Redesigning the State, Reorienting State Power, and Rethinking the State

The emergence of complex society is a milestone in the history of human society evolution. China is one of the few regions in the world where the earliest complex society appeared; however, its driving mechanisms remain unresolved. On the base of available evidence from both archaeology and Holocene climate, in combination with agency theory, this study attempts to address the driving mechanisms for the simultaneous emergence of complex societies in multiple areas of China around 5.5 cal ka BP. It is hypothesized that three factors, including climate change, population growth, and circumscription, jointly act and cause regional population-resource imbalance and trigger inter-group conflicts and wars. Such competitions provide the opportunity for some power-pursuing agents to break the restriction of social leveling mechanism and to become the centralized decision-making leaders, which further lead to the emergence of incipient large-scale complex societies. Increase in extreme climate events during 6.0–5.0 cal ka BP cooling period causes frequent occurrence of resource stress and increase in the frequency of inter-group competitions, which creates conditions for the legitimation, institutionalization, and persistence of centralized leadership, and finally leads to the formation of persistent institutionalized inequity. Our research result can explain not only the process and mechanism of complex society formation, but also two phenomena which cannot be reasonably explained by previous theories, that are, why the earliest complex societies in China emerge around 5.5 cal ka BP, and why they appear simultaneously in multiple regions.

The 5.5 cal ka BP climate event, population growth, circumscription and the emergence of the earliest complex societies in China

Several proposals for global legal governance of environmental migration have recently been published, almost exclusively by Western scholars. The present article shows the distance – both the geographical distance and the intellectual isolation – between descriptive works on environmental migration as a phenomenon and the normative studies on necessary developments of law and governance. It suggests that this distance resulted in a postcolonial approach of environmental migration, which could impede the protection of environmental migrants. While recalling that governance of environmental migration is generally most likely to succeed in the regional arena, this article argues that Asia-Pacific regions should determine the content of regional legal approaches of environmental migration. Participating in a multi-civilizational discussion is a unique opportunity for rising regions of Asia and the Pacific to affirm their growing diplomatic role and to demonstrate their capacity to be instrumental in the development of liberal forms of transnational governance.

Environmental Migration in Asia-Pacific Regions: Could We Hang Out Sometime?

While disproportional resources and curbs on civil and political rights clearly matter to electoral authoritarian persistence, long-term acculturation to political norms and modes of governance on the ground in such regimes – of which Singapore and Malaysia are the most durable examples – complicate transformation. A combination of what amounts to classic machine politics with the structural “assist” of sub-par elections renders electoral authoritarianism extraordinarily increasingly resilient over time, not just because it is hard or unlikely for voters to vote in new leaders, but also because the aspiring or elected opposition may end up reproducing rather than subverting key attributes of that regime. Clientelist political praxis may be highly responsive, offer direct accountability, and align with voters’ rational self-interest, at least in the short term. However, its persistence impedes pursuit of new ideological or programmatic objectives, perpetuates piecemeal and inefficient allocation of...

Going to the ground (or AstroTurf): a grassroots view of regime resilience

Several proposals for global legal governance of environmental migration have recently been published, almost exclusively by Western scholars. The present article denounces the geographical and intellectual disconnect between descriptive works on environmental migration as a phenomenon and the normative studies on the developments in law and governance. It suggests that this disconnect has resulted in a post-colonial approach towards tackling environmental migration, which could impede the protection of environmental migrants. While recalling that governance of environmental migration is most likely to succeed within a regional framework, this article pleads for a home-grown legal approach of environmental migration in the Asia-Pacific. Participating in a multilateral discussion is a unique opportunity for the rising countries of Asia and the Pacific to strengthen their growing diplomatic roles and to demonstrate their capacity in the development of liberal forms of transnational governance.

Bruce Lockhart

Papers

Sejarah Asia Tenggara: Dari masa prasejarah sampai kontemporer.

Early State Formation

Ethnic Groups, Early Cultures and Social Structures

Southeast Asia Today

Colonial Communities, c.1800–1900