NZAI books 2000-2009

Edited by Fred E. Anderson, Ma Yingxin and Nicholas Tarling, Shandong University Press [2009] 319 pp

This edited volume presents the research findings of the New Zealand Asia Institute’s research project - English in Asia.

One of the challenges facing languages schools is how to help Asian students, within a limited time, attain the required test scores and meanwhile prepare them for ensuing degree studies. Likewise, a challenge facing universities is to continue the "relay" to help these students, who often still have insufficient language and/or "cultural capital", assume confidence through the academic disciplines and to meet the expectations of their respective academic programmes.

This publication draws together issues and activities related to the English language in the context of Asian students’ attempting degree studies.

By D. Hugh Whittaker, with P. Byosiere, S. Momose, T. Morishita, T. Quince and J. Higuchi, Oxford University Press [2009] 208 pp

This book compares high-tech entrepreneurs in the UK and Japan, both countries often associated with liberal and coordinated market capitalism respectively. It finds some basic similarities in the way entrepreneurs exit employment, tentatively start their businesses and become innovative over time, rather than starting with a “home run” idea.

It also finds some compelling differences. Casting “project entrepreneurship” and “lifework entrepreneurship” as two polar extremes, British entrepreneurs tend to be closer to the project pole, and Japanese entrepreneurs closer to the lifework pole.

Many of the differences can be explained by the nature of markets in the two countries. The findings pose a basic dilemma: should policymakers adapt their policies to the nature of domestic entrepreneurship, or should they try to foster the “home run”, strategy-driven rapid growth ventures of Silicon Valley?

Edited by Hugh Whittaker and Simon Deakin, Oxford University Press [2009] 304 pp

Japanese corporate governance and managerial practice is at a critical juncture. At the start of the decade pressures mounted for Japan to move to a shareholder-value driven, "Anglo-American" system of corporate governance.

Subsequent changes, however, may be seen as an adjustment and renewal of the post-war model of the Japanese firm. In adapting to global corporate governance standards, Japanese managers have also been reshaping them according to their own agenda of reform and restructuring decision-making.

This publication is based on detailed and intensive field work in large Japanese companies and interviews with investors, civil servants, and policy makers in the period following the adoption of significant corporate law reforms in the early 2000s, up to the months just before the global financial crisis of 2008.

By Nicholas Tarling, Dunmore Publishing [2009] 277 pp

Nicholas Tarling is an historian of Southeast Asia who has pursued a variety of other interests as well. Known to many New Zealanders after nearly thirty years as a professor at the University of Auckland, he has also been a broadcaster, an actor, a critic, and an opera buff.

Drawing on letters and diaries, the author recalls, with at least something of an historian’s objectivity, some of the people, places and problems he encountered – sometimes with pain, sometimes with pleasure. As a child in the 1930s he was described as "a fair-haired cherub who could do no wrong". A colleague in the 1970s remarked on his "wisdom, low cunning and dry wit".

Published by Dunmore Publishing

By Nicholas Tarling. Translated into Thai [2009]. Vol 1 501 pp. Vol 2 501 pp. Vol 3 501 pp. Vol 4 551 pp

In these four volumes, now published in paperback, twenty-one scholars of international reputation consider the whole of mainland and island Southeast Asia from Burma to Indonesia.

By Nicholas Tarling [2008] 572 pp

This book considers British policy during the dispute over “West Papua” between Indonesia and the Netherlands following the collapse of the Suharto regime. Although there are books and theses on American, Australian and Dutch policies, those of the British have remained unexplored.

The work looks at the factors that conditioned Britain’s response to the unrest from accommodating its allies to navigating Cold War.

Published by Edwin Mellen Press

Edited by Nicholas Tarling and Edmund Terence Gomez, Routledge Malaysian Studies Series [2008] 230 pp

This book challenges the widely held belief that an authoritarian political system is necessary to ensure communal co-existence in developing countries where ethnic minorities have a considerable economic presence. It tests the assumptions behind these arguments, discussing ethnic communities, identity, economy, society and state, and the links between them, in a range of countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific and diaspora communities of Asian peoples in the East.

The country studies provide evidence on two key issues that raise concerns about the call to governments in multi-racial developing countries to avert communal conflict by limiting civil liberties until economic equity is achieved among all ethnic groups; first, that ethnic communities are by no means a homogenous group who share a collective identity; and second, that intra-ethnic patters of enterprise development are dissimilar and corporate decisions by business people are not determined by factors such as the need to expand communal equity ownership.

Edited by Nicholas Tarling, Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society [2007] 202 pp

Intended both for students and scholars, this book of personal essays is the first by a group of historians as researchers, writers and teachers specialising in Southeast Asia.

The group has not, to our knowledge, as a collective unit at least found any biographers before. They consist of a number of "veterans" who have been invited by Professor Nicholas Tarling to comment on the way they got into southeast Asian history, its development over the past decades and its future.

As result, the essays mainly semi-autobiographical in nature, are not only illuminating, but also reveal many "trade secrets" why they chose their particular area of specialisation, and how they went on to pursue their research interests, academic careers and writings on their chosen subjects.

By Wilf Malcolm and Nicholas Tarling, Dunmore Publishing [2007] 256 pp

In Crisis of Identity? Wilf Malcolm and Nicholas Tarling explore the nature and the importance of the university identity and describe how it evolved.

They give a detailed account of its history in New Zealand and show how it has been challenged by recent developments. They believe that robust development must be based on a clear understanding of the university’s role and therefore conclude by putting forward a set of core values and principles that they believe are essential to the idea of a university and the expression of that idea in governance and management.

