The Making of Asian Commons : Theories, Practices, and Possibilities

The Asia that emerges from the world of policy-making and academic discourse is composed of regional blocks: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia are identified more for expediency than as imagined communities.

This book develops the concept of Asian Commons as a conceptual and methodological tool to engage with Asia, both in its incredible heterogeneity and its important historical resonance. The contributions in this edited volume engage in a rethinking of Asia in an inclusive and collective manner without privileging any region/nation. The Asia that emerges from the world of policy-making and academic discourse is composed of regional blocks: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia are identified more for expediency than as imagined communities. In looking at Asia beyond these units, examining new and forgotten networks, the book foregrounds the lived experiences—and cultural productions emanating from these experiences—making visible the alternative pathways that nurture the notion of Asian Commons. The desire to create an Asian Commons comes from a collective history of anti-colonial struggles and shared vision for social and economic justice. As a working concept, Asian Commons is informed by the historical resources accumulated through Asia's varied but connected experience with decolonization. Mindful of the trap of exclusionary nationalism and false internationalism which flattens the differences between/within nations and peoples, Asian Commons would allow intellectual and political innovation that embraces both the heterogeneities and commonalities of Asia. In its re-examination of the current state of decoloniality, this book discusses alternative visions of Asian Commons. It is a key text for academics and students specialising in Asian cultural studies, with a particular emphasis on postcolonial perspectives, and for researchers focused on Asian history and contemporary issues, seeking a deeper understanding of the region's interconnectedness.