Modern World History - Assimilation & Exclusion in Societies - Research Paper Example

Burchardt et al defined social exclusion as “…the attempt of one group to secure for itself a privileged position at the expense of some other group through a process of subordination..” (p.2). Social exclusion has existed in so many ways and forms in societies. South East Asia generally refers to the nations east of the Indian sub-continent and west of China and the Indian Ocean islands south of these nations. It includes Burma, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Most of the people living in these areas speak dialects of the Austronesian family of languages and they share similar cultural practices and animist religious traits (McKay, p.429). In the 13th Century, Jewish, Christian and Muslim influences were felt in the region by traders.

After the 1300s the Muslims established the Malacca which became a trading entry point and flourished in trade (McKay, 430) In 1511, the Portuguese captured Malacca and the Spanish occupied Manilla in 1571. This marked the beginning of world-class social exclusion in this region. The Europeans sent missionaries to convert the Southeast Asians with a view of training them to integrate into their Europeanized colonies. Mendelssohn & Marika report that the Europeans used the support of these Europeanized natives to suppress ‘inferior’ tribes. . They were granted second grade status.

(Bauer, p79) In 1599, a Dutch fleet containing large quantities of spices returned to Amsterdam and this prospect caused them to establish the Dutch East Indies Company with the intention of taking over the spice trade from the Portuguese (Kagan et al p.77). The Dutch East Indies Company became the national tool for the colonization of several islands in South East Asia by the 1700s. Britain followed with the colonization of Malaysia and some other lands in the region whilst the French took over the territory now known as Vietnam.

The next thing that followed was widespread social exclusion, where white Europeans were living privileged lives on the socio-economic plane whilