The international political economy of ethnic networks: overseas Chinese business networks in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Concepts, methods, and empirical findings cannot be separate. What we discover depends on what is looked for and what can be looked for depends on how we choose to look. We must be aware of the shape of our methodological glasses and deliberately choose a set, which is appropriate to our purpose. Thus how we perceive world affairs is dependent on where we stand and what sort of scene we want to see in world affairs. Centuries ago, many Chinese began their search for better opportunities by migrating to the far corners of the world. In the wilderness of foreign lands, they retained their identity. They had one unifying factor, common language and culture. This allowed them to use the contacts that they had with each other to build a common destiny and strong business ties. The purpose of this thesis is to recognise the Overseas Chinese in the global structure of the world economy. The Overseas Chinese have for too long been seen as possibly a powerful global economy entity, but never been comprehensively understood by outsiders.