編者のことば(<特集>東南アジアにおける「都市」の諸様相)

Abstract

This special issue on the patterns of urban formation in Southeast Asia is the outcome of a collective effort by scholars, both in and outside Japan, to challenge the question of the logical relationship between the concepts of "towns" and "villages", or of "states" and "cities" in Southeast Asia. A cross-national Symposium on this particular subject was held at Kyoto University on December 5th and 6th, 1981 at the initiative of the Social Sciences Section, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. More than 10 papers were read, which discussed the subject from different angles. Most of the papers took up specific towns or areas for case-study of urban formation in Southeast Asia and the Symposium as a whole was at the same time hypothetical and empirical. The seven pieces contained in this issue were carefully selected from the papers read at the Symposium with the aim of depicting the basic tendencies of urban-rural of urban-national relationships in the region. Particular attention was paid to the balance between maritime and continental Southeast Asia. The Editor hopes that these articles will stimulate an interest in this subject in academic circles that are concerned with shapes of societies or patterns of nation-building in Southeast Asia. In addition to the above-mentioned articles, we include a paper by Toshiharu Yoshikawa which introduces Thai publications related to the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Thai Rattanakosin Dynasty.