Competing discourses of globalization and interpendence

Abstract

In the social sciences, globalization has become a much debated concept. People are living in an era where social processes shaped a large part of our social life. In addition, national cultures, national economies and national borders are being dissolved. Amongst the major forces are economic regulation, marketization, commoditization. However, amidst globalization, there is regionalism in which regions are forming regional blocks for sustenance and to enhance competitiveness. Regional co-operations in terms of economic, governance, and sustainable communities are essential in order to safeguard the interest of the nations. The question begets as to how do these processes create an One of the thesis is the decreasing role of the nation-state but increasing impact the nation. importance of the markets. This warrants the planning and implementation of strategies to protect the nations' identity as well as to enhance sustainability. Southeast Asian studies are confronted with the dilemmas of cooperation on one hand, whilst there is an urgent need to manage global challenges so as to protect regional and local interests. Therefore, a multiple level of governance is essential to cushion and adapt to these external threats and at the same time, to ameliorate adverse impacts of globalization as well as to safeguard the local interests. This paper aims to analyze how multiple level governance can help protect the nation's identity. This thesis will be presented via three main themes, namely, economic, environment and linguistics/language.