The mandates

Established in July 2002, the Canada Chair of Asian Research is attached to the Centre d'études de l'Asie de l'Est (CÉTASE) of the Université de Montréal. Founded in 1976, the CÉTASE has focused on studies of East Asia stricto sensu, essentially China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

One of the mandates of the Chair consists of broadening to Southeast Asia the focused area of activities of the Centre. The Southeast Asian region is composed of the eleven following states: Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and East Timor (or Timor-Leste).

this map is only availalbe in French for the moment

The second fundamental mandate is the research itself. Among various research topics, a very detailed attention is given to analysing the agrarian foundations behind Southeast Asian society dynamics and economies.

The research agenda is, in sorts, a continuation of a cycle of studies developed by the Chair holder for over thirty years of which the privileged subject has been the multiscale conditions and consequences of historical and contemporary evolution of agrarian societies of Southeast Asia. In this context, comparisons with equivalent processes among Southeast Asian societies sensu stricto have already been initiated.

The present fundamental objective consists in identifying and interpreting the specificities, assets and vulnerabilities of said societies in their accelerated venture towards urbanisation and industrialisation, being understood that they are, ones and others, at different levels of advancement in this process.

The research program

Working objectives

The intention is therefore to further and broaden the analysis of agrarian foundations of contemporary economic dynamics of all regions and countries of Oriental Asia, as well as their specific consequences, at historic and contemporary scales.

In this respect, beyond the spectacular success of East Asian industrial economies, and even many those of Southeast Asia, it is important to underline the following: the agrarian past of countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan is not far behind, it's mark remaining relevant in each of the concerned societies, where as the agrarian present remains definitely dominant in the People's Republic of China as well as in the majority of Southeast Asian countries, and even in North Korea.

Thus, the key themes being studied are:

1. the East and Southeast Asian agrarian transformations;
2. the links between agrarian transformations, industrialisation, migration and urbanisation;
3. the environmental impacts of the agrarian transformations, such as deforestation and micro-climate changes;
4. the impacts of agricultural expansion and deforestation on ethnic minorities;
5. the articulations, at regional and country levels in Southeast Asia as well as between these and the rest of Oriental Asia, in regards to agricultural and forestry markets, which leads to the following:
6. the role of globalisation in agrarian and environmental transformations in Pacific Asia;
7. the geopolitical implications, internal as well as external, resulting from competitions inherent of these transformations.

Such studies must rely on teamwork. It is thus a matter of, firstly, articulating the pursuit of these objectives with those of the university, particularly the CÉTASE's and the researchers attached to it, secondly, broadening this articulation to external research networks, local, national and international. The realisation of such converging research will articulate itself around the aforementioned propositions.

The projects and present collaborations

An important project is under way under the banner of the Major Collaborative Research Initiative program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The Challenges of the Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia (ChATSEA) comprises 21 researchers from and their teams, it's objective consists in improving the knowledge of the agrarian transition. For more information please consult the ChATSEA section of this web site.

A second, but not as ambitious, project is also being led at the Chair, Le modèle de développement agricole Sud-Est asiatique : atouts et vulnérabilités devant la crise (the Southeast Asian agricultural development model: assets and vulnerabilities in view of the crisis), which is supported by the SSHRC.

Completed work

Completed in 2004, Localized Poverty Reduction in Vietnam / La réduction de la pauvreté locale au Vietnam, relied on a collaboration with the Université Laval, the University of British Columbia (UBC), five Vietnamese universities as well as the National Centre of Social and Human Sciences of Vietnam. This project was supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Understanding Poverty in Vietnam and the Philippines: Concepts and Context is a compilation of papers resulting from the project, we invite you to consult and download it in the Publications section of our web site.