Culture and international imagination in Southeast Asia

Eric C. Thompson; Chulanee Thianthai; Irwan Hidayana

doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.011

Culture and international imagination in Southeast Asia

Eric C. Thompson, Chulanee Thianthai, Irwan Hidayana

Department of Anthropology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Using methods developed within cognitive anthropology, we examine the relationship between particular national discourses, cultural concepts and subjective ideas about the international system of nation-states referred to colloquially as countries in English, negara in Indonesian and prathet in Thai. The analysis is based on data collected among university students in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Broadly speaking, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai university students share a similar domain of "countries" and similar understanding of what a country is, but they differ in important respects in the descriptive language and cultural schemata they deploy in thinking about this domain. The study has implications for debates on the status of culture in social theory and geography and for the future of regional integration in Southeast Asia.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	268-288
Number of pages	21
Journal	Political Geography
Volume	26
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.011
Publication status	Published - Mar 2007

Keywords

Cognitive maps
Countries
Culture
Imaginative geographies
Southeast Asia

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10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.011

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title = "Culture and international imagination in Southeast Asia",

abstract = "Using methods developed within cognitive anthropology, we examine the relationship between particular national discourses, cultural concepts and subjective ideas about the international system of nation-states referred to colloquially as countries in English, negara in Indonesian and prathet in Thai. The analysis is based on data collected among university students in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Broadly speaking, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai university students share a similar domain of {"}countries{"} and similar understanding of what a country is, but they differ in important respects in the descriptive language and cultural schemata they deploy in thinking about this domain. The study has implications for debates on the status of culture in social theory and geography and for the future of regional integration in Southeast Asia.",

keywords = "Cognitive maps, Countries, Culture, Imaginative geographies, Southeast Asia",

author = "Thompson, {Eric C.} and Chulanee Thianthai and Irwan Hidayana",

note = "Funding Information: The authors offer our thanks to Raksaya Aunsnunta, Ta, Endah Sulistyowati, Kezia Ningken, and Zhang Juan as well as innumerable students and staff at Chulalongkorn University, Universiti Indonesia, and the National University of Singapore for their invaluable help in data collection for this study and to Julispong Chularatana, Tim Bunnell, James Sidaway and anonymous reviewers for their reflections and feedback on various aspects of this paper. The research was supported by National University of Singapore, FASS, Faculty Research Committee grants #R-111-000-047-112 and #R-111-000-066-112. ",

year = "2007",

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doi = "10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.011",

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AU - Thompson, Eric C.

AU - Thianthai, Chulanee

AU - Hidayana, Irwan

N1 - Funding Information: The authors offer our thanks to Raksaya Aunsnunta, Ta, Endah Sulistyowati, Kezia Ningken, and Zhang Juan as well as innumerable students and staff at Chulalongkorn University, Universiti Indonesia, and the National University of Singapore for their invaluable help in data collection for this study and to Julispong Chularatana, Tim Bunnell, James Sidaway and anonymous reviewers for their reflections and feedback on various aspects of this paper. The research was supported by National University of Singapore, FASS, Faculty Research Committee grants #R-111-000-047-112 and #R-111-000-066-112.

PY - 2007/3

Y1 - 2007/3

N2 - Using methods developed within cognitive anthropology, we examine the relationship between particular national discourses, cultural concepts and subjective ideas about the international system of nation-states referred to colloquially as countries in English, negara in Indonesian and prathet in Thai. The analysis is based on data collected among university students in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Broadly speaking, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai university students share a similar domain of "countries" and similar understanding of what a country is, but they differ in important respects in the descriptive language and cultural schemata they deploy in thinking about this domain. The study has implications for debates on the status of culture in social theory and geography and for the future of regional integration in Southeast Asia.

AB - Using methods developed within cognitive anthropology, we examine the relationship between particular national discourses, cultural concepts and subjective ideas about the international system of nation-states referred to colloquially as countries in English, negara in Indonesian and prathet in Thai. The analysis is based on data collected among university students in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Broadly speaking, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai university students share a similar domain of "countries" and similar understanding of what a country is, but they differ in important respects in the descriptive language and cultural schemata they deploy in thinking about this domain. The study has implications for debates on the status of culture in social theory and geography and for the future of regional integration in Southeast Asia.

KW - Cognitive maps

KW - Countries

KW - Culture

KW - Imaginative geographies

KW - Southeast Asia

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EP - 288

JO - Political Geography

JF - Political Geography

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ER -

Culture and international imagination in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Keywords

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