Rice Politics in Southeast Asia

'The author deeply narrates the historical footprint of the transformative Green Revolution in three rice-importing nations — Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Unlike their successful neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam, they adopted protectionist policies to preserve 'rice sovereignty and security,' but this came at the cost of inefficiencies, market distortions, and long-term structural weaknesses.' Fatimah Mohamed Arshad, Universiti Putra Malaysia 'Rice Politics in Southeast Asia provides a comparative political economy analysis across Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines which is unparalleled in its breadth, depth, intricacy, and insight. Not since Richard Doner's 1991 study of the automobile industry has any scholar produced a study combining such fine-grained treatment of a single sector with such breadth of coverage. This is a landmark contribution to the study of Southeast Asia.' John Sidel, London School of Economics and Political Science 'This important book explains why rice politics have been so fraught in key Southeast Asian countries. Placing the Green Revolution and its legacy at the center of the story, it explains why, despite fierce criticism and obvious policy failures, rice protectionism has endured so long in Indonesia and Malaysia, and, until very recently, in the Philippines as well. An essential read for any self-respecting comparativist of Southeast Asia and beyond.' Mark R. Thompson, City University of Hong Kong