Globalisation and Cultures in Southeast Asia: Demise, Fragmentation, Transformation

This paper examines the extent to which contemporary globalisation diminishes local culture to pose itself as a formidable threat to Southeast Asian cultural values. Southeast Asia is home to thousands of different ethnic peoples with their distinctive languages, cultures, mores and religious beliefs. These unique traits comprise their cultural heritage, which is passed down from generation to generation. However, the contemporary process of globalisation results in an intrusion into indigenous Southeast Asian cultures. In spite of the genuine fear of globalisation’s erosion of traditional lifestyles, cultural mores and religious beliefs, we argue that attempts to resist its negative implications have been inadequate with respect to Southeast Asian nations and peoples.