The Singapore School, Asian Values, and Southeast Asian International Relations

This seminar reinterprets the Asian Values debate as a site of global intellectual history to challenge the substantialist assumptions that dominate Southeast Asian international relations (SEAIR). While existing scholarship, shaped by Global International Relations (GIR) and the 'autonomous' strand of Southeast Asian history, treats states and cultures as fixed entities, this talk draws on the 'connected' strand of Southeast Asian studies and critiques of GIR to propose a relational ontology centred on transboundary entanglements. Through the case of the 'Singapore School,' it deploys archival material to trace how its figures operated within elite transnational networks – most notably through institutions like Harvard University. Beyond the cultural essentialism, Asian Values emerge in this new narrative as co-produced within a global 'Republic of Letters'. This relational reinterpretation reframes Southeast Asian agency, offering a new foundation for pursuing SEAIR and providing a conceptual pathway to reconcile Southeast Asian studies and international relations.

Speaker

Quah Say Jye is a PhD candidate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. His research lies at the intersection of postcolonial political theory, historical international relations, and Southeast Asian studies. His peer-reviewed writing has been published at the American Journal of Political Science, Review of International Studies, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Critical Asian Studies.

Image credit - Author's photo. Samuel Huntington and Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore, 1970. Samuel P. Huntington personal archive, Box 1, Folder 47: Lee, Kuan Yew, 1970.

The ANU Southeast Asia Institute Research Seminar Series is a recurring seminar series that showcases the work of scholars working on political, social, and cultural issues in Southeast Asia.

Contact the ANU Southeast Asia Institute Research Seminar Series Conveners:

Deepak Nair at deepak.nair@anu.edu.au
Nicholas Chan at waiyeap.chan@anu.edu.au