Methodology and Research Practice in Southeast Asian Studies

This volume confronts the idea of universal science from the perspective of area studies, offering fruitful debate between Southeast Asian Studies and variegated disciplinary vantage points. It provides a platform for dialogue and constructive friction between
divergent approaches to knowledge generation, while taking into consideration the area-specific contexts of research practice and bringing to attention cross-cutting methodological issues. The contributors investigate issues such as the tension between disciplinary mainstreaming and suggestions for decentering, diversifying and decolonizing methodology; the relevance and practice of different forms of contextsensitivity in research; contrasts and comparisons suitable to the ambitions of area studies. The research approaches covered in this volume range from quantitative, to qualitative and mixed-methods research, from econometrics to participation and collaboration, and from text analysis to field research. Working in a variety of disciplines both within and outside of Southeast Asian Studies, the contributors addresse the burning question of how to ground research practice in area-specific, yet globally entangled contexts such as 'Global Southeast Asia'.

Mikko Huotari is a Research Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He leads the methodology program of the University's Southeast Asian Studies Program researching on context, concepts and comparisons in Southeast Asian Studies. He has published on Foreign Policy Analysis, China and Global/Regional Financial Governance.

Jürgen Rüland is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He is also the Chairperson of the University of Freiburg's Southeast Asian Studies Program and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA). He has published widely on Southeast Asia.

Judith Schlehe is Professor of Anthropology in the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Freiburg, Germany. She has published widely on religious dynamics, popular forms of representing cultures, cultural globalisation and intercultural issues, gender, the anthropology of disaster, and new approaches to transnational collaboration. Her regional focus is on Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.

1.Introduction: Fostering Methodological Dialogue in Southeast Asian Studies; Mikko Huotari

PART I
2.Moving Theory and Methods in Southeast Asian Studies; Goh Beng-Lan
3.Southeast Asian Studies: the Conundrum of Area and Method; Victor T. King

PART II
4.Doing Anthropological Fieldwork with Southeast Asian Characteristics? Identity and Adaptation in the Field; Deasy Simandjuntak and Michaela Haug
5.Performative Ethnography: Observant Participation in Southeast Asia; Eric Haanstad
6.What Does a Gender Relations Approach Bring to Southeast Asian Studies?; Kathryn Robinson
7.Learning from Locals: Doing Interviews in Southeast Asia; Paruedee Nguitragool
8.Political Analysis and the Southeast Asian Press: Decoding Meaning and Tracing Events; Jürgen Rüland, Jarno S. Jian Hui Lang, and York A. Wiese
9.Bridging Historical Analysis and Strategic Choice in Area Studies: An Analytic Narrative of Volatile Politics in Thailand, 1938–1963 ; Emma Masterson
10.Context Specificity of Economic Research: The Example of Corruption Research in Southeast Asia; Krisztina Kis-Katos and Günther G. Schulze

PART III
11.Grounding Governance Research in Southeast Asia: A Framework for Controlled Multi-Method Policy Analysis; Christian von Lübke
12.Qualitative Comparative Analysis for Southeast Asian Studies: Prospects for Policy Analysis of Southeast Asian Regionalism; Raul L. Cordenillo
13.Transcultural Ethnography: Reciprocity in Indonesian-German Tandem Research; Judith Schlehe and Sita Hidayah
14.Inter-Referencing Southeast Asia: Absence, Resonance and Provocation; Chua Beng Huat