Role of political history in the construction of third sector identity

• In Event: Civil society in non-democracies

Abstract

This study asks how political history influence the emergence, development and growth of the third sector in Malaysia. It begins with tracing the political history of Malaysia, studying its colonial past, in particular the policies of the British colonial government between 1860 to 1957, the year Malaya gained its independence. History enables us to understand what the sector is by looking at how it came about, its raison d’etre. Understanding the origins of the sector will also provide an understanding of its identity and values within society, how it fits into the wider scheme of things, and where it is heading. These also help explain the challenges faced by the sector and predict its future direction.

From a macro perspective, understanding the origins of the Malaysian third sector in the context of a multiracial country which was formerly colonised by Britain, could be compared to the origins of the sector in other developing countries which were colonised by other Western powers, such as Vietnam (France) and Indonesia (The Netherlands).

This is essentially historical-cultural research and as such, historical documents are the only viable data source. Employing a document analysis approach, official government documents and public records, academic literature, and news reports will be the primary sources of data. In accordance with the qualitative analytic process, this is a data selection (as opposed to data collection) exercise which involves identifying, extracting, assessing, and synthesising data from the above-listed sources. The thorough examination of documentation provides the foundation from which the historical, social, cultural, political and economic context of the emergence and development of the Malaysian third sector is understood. Documents was suggested by Glaser and Strauss (1967) as useful for theory building. Findings will be arranged chronologically, as an attempt to provide a sequential description of the sector’s development alongside major events throughout the period.

Preliminary findings point towards a sector that evolved along the demographic characteristics of society but while this can be seen as a typical observation, the Malaysian case can be seen as the result of divide and rule policies implemented by the British colonial government. Policies that were seen to not encourage integration between the newly arrived immigrants with the native population in addition to the freedom given by individual migrant groups to organise their social welfare affairs accelerated the growth of “silo” third sector organisations.

The experiences of Malaysia can be the basis for comparative studies with other South East Asian nations, in particular Thailand, which was never colonised by a Western power. Output from the study could also form a basis for the development of a theory explaining the emergence and development of the third sector in a Southern, former colony, context.

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Author

• Nur Azam Anuarul Perai, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia