In this Book
- Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to Rentier State
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: NUS Press Pte Ltd
summary
Now an energy-rich sultanate, for centuries an important trading port in the South China Sea, Brunei has taken a different direction than its Persian Gulf peers. Immigration is restricted, and Brunei’s hydrocarbon wealth is invested conservatively, mostly outside the country. With some 393,000 inhabitants and today comprising 5,765 square kilometers in area (about the size of the American state of Delaware), Brunei first appears in the historical record at the end of the 10th century. After the Spanish attack of 1578, Brunei struggled to regain and expand its control on coastal West Borneo and to remain within the trading networks of the South China Sea. It later fell under British sway, and a residency was established in 1906, but it took the discovery of oil in Seria in 1929 before the colonial power began to establish the bases of a modern state. Governed by an absolute monarchy, Bruneians today nonetheless enjoy a high level of social protection and rule of law. Ranking second (after Singapore) in Southeast Asia in terms of standards of living, the sultanate is implementing an Islamic penal code for the first time of its history. Focusing on Brunei’s political economy, history and geography, this book aims to understand the forces behind Brunei’s to-and-fro of tradition and modernisation.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- List of Graphs
- pp. x-xi
- List of Maps
- p. xii
- List of Figures
- p. xiii
- Acknowledgements
- pp. xiv-xv
- I: Prologue: Brunei versus Borneo
- 2. The Best Port in West Borneo
- pp. 5-10
- 3. A Relatively Strategic Site
- pp. 11-12
- II: From Thalassocracy to Rentier State
- A. Premises and Emergence of the Bruneian Thalassocracy
- B. New Commercial Routes and Internal Rivalries (1600-1905)
- 1. The Dutch Card and Its Failure
- pp. 61-68
- III: Independence and After, 1984-2014
- 1. Well-tempered Modernisation, 1984–89
- pp. 132-139
- 2. Full Steam Ahead! (1989-99)
- pp. 140-151
- 1. Absolute Dominance of Hydrocarbons
- pp. 166-178
- 2. Structural Trade Surplus
- pp. 179-182
- 3. Successful Regional Integration
- pp. 183-186
- 1. Internal and External Surpluses
- pp. 188-190
- 2. From Surplus to Assets
- pp. 191-194
- 3. An Unusual Model
- pp. 195-200
- IV: Adat Istiadat and Societal Management
- 1. Seeking the Brunei Paradigm
- pp. 203-204
- A. Orang Melayu, Orang Brunei?
- 1. Demographic Expansion
- pp. 205-219
- 2. Education as a Recent Phenomenon
- pp. 220-230
- 3. Malays = Civil Servants
- pp. 231-234
- B. Adat Istiadat
- p. 235
- 1. Evolution of Royal Custom
- pp. 236-248
- 2. Opening Up of the Hierarchy (1958–2014)
- pp. 249-257
- C. Melayu Islam Beraja
- p. 261
- 3. State Ideology—But with Rule of Law
- pp. 275-282
- Conclusion: Durable Consensus?
- pp. 283-288
- Appendices
- pp. 289-302
- Thematic Bibliography
- pp. 303-330
Additional Information
ISBN
9789971698690
Related ISBN(s)
9789971698188
MARC Record
OCLC
963624121
Pages
368
Launched on MUSE
2016-11-24
Language
English
Open Access
No