Combative scholarship in Southeast Asia Term Paper

Combative scholarship in Southeast Asia - Term Paper Example What is simply dismissed by analysts of the situation in Southeast Asia as being a result of cultural legacies is simply making light of a complex situation. The culture itself has been a propellant of the struggle and therefore part of the unexplained in the overall scheme of things (Faist 215-217). The focus on the cultural aspect of the struggle only served to shift the attention of scholars from influencing the struggle for citizenship and nation building occasioned by hegemony, colonialism, subsequent revolution and development in a bid to leveling patches history. All the efforts that aided in the ending of colonialism and nation building were initiatives of heroes of the past century who envisioned a better life for themselves and future generations. Thus the scholars like Atalas, Agoncilo, Chamvit and Sartono only served to document the heroic actions of theses heroes in a bid to continuing in the path of democracy that they charted. In the course of these actions they have s uffered damage to their reputations and their credibility was also battered all due to the struggle. Citizens who now enjoy citizenship benefits to the fullest owe it to these scholarly heroes since some even lost their lives in the struggle. It is not fair to ask that history focuses on scholars who did not have their credibility battered at the expense of those who did. In all fairness, the struggle should be documented as it was since all those who played part despite the consequences deserve mention. Part 2: Is the application of combative scholarship still viable? There is a large possibility that the nations of Southeast Asia would coalesce to form one state but this would never occur due to cultural commonalities but rather because all of them have had a similar struggle in their own territories for citizenship and nation building. The struggles over the last century have given them certain