This is a measured and erudite reflection on the profound changes to the New Zealand university system since its inception. It seeks to stimulate ongoing debate and review in New Zealand. It will also be of great interest to those concerned with universities in other countries.

By D. Hugh Whittaker and R. Cole, Oxford University Press [2006,] 335 pp

How did Japan fall from challenger, to US hegemonic leadership in the high tech industries in the 1980s, to stumbling giant by the turn of the century? What is it doing about it? This box examines the challenges faced by Japan’s high tech companies through successful emulation of some of their key practices by foreign competitors, and the emergence of new competitive models linked to open innovation and modular production.

By Nicholas Tarling, Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia [2006] 276 pp

This publication provides the reader with a historical analysis of Southeast Asia from the distinct perspective of regionalism. Southeast Asian history is usually written from a national point of view, which underplays the links between neighbouring states and nations and the effects of these bonds on the development of regionalism.

This innovative book first defines the meaning of "region" and "regionalism" and then applies it to periods of history in Southeast Asia to show how patterns of regionalism have shifted through time to the present day.

Edited by Yongjin Zhang [2006] 86 pp

This small book consists of nine policy related papers that reflect on and present the American, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian as well as New Zealand and Australian perspectives on the prospect of and challenges to multilateralism and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in the wake of North Korea’s missile launches in July 2006.

The recent nuclear test carried out by Kim Jong-il’s regime has significantly increased the stakes of regional security and nuclear non-proliferation in Northeast Asia. Collectively, this timely publication addresses this important strategic issue confronting the regional policy communities.

Price: $10.00 International Price: $20.00

By T. Inagami and D. Hugh Whittaker, Cambridge University Press [2005] 302 pp

After sweeping all before it in the 1980s, "Japanese management" ran into trouble in the 1990s, especially in high-tech industries, prompting many to declare it had outlived its usefulness. From the late 1990s leading companies embarked on wide-ranging reforms designed to restore their entrepreneurial vigour.

From the perspective of the community firm, Inagami and Whittaker examine changes to employment practices, corporate governance and management priorities, drawing on a rich combination of survey data and an in-depth study of Hitachi, Japan’s leading general electric company and enterprise group. They find change and continuity, the emergence of a "reformed model", but not the demise of the community firm.

Edited by Nicholas Tarling, Shandon University Press [2005] 282 pp

In recent years much has been said about governance and corruption in Asia, both before and after the 1997 crisis. This edited volume analyses the causes of corruption in East and Southeast Asia and considers the means of limiting and, wherever possible, eliminating the problem through better governance.

Taking a country-by-country approach, the book explores the diversity in the quality of governance and patterns of corruption among countries and regions. Insightful analysis of these differences and similarities is used to argue that political will, appropriate structures and legislation, and political transparency are required if corruption is to be stopped. All these are needed along with a strategy relevant to the circumstances of the particular country concerned.

By William Tai Yuen [2005] 202pp

This book is about the origins and process of China’s growing awareness of New Zealand through the centuries, up to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

The author describes the experiences of early Chinese settlers in New Zealand as the sources of information fed back to their homeland in China. He also traces the long-drawn-out negotiations between the Qing Government and the British Government over Chinese consular representation in Australia and New Zealand, leading eventually to the establishment of the Chinese consulates in the two countries.

He also argues that New Zealand missionaries and social workers had won the friendship and respect of the Chinese people at the local or national level, contributing eventually to China’s perception of New Zealand as a friendly nation.

An Essay by Nicholas Tarling [2005] 111 pp

There are many definitions of "Imperialism" ranging over many centuries. Nicholas Tarling in the Introduction to his recent book, Imperialism in Asia, considers a number of them. He suggests that the most common version, based on the writings of Hobson and Lenin may be too restricted when one looks carefully at Asia. In a number of essays, Tarling then looks at India, China, Russia, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

He concludes that Imperialism, as a scholarly construct, was and is useful only for a brief period of time. Today the "vogue" word in international policies is indeed no longer "imperialism" but "globalisation" and Tarling suggests that there are lessons to be learnt, especially in understanding and tolerance towards others, from the lessons learnt from Imperialism. The essay is about "Imperialism" and the colonisation of Asia by Western powers.

Price: $25.00 International Price: $30.00

By Nicholas Tarling [2004] 238 pp

The movement of international students, so marked a feature of the life of universities and other educational institutions in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, has been too little studied. Much of what has been written tends, moreover, to focus on marketing places and on what are seen as learning difficulties.

The present book, based on official records, newspaper reports, interviews and personal recollections, is intended as a first step towards encouraging a larger, better-informed and comparative debate.

Price: $35.00 International Price: $40.00

Edited by James Kember and Paul Clark [2003] 118 pp

Politicians and academics contributed to a series of lectures given in 2002 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the People’s Republic of China. They reflected on the past three decades and on earlier linkages. They also looked to the future of the bilateral relationship.

Price: $25.00 International Price: $30.00

Proceedings of a conference by NZ Asia Institute 6-7 October 2000 [2001] 146 pp

Representatives from North and South Korea came together for the first time on New Zealand soil at a conference organised by the New Zealand Asia Institute in October 2000. This volume collects the papers given at one of the first meetings between the two sides after the Pyongyang Summit of June 2000.

Price: $20.00 International Price: $30.00

By Nicholas Tarling [2000] 120 pp

In this essay, Nicholas Tarling, Professor of History at the University of Auckland 1968-96, reflects on the nature of history-writing and on the nature of the historiography of Southeast Asia. It will be of interest to students of Southeast Asia and to those who think, read and write about history.

Price: $20.00 International Price: $30.00