Beckmann (1981), note 33; Keebet von Benda-Beckmann (1985), note 33; Keebet von Benda-Beckmann (1990–1991), note 33; Bowen, note 70; Birgit Bräuchler, “The Revival Dilemma: Reflections on Human Rights, Self-determination and Legal Pluralism in Eastern Indonesia” (2010) 62 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 1–42; Burns, note 70; Peter Burns, “The Myth of Adat” (1989) 28 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 1–127; Omas T. Ihromi, “Inheritance and Equal Rights for Toba Batak Daughters” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 525–538; Irianto, note 85; Daniel S. Lev, “Judicial Authority and the Struggle for an Indonesian Rechtsstaat” (1978) 13 Law & Soc’y Rev. 37–71; Ratno Lukito, “The Enigma of National Law in Indonesia: The Supreme Court’s Decisions on Gender-Neutral Inheritance” (2006) 52 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 147–167; John McCarthy, “Shifting Resource Entitlements and Governance Reform during the Agrarian Transition in Sumatra, Indonesia” (2007) 55 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 95–121; Leopold Pospisil, “Modern and Traditional Administration of Justice in New Guinea” (1981) 19 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 93–116; Satjipto Rahardjo, “Between Two Worlds: Modern State and Traditional Society in Indonesia” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 493–502; Erman Rajagukguk, “Law, Land, and the Natural Environment in the Kedungombo Greenbelt Area at the Central Javanese Village of Giliredjo” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 623–630; Salim, note 49; Yonariza Shivakoti & Ganesh P. Shivakoti, “Decentralization and Co-management of Protected Areas in Indonesia” (2008) 57 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 141–165; Rikardo Simarmata, “Legal Complexity in Natural Resource Management in the Frontier Mahakam Delta of East Kalimantan, Indonesia” (2010) 62 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 109–144; Herman Slaats & Karen Portier, “The Implementation of State Law through Folk Law: Karo Batak Village Elections” (1985) 23 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 153–176; Geert van der Steenhoven, “Musjawarah in Karo-land” (1973) 7 Law & Soc’y Rev. 693–718; Zerner, note 52.
Malaysia	Hussin, note 42; Hunud Abia Kadouf, “Aspects of Terminological Problems in Describing Proprietary Relations under Malaysian Land Law” (1998) 41 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 37–63; K. Kuperan & Jon G. Sutinen, “Blue Water Crime: Deterrence Legitimacy, and Compliance in Fisheries” (1998) 32 Law & Soc’y Rev. 309–338; Moustafa, note 75; Moustafa, note 50; Sangeeta Sharmin, “Plural Legal Systems in Malaysia” (2012) 44 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 49–78; Mehrun Siraj, “Women and the Law: Significant Developments in Malaysia” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 561–572.
Burma (Myanmar)	Cheesman, note 93; Andrew Huxley, “Positivists and Buddhists: The Rise and Fall of Anglo-Burmese Ecclesiastical Law” (2001) 26 Law & Soc. Inquiry 113–142; Diana Kim, “The Story of the Tattooed Lady: Scandal and the Colonial State in British Burma” (2012) 37 Law & Soc. Inquiry 969–990.
The Philippines	Albert S. Bacdayan, “Peace Pact Celebrations: The Revitalization of Kalinga Intervillage Law” (1969) 4 Law & Soc’y Rev. 61–78; Myrna S. Feliciano, “Law, Gender and the Family in the Philippines” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 547–560; Michael O. Mastura, “Legal Pluralism in the Philippines” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 461–476; Prill-Brett, note 51; Prill-Brett, note 60; Sidney G. Silliman, “Dispute Processing by the Philippine Agrarian Court” (1981–1982) 16 Law & Soc’y Rev. 89–114; Silliman, note 70; Tate & Haynie, note 96.
Singapore	Chen Jianlin, “Singapore’s Culture War Over Section 377A: Through the Lens of Public Choice and Multilingual Research” (2013) 38 Law & Soc. Inquiry 106–137; Chua, note 43; Gloria Count-Van Manen, “A Deviant Case of Deviance: Singapore” (1971) 5 Law & Soc’y Rev. 389–406; Rajah, note 41; Ross Worthington, “Between Hermes and Themis: An Empirical Study of the Contemporary Judiciary in Singapore” (2001) 28 J.L. & Soc’y 490–519.
Thailand	Scott R. Christensen & Akin Rabibhadana, “Exit, Voice and the Depletion of Open Access Resources: The Political Bases of Property Rights in Thailand” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 639–656; Engel (1990), note 71; Engel (2005), note 71; Engel, note 59; Anan Ganjanapan, “The Northern Thai Land Tenure System: Local Customs versus National Laws” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 609–622; Yoneo Ishii, “Thai Muslims and the Royal Patronage of Religion” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 453–460; Chupinit Kesmanee, “Dubious Development Concepts in the Thai Highlands: The Chao Khao in Transition” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 673–686; Ronald D. Renard, “The Monk, the Hmong, the Forest, the Cabbage, Fire and Water: Incongruities in Northern Thailand Opium Replacement” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 657–664; Frank E. Reynolds, “Dhamma in Dispute: The Interactions of Religion and law in Thailand” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 433–452; Juree Vichit-Vadakan, “Women and the Family in Thailand in the Midst of Social Change” (1994) 28 Law & Soc’y Rev. 515–524.
Timor-Leste (East Timor)	Daniel Fitzpatrick & Andrew McWilliam, “Bright-Line Fever: Simple Legal Rules and Complex Property Customs among the Fataluku of East Timor” (2013) 47 Law & Soc’y Rev. 311–343; Daniel Fitzpatrick & Susana Barnes, “The Relative Resilience of Property: First Possession and Order without Law in East Timor” (2010) 44 Law & Soc’y Rev. 205–238.
Vietnam	John Gillespie, “Localizing Global Rules: Public Participation in Lawmaking in Vietnam” (2008) 33 Law & Soc. Inquiry 673–707; John Gillespie, “Exploring the Limits of the Judicialization of Urban Land Disputes in Vietnam” (2011) 45 Law & Soc’y Rev. 241–276; To Xuan Phuc, “Fuzzy Property Relations in the Vietnamese Uplands: Ethnography of Forest Access and Control” (2007) 55 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 73–94; Hoang Huy Tuan, “Decentralization and Local Politics of Forest Management in Vietnam: A Case Study of Co Tu Ethnic Community” (2006) 52 Journal of Legal Pluralism & Unofficial Law 169–206; Rose 1998, note 40.

Note:

An earlier draft of this article served as the background paper for the December 2012 workshop.

Published Online: 2014-10-21

Published in Print: 2014-1-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/asjcl-2014-0067

Keywords for this article

socio-legal; law and society; Southeast Asia