Reinvention in public governance in southeast asia: Its impacts on economic sovereignty and self-reliance

During recent decades, there has been a significant transition or “reinvention” in the mode of state governance in both developed and developing nations. In line with this global trend, most Southeast Asian countries have restructured the traditional state-centric mode of governance or the so-called “developmental state” in favor of market-led neoliberal reforms and policies, often under external pressure or persuasion. This new mode of state governance favoring global market forces has serious implications for economic sovereignty and self-reliant development in the region. In this regard, this article attempts to examine major domains and directions of reinvention in governance in Southeast Asian countries. It also explores the critical impacts of this recent market-driven reinvention on the economic sovereignty and self-reliance of these countries