The Region-Making in Southeast
Asia
and Middle-Class Formation:
The Third Wave
Merville Velasco
Rhea Ann Mae Omac
Regionalization
entails complex
and dynamic
interactions
between and among
governmental and
nongovernmental
actors which
resulted to hybrid
in East Asia.
The main engines of hybridization
are explained by the successive waves
of regional economic development
that is powered by developmental
states
and
national
and
transnational
capitalism
that
nurtured sizeable middle-classes that
share a lot in common in terms of
and their lifestyles, in fashion,
leisure, and entertainment, in their
aspirations and dreams.
 The
product
of
regional
economic development in the
post war era are the middle
classes in east Asia.
 Regional economic development
took place within the context
of the American informal empire
in “Free Asia”, with the US-led
regional security system and
the triangular trade system
as its two major pillars.
 The first wave of regional
economic development took place
in Japan from mid- 1950’s to the
early 1970s and led to the
emergence of a middle-class by the
early 1970s.
 The second wave took place
between the 1960s and 1980s in
South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong
and Singapore and led to the
formation of middle -class
Two salient points in the
history of East Asian
middle-class formation
Two salient points in the history of East Asian
Middle-Class Formation
 Middle class formation in
Southeast Asia was driven by
global
and
regional
transnational
capitalism
working in alliance with
national states while middle
class in Japan, South Korea,
and Taiwan were created by
developmental
states
and
Two salient points in the history of East Asian
Middle-Class Formation

New urban middle classes in
East Asia, whether in Japan,
South
Korea,
Taiwan,
or
Southeast
Asia,
with
their
middle-class
jobs,
education,
and income, have in turn
created
their
own
new
lifestyles commensurate with
ddle Classes in The Philippines
 New urban
middle classes
emerged in the
post 1986
Philippines.
ddle Classes in The Philippines
 Fostered by government policies
deregulation, the development of these
new enterprises has been oriented both
toward the export and domestic
markets and has entailed increasingly
diverse sources of foreign investment
and variable subcontracting, franchise,
and service relationships, with a
noticeable expansion of ties connecting
the Philippines to other countries in
East and Southeast Asia.
Regional Implications of
Middle -Class Formation in East
Asia
Regional Implications of Middle -Class
Formation in East Asia
 Complex
historical forces
shaped new
urban middle
classes.
Regional Implications of Middle -Class
Formation in East Asia
 The political
consequences of
the rise of East
Asia middle classes.
Thank
You!