The Dictionary of Human Geography

Comp. by: LElumalai Stage : Revises1 ChapterID: 9781405132879_4_A Date:31/3/09
Time:21:44:15 Filepath://ppdys1108/BlackwellCup/00_Blackwell/00_3B2/Gregory-
9781405132879/appln/3B2/revises/9781405132879_4_A.3d

recent pursuit of modernity and global futures

has also been characterized by uneven and dif-

ferent trajectories for countries in Asia.

Optimism about the region based on the

runaway success of some East and South East

Asian ‘miracle’ economies (seeasian miracle /

tigers) was suddenly brought up short as the

region floundered in crisis in the closing years of

the twentieth century (Chapman and Baker,

1992; Forbes, 2005). by

Suggested reading

Weightman (2006).

Asian miracle/tigers A popular description

of East and South East Asian countries that

had exceptionally high rates of economic

growth from the 1960s until the Asian

economic crisis of 1997. Some lists of the

Asian miracle economies include Japan, but

most early discussions focused on Hong

Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan,

also called the ‘first tier’ Asian newly industri-

alizing countries (NICs). After the economic

boom extended to Southeast Asia in the

1980s and 1990s, authors began to speak of

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand as part of

the miracle, and some discussions of China’s

rapid growth since the 1990s also place it

on the list of tigers/miracle economies.

The World Bank’sEast Asian Miraclereport

(1993) put an official seal on the language of

miracles, though the bank’s analysis argued

that the rapid growth of these economies was

not in fact miraculous and could be replicated

by other countries. The report was met with

varied forms of criticism, however, and there

have been analysts who question whether the

performance of the Asian NICs is replicable

or should be celebrated as uncritically as it

often has been.

The East Asian Miracle report generally

credited neo-liberal policies with responsibility

for the boom, including maintenance of

export-oriented trade regimes, though it

acknowledged some benefits from policies of

‘financial repression’, such as state-imposed

below-market interest rates for loans to

specific exporting industries. Various institu-

tionalist analysts criticized the bank for over-

looking a range of other state policies that

facilitated growth, but that do not fit the tenets

ofneo-liberalism(Wade, 1996).

Other analysts have criticized celebration of

the Asian NICs performance, regardless of the

specific role of states in their growth. Criticisms

have included concerns about the political re-

pressiveness of Asian states and environmental

destruction caused by rapid growth. After the

economic crisis hit many of the tigers in 1997,

some analysts also began to question the eco-

nomic sustainability of the Asian NIC growth

model (Hart-Landsberg and Burkett, 1998). In

addition, some authors have noted that the

Asian miracle has much to do with the devel-

opment of a networked,cold warera, regional

production hierarchy, led by Japan, which is

both geographically and historically specific –

and thus not readily replicated even if it does

present a desirable model (Cumings, 1984;

Bernard and Ravenhill, 1995). jgl

Suggested reading

Bernard and Ravenhill (1995); Cumings (1984);

Hart-Landsberg and Burkett (1998); Wade

(1996); World Bank (1993).

assemblage The process by which a collect-

ive asian miracle/tigers entry entity (thing or

meaning) is created from the connection of a

range of heterogeneous components. A trans-

lation of the French wordagencement, the so-

lidity of the English term tends to make it

sound more static, rational and calculated

than the original term signifies. In fact, it is

precisely the sense of an aggregate with a cer-

tain consistency being created from an active,

ad hocand ongoing entanglement of elements

that has made the notion so attractive to

authors working in a post-structuralist

vein. The concept has been put to work not-

ably in science and technology studies (STS)

(see Law, 2004), the work of Jacques Derrida,

and – most significantly – the combined writ-

ings of Gilles Deleuze and Fe ́lix Guattari

(1998). nb

assimilation A particular form of the social

integration of people into a newsociety, typic-

ally after they have migrated from another

country (cf. migration). There are many

forms of integration, which includesocial ex-

clusion(denying migrants basic social rights),

assimilation, laissez-faire approaches (leaving

migrants alone to choose their own mode of

social engagement with mainstream society)

andpluralism(allowing migrants to retain

their cultural traditions and live separately

from mainstream society). Assimilation is a

process whereby migrants give up their cul-

tural traditions, including attire, language,

cuisines and ways of thinking, and take on

the cultural traditions of the society in their

destination country (Gordon, 1964; Glazer

and Moynihan, 1970). The classicimmigra-

tion-based countries – the USA, Canada,

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_A Final Proof page 38 31.3.2009 9:44pm

ASIAN MIRACLE/TIGERS