Contours of Precarity: A Perspective on Vulnerability and Insecurity in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is experiencing high levels of accumulation, extractive activity, speculation, infrastructural development, and indebtedness. At the same time, state-business-investment agendas regularly downplay issues of marginality and disadvantage. This paper provides a perspective on vulnerability and insecurity in the region. Drawing on observations over a number of years, combined with a review of relevant literature and the use of illustrative examples, it details how and why the concept of precarity is particularly relevant for understanding contemporary forms of jeopardy in Southeast Asia. What follows is the case for a grounded and disaggregated precarity perspective to decipher the less acknowledged forces and interests shaping circumstances we seek to prevent. Rather than relying on limited frames of reference, such an approach can bring greater awareness to localized distress stemming from untrammelled accumulation, speculation, extractive activities, and indebtedness. This conceptual shift is arguably crucial for effectively understanding and mitigating vulnerabilities. If states in Southeast Asia continue to disregard the significance of the interplay between politics, commercial interests, and development agendas in driving ecological degradation, social disadvantage, and marginalization, then the likelihood is a precarious future for many.