Research on Southeast Asia in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

This issue of the Asian Journal of Social Science provides some glimpses of research on Southeast Asia conducted by scholars in the Nordic countries. Situated in the far north of Europe, this region, locally called Norden, com prises (from west to east) Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Despite their geographical proximity and closely intertwined histories, these countries show rather diverse alignments vis-a-vis their immediate surroundings. Norway, Denmark and Iceland are NATO members, whereas Sweden and Finland do not belong to a military pact. Norway and Iceland have decided to remain outside of the European Union, whereas the rest of Norden has joined. Among the Nordic EU members, Sweden and Denmark have so far chosen to retain their local currency, whereas Finland has adopted the Euro. There are cultural and historical differences as well: Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are mutually intelligible languages, and Icelandic is closely related, whereas Finnish belongs to an entirely different, and rather unique, language group. Finland has been heavily affected by Soviet/Russian dispositions; Norway, Denmark and Iceland, on their part, are more U.S. oriented; and Sweden has long insisted on its neutrality. Despite these differences, however, there is still the sense of a Nordic iden tity in the region, and we can find a series of institutions and associations based on the idea of Norden. Among others, there is a Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and a Nordic Association of Southeast Asian Studies. One feature the Nordic countries do have in common is a rather restricted relationship to the region of Southeast Asia. Apart from the occa sional explorer, minor trade and business venture, or some engagements in terms of development assistance, Norden has not been shaped by Southeast Asia the way the European colonizers have been. Nordic countries do not evoke Malays, Vietnamese or Javanese as part of their own historical expe riences, and there is also rather little on the contemporary scene that directs attention towards the region. It is fair to say that in the popular imagi nation, Southeast Asia appears as a rather distant and irrelevant region. Individual events and countries have at times caught popular attention and affected public discourse, such as the post-colonial projects of Sukarno, the Vietnam war and refugee crisis, and more recendy, East Timor and the political situation in Burma. Qua region, however, Southeast Asia exists at a distance from people's lives.