Traditionalism and the ascendancy of the Malay ruling class in colonial Malaya / Donna J. Amoroso.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Amoroso, Donna J., 1960-2011, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Malays (Asian people)--Malaysia--Politics and government--History.

Malays (Asian people).

Nationalism--Malaysia--History.

Nationalism.

Colonial influence.

History.

Kings and rulers.

Politics and government.

Malaysia--Politics and government--History.

Malaysia.

Malaysia--Kings and rulers--History.

Malaysia--Colonial influence--History.

Malays (Asian people)--Politics and government.

Political science.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxxiv, 276 pages : map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Singapore : NUS Press ; Selangor, Malaysia : Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, 2014.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Traditionalism and the Ascendancy of the Malay Ruling Class in Colonial Malaya, In this original and perceptive study Donna J. Amoroso argues that the Malay elites' preeminent position after the Second World War had much to do with how British colonialism reshaped old idioms and rituals - helping to (re)invent a tradition. In doing so she illuminates the ways that traditionalism reordered the Malay political world, the nature of the state and the political economy of leadership. In the postwar era, traditionalism began to play a new role: it became a weapon which the Malay aristocracy employed to resist British plans for a Malayan Union and to neutralise the challenge coming from groups representing a more radical, democratic perspective and even hijacking their themes. Leading this conservative struggle was Dato Onn bin Jaafar, who not only successfully helped shape Malay opposition to the Malayan Union but was also instrumental in the creation of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that eventually came to personify an 'acceptable Malay nationalism'. Traditionalism and the Ascendancy of the Malay Ruling Class in Colonial Malaya is an important contribution to the history of colonial Malaya and, more generally, to the history of ideas in late colonial societies. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Preservation and Change under Colonial Rule

Traditionalism as a Mechanism of Survival

The Ideological Struggle Underlying Nationalism

The Study and the Sources

Chapter 2 British Power and the Reordering of Malay Politics 21

Britain as Paramount Power

The Wages of Resistance: Payoffs and Payrolls

Standardisation of the Malay State: Internal and External

The Bureaucratisation of Malay Chiefs

Chapter 3 Rituals of State and the New Malay Rules 65

Centralising Impulses of Malay Rulers and British Imperialists

The New Malay Ruler

The Royal Person

Public Ceremonial

The Ruler's Visibility

Self-invention or British Creature?

Colonialism and the Reification of Malay Tradition

Chapter 4 Challenges to Traditionalism 99

Change in Prewar Malay Society

War and Occupation

Colonial Restoration

Political and Press Freedom under Restored Colonial Rule

Chapter 5 Aristocratic Ascendancy and the Use of Tradition 135

The Malayan Union Struggle

Rulers and Chiefs in the Malayan Union Struggle

The Crisis of Protection

Tradition versus Progress

Loyalty

A New Tradition: Malay Rulers as Icons of the Malay Nation

Chapter 6 Politics and Nationalism 167

The Development of a National Political Public

Nationalism and the Practice of Politics

Propaganda and the Press

A Modern Hero: Onn bin Jaafar as National Leader Symbols of Nation

Gathering in Defence of Bangsa Melayu: Demonstrations and Drilling

Chapter 7 Epilogue 211

Depoliticising Nationalism

Traditionalism, Nationalism and the State in Late- and Postcolonial Malaya.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-241) and index.

ISBN:

9789971698140

9971698145

9789670630168

9670630169

9789670630182

9670630185

OCLC:

865529520