This book examines the interface between the theoretical framework known as the English School and the international and transnational politics of Southeast Asia. The region-theory dialogue it proposes signals productive ways forward for the theory.

"Linda Quayle uses the English School to provide a compelling examination of the complex and often fragile development of regional society between the states of ASEAN. At the same time, she uses the region to expand and refine the theoretical boundaries of the English School itself. What results is a valuable and much-needed theoretical and political analysis of a unique region of the world." - Shaun Narine, Associate Professor of Political Science, St. Thomas University, Canada

"A key criticism of Western-centric IR theory is its proclivity to treat the non-West as little more than a utilitarian source for colourful commentary that affirms rather than challanges extant theory. Quayle rightly deserves to be commended for her insistence and persistence in treating Southeast Asia as a veritable interlocutor whose stories deserve to be heard in their own right." - Contemporary Southeast Asia Journal

Autorentext
LINDA QUAYLE is a Research Fellow at Monash University, Sunway Campus, Malaysia. She holds a PhD from The University of Melbourne, and has studied English School approaches since 2002. She previously worked as an editor with BBC Monitoring, and has taught International Relations in New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia.

Inhalt
Acknowledgments List Of Abbreviations And Acronyms List Of Interviews Introduction The Need For A Region-Theory Dialogue The Protagonists In The Dialogue Southeast Asia And Its Politics The English School The Contributions Of The Dialogue Partners What The ES Offers SEA: Big Pictures And Different Thinking-Spaces What SEA Offers The ES: Insights On Community, Hierarchy And Agency An Overview Of The Chapters Part I: The Society Of States In SEA Part II: International Society And Others Potential Challenges To An ES-SEA Linkage The ES's Status As 'Theory' The ES As A Western Interpretation Of SEA PART I: THE SOCIETY OF STATES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Power And Community In Southeast Asia's International Society The Problem Of Conflicting Narratives The Power Story The Community Story Theoretical Attempts To Deal With The Power-Community Nexus What The ES Can Offer: A Power-And-Community Lens International Society: An Amalgam Of Power And Community Theoretical Pluralism: Schematizing The Pressures On International Society Small Powers, Great Powers: Dealing With The Wider Region Evaluation: A Different Picture Of Interstate Relations In And Around SEA Practicable ASEAN Community-Building The Problem Of Disconnected Ideals And Realities What The ES Can Offer: Validation Of The Slow Route To Community-Building Support For The Middle Ground Counsels Of Caution And Cautious Hope Ways To Frame Cooperation Differently Another Look At Consensus Evaluation: A Different Picture Of The ASEAN Community Learning From Southeast Asia About International Societies Intersections: Powers And Societies Expanding The ES's Understanding Of Great Powers Discerning The Interaction Of Different Levels Of International Society Intersections: Community-Building In A Non-Liberal Environment Liberalization Culture And Identity Economics Functional Cooperation Bases For Enhanced ES Interpretations Of Interstate Relations PART II: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY AND OTHERS Non-State Actors: TheoreticalLimitations And Problematic Discourses Non-State And Beyond-State Politics In ES Thought The Need For A Different Perspective Civil Society And A Narrative Of Gaps Talking But Not Dialoguing: The 'Problem' Of Fragmentation The Theoretically Vanishing Individual Regional International Society Meets Its Civil Counterpart The SEA Environment: Cooperation, Institutionalization And Hierarchy An ES Response: Imagining A 'Hierarchical Society' Applying ES Ideas To Regional Civil Society In SEA An Institutionalization Process In A Hierarchical Environment Formalizing Recognition Locating And Exploiting Common Ground Learning To Engage For The Long Term Sharing Burdens The State Of The Institutionalization Process Evaluation: A Different Picture Of ASEAN And Regional Civil Society 6. Non-State Actors In A Hierarchical World The SEA Environment: Spaces, States And Agency An ES Response: A Three-Cornered Conversation Particularism And Power Pragmatism And Order Borderlessness And Emancipation Evaluation: A Different Picture Of Non-State Actors In A World Of States 7. Remembering Southeast Asia's Individuals The SEA Environment: The Surprisingly Powerful Individual An ES Response: Individuals As Agents Of Change Extending Activity Spaces Leveraging Contact With The World Of States Retaining Hope Evaluation: A Different Picture Of The Individual Conclusion A Review Of The Signposts A Synthesis Of The Signposts Offering A Different Picture Of The Region And Why That Matters Continuing The Dialogue Notes Bibliography