Over the last half-century, Southeast Asia has undergone innumerable, far-reaching changes that have consequences not only for large-scale institutions and processes, but also for everyday life. This book focuses on the topic of power in relation to these transformations, and looks at its various social, cultural, religious, economic and political forms. Consisting of empirically rich case studies, the book works from the ground up, seeking to capture Southeast Asians' own perspectives, conceptualizations and experiences of power.

Foreword: In Search of Power in Southeast Asia 1. Introduction: Power and Orientation in Southeast Asia 2. The Subject of Power in Southeast Asia 3. Power, Protection and Perfectibility: Aspiration and Materiality in Thailand 4. Sakti Reconsidered: Power and the Disenchantment of the World 5. Landscape, Power and Agency in Eastern Indonesia 6. The Symbolic Appropriation of War-Related Objects by the Jorai of Northeast Cambodia 7. The Anthropology of a Necessary Mistake: The Unsettled Dead and the Imagined State in Contemporary Singapore 8. Privateers, Politicians, Prowess and Power in Indonesia 9. Bureaucratic Migrants and the Potential of Prosperity in Upland Laos 10. Living on the Horizon of the Everlasting Present: Power, Planning, and the Emergence of Baroque Forms of Life in Urban Malaysia 11. Apparitions of Sapiocracy: Vietnam's Emergent Welfare State and the Restless Dead of Thanh Ha 12. From the Power of Prayer to Prayer Power: On Religion and Revolt in the Modern Philippines