where necessary.
The subregions examined here are highly complex, given they are
home to numerous ethnically and linguistically diverse groups who,
among them, have very diverse social, religious, and cultural practices.
Although findings from South and Southeast Asia are presented together
here for pragmatic reasons, this does not imply viewing them as one
geographical or political entity but rather highlights underlying shared
history and contemporary interlinkages. Both subregions are distinct, with
considerable complexity within each.
While some similarities emerged in terms of trends and actors, which
we have attempted to highlight, it is important to read the paper as an
exploration of two distinct subregions using merely the same question:
what are some key trends, and who are significant actors when it
comes to fascisms and fundamentalisms seen in these contexts?
Both subregions have fraught political, social, and cultural histories and
landscapes. Experiences of colonialism, for example, varied significantly
across the countries examined. However, it is clear to see that the region
as a whole was significantly impacted and shaped by many decades (in
some cases, centuries) of European colonialism and imperialism, and
many colonial legacies persist today.
WE SELECTED SPECIFIC COUNTRIES
FROM BOTH SUBREGIONS TO
HIGHLIGHT A DIVERSE RANGE
OF NATIONAL CONTEXTS, WHILE
UNDERSTANDING THAT IT IS NOT
EXHAUSTIVE OR INCLUSIVE OF ALL THE
SPECIFICITIES AND PARTICULARITIES
OF BOTH SUBREGIONS.
We selected specific countries from both subregions to highlight a
diverse range of national contexts, while understanding that it is not
exhaustive or inclusive of all the specificities and particularities of both
subregions. These countries were selected by considering factors such
as their economic standing within the global free-market paradigm (e.g.,
countries such as Thailand and Malaysia are ‘upper-middle-income’
countries, others such as Sri Lanka and India are ‘lower-middle-income’
countries, and countries such as Afghanistan are ‘low-income’, according
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