Consensus and Contestation in the Formation of Malaysian Studies: A Paradigmatic Comparison
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article aims to question the proposition put forth by Abdul Rahman (2014) regarding the “rakyat” paradigm in Malaysia as an analytical tool for Malaysian society. The rakyat paradigm was introduced by Abdul Rahman Embong in response to Shamsul (1998)’s paper on “Ethnicity, class, culture or identity? Competing paradigms in Malaysian Studies”. While Shamsul (1996a) conceptualised these dimensions as parallel, if competing paradigms, Abdul Rahman claimed that rakyat, a term roughly indicating “folk” or “the people” (whose etymology we will interrogate), is yet another parallel paradigm. However, we wish to question if this is truly so, given that folk suggests an entire collective or lumpenproletariat. The rakyat paradigm, we argue, would fall short of representing a significant social category as it ignores the existence of stratification, inequality, and yet assumes a utopian collectivity. Abdul Rahman also appears to be both wary of, and supportive of, a British-based epistemological understanding of the concept of folk. Thus, in this article, we chronicle the evolution of Malaysian studies to assess the suitability of a folk-based paradigm. Using a timeline-based approach, we chart the development of Malaysian studies alongside significant milestones in Malaysian history, intertwining content and context. We argue that the development of Malaysian society and its associated studies remain too complex to be consolidated into a “one-size-fits-all” paradigm, which the rakyat paradigm would be, if applied at all.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Abdul Rahman Embong. 2007. The role of social sciences in Malaysian national development. Akademika 70(1): 145–151.
Abdul Rahman Embong. 2014. Knowledge construction, the rakyat paradigm and Malaysia’s social cohesion. In Transforming Malaysia: Dominant and competing paradigms, eds.
A. Milner, Abdul Rahman Embong and T.S. Yan, 59–81. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.
Abdul Rahman Embong. 2018. Ethnicity and class: Divides and dissent in Malaysian Studies. Southeast Asian Studies 7(3): 281–307. https://doi.org/10.20495/seas.7.3_281
Barrow, C. 2020. The dangerous class: The concept of the lumpenproletariat. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Chan, R.S.K. 2022. Chinese values, Western values, and the survival of the Chinese Clan as social institution. Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Cohn, B. 1996. Colonialism and its forms of knowledge: The British rule in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Department of Statistics Malaysia 2020. Press release demographic statistics third quarter 2020, Malaysia, 2018–2020. https://www.mycensus.gov.my/index.php/125-newsletter-infographics/343-infographics (accessed 1 June 2022).
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 2017. Kamus Bahasa Melayu. https://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Cari1?keyword=rakyat&d=394756LIHATSINI (accessed 6 June 2022).
Firth, R. 1948. A report on social science in Malaya. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
Freeman, D. 1950. Report on the Iban agriculture. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
Furnivall, J.S. 1939. The training for civil administration in Netherlands India. Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 26(3): 415–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068373908730921
Hairi Abdullah. 1995. Antropologi dan sociologi: Menggaris arah baru. Bangi: Penerbit UKM.
Hoffstaedter, G. 2011. Modern Muslim identities: Negotiating religion and ethnicity in Malaysia. Copenhagen: NIAS Press.
Kolar, K., F. Ahmad, L. Chan and P.G. Erickson. 2015. Timeline mapping in qualitative interviews: A study of resilience with marginalized groups. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 14(3): 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691501400302
Leach, E. 1951. Social science research in Sarawak. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
Lopez, C.C. 2001. The British presence in the Malay world: A meeting of civilizational traditions. Sari: Jurnal Alam dan Tamadun Melayu 19: 3–33.
Loh, F.K.W. 2009. Old vs new politics in Malaysia: State and society in transition. Petaling Jaya: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre.
Milner, A. 1995. The invention of politics in colonial Malaya: Contesting nationalism and the expansion of the public sphere. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ong, H.C. 1982. British policy and Chinese politics in Malaya. PhD diss., University of Hull, United Kingdom.
Rahimah Abdul Aziz 2005. Social Sciences and Humanities Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: Its direction and development. AKADEMIKA 66(1): 3–8.
Shamsul, A.B. 1996a. Nations-of-intent in Malaysia. In Asian forms of the nation, eds. S. Tonnesson and H. Antlov, 323–347. London: Routledge.
Shamsul, A.B. 1996b. Debating about identity in Malaysia: A discourse analysis. Southeast Asian Studies 34(3): 476–499.
Shamsul, A.B. 1998. Ethnicity, class, culture or identity? Competing paradigms in Malaysian studies. Akademika 53(1): 33–59.
Shamsul, A.B. 1999. Colonial knowledge and the construction of Malay and Malayness: Exploring the literary component. Sari 17(2): 1–14.
Shamsul, A.B. 2001a. A history of an identity, an identity of a history: The idea and practice of ‘Malayness’ in Malaysia reconsidered. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 32(3): 355–366.
Shamsul, A.B. 2001b. Social science in Southeast Asia observed: A Malaysian viewpoint. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 2(2): 177–198.
Shamsul, A.B. 2005. Islam embedded: Religion and plurality in Southeast Asia as a mirror for Europe. Asia Europe Journal 3(2): 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-004-0114-8
Shamsul, A.B. 2010. Unity in diversity: The Malaysian experience. Paper presented at the Seminar on Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Experience of Malaysia and Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan. 27 September.
Shamsul, A.B. 2020. Building integration platforms in multiethnic Malaysia: A tribute to ideas and contributions of Professor Ruediger Korff. In Southeast Asian transformations: urban and rural developments in the 21st century, eds. S. Kurfürst and S. Wehner, 189–200. Verlag: Universität Passau.
Shamsul, A.B. and Anis Yusal Yusoff. 2011. Managing peace in Malaysia: A case study.
Bangi: Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Shamsul, A.B. and S.M. Athi. 2014. Ethnicity and identity formation: Colonial knowledge, colonial structures and transition. In Handbook of contemporary Malaysia, ed. M. Weiss, 267–278. London: Routledge.
Tham, S.C. 1992. Defining “Malay”. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
Ting, H.M.H. 2013. Shamsiah Fakeh and Aishah Ghani in Malaya: Nationalists in their own right, feminists ahead of their time. In Women in Southeast Asian nationalist movements: A biographical approach, eds. S. Blackburn and H. Ting, 147–174. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.
Wiktionary.org. 2024. Rakyat. 24 September. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rakyat (accessed 6 June 2022).
Zainal Kling. 1995. The Malay family: Beliefs and realities. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 26(1): 43–66. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.26.1.43