The Political Economy of Southeast Asia’s Development from Independence to Hyperglobalisation

This chapter details evolving state development strategies in Southeast Asia, from post-colonial developmentalist agendas to the embrace of neoliberalism. The politico-business complexes established under import-substituting and export-oriented industrialisation have often been able to consolidate their positions within the context of globalisation and neoliberalism, leveraging new patterns of growth and investment and mediating neoliberal reform, while organised labour and the left have seen their power further eroded. Nonetheless, despite much hubris regarding “industrialisation” and growth, recent developments underscore the highly contingent position of Southeast Asian countries within the global political economy. Many countries in the region remain mired in low-value added economic activity (having failed to move up value chains) and “middle income traps”, and exhibit increasing inequality.