Chambers, Nuangjamnong, and their contributors look at how the development of the beer industry in East Asia presents a unique opportunity for understanding the region’s political economy.
Asia is both the world’s largest beer-consuming and beer-producing region, and the fastest growing beer market. Per-capita consumption is lower than Europe, but catching up fast. Beer consumption is also widely understood to correlate closely with economic growth and urbanization, much more so than other alcoholic beverages like spirits. With ten country case studies from both Northeast and Southeast Asia, the contributors to this volume look at the history of beer production and consumption across East Asia through a lens of historical institutionalism and political economy. In doing so they not only examine the development of the beer industry in the region but also what it tells us about the countries themselves. They ask questions such as: To what extent have state versus societal actors influenced the path of beer production? How has beer production changed? Was there a critical juncture at which beer production abruptly changed course?
A valuable resource for students and scholars of modern East Asian History, and particularly those with a focus on colonial history, industrial history, and state-society relations.
Introduction 1. Conceptualizing the Political Economic History of Beer in East Asia 2. The Political Economy of the Japanese Beer Industry: ‘Plus ça change…’ 3. Long March: The Historical Transformation of Chinese Beer 4. The Spread of Beer Culture(s) on the Korean Peninsula 5. The political economy of beer in Taiwan: From Japanese pride to national brouhaha, beer wars and craft beer 6. State-Market Dynamics and the Historical Dominance of San Miguel in the Philippine Beer Industry 7. From Bière to Bia: The Political Economy of The Vietnamese Beer Industry 8. Happiness You Can Drink: The Evolution of Beer in Thailand 9. Love Me, Love My Beer: National Heritage in a Bottle: The Social and Economic Engineering of the Lao Beer Industry 10. Choul Mouy! The Political Economy of Beer in Cambodia 11. The political economy of beer in Myanmar: smugglers, boycotts, and a bad hangover
Paul Chambers is Lecturer and Advisor for International Affairs at the Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Thailand. Nithi Nuangjamnong is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Naresuan University, Thailand.
