The social formation and cultural identity of Southeast Asian frontier society: Focused on the concept of maritime Zomia as frontier in connection with the ocean and the inland

This paper examines the applicability of the Zomia concept for social scientific studies of the Malaysian region, with a focus on the Malaysian port cities, including Melaka. While for both empirical and socio-cultural reasons the term Zomia itself may not be entirely appropriate to the Malaysian Melaka region, the analytical implications that are based on James C. Scott’s usage of it, particularly the emphasis on the cultural dynamics of inter-ethnic, inter-national, and inter-religious relations of port areas, can be of great utility to those working in the Malaysian region. Zomia is a neologism gaining popularity with the publication of James C. Scott’s provocative book, The art of not being governed: an anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia. The term of Zomia is designed to indicate the people who has not been governed by the nation-state and national regime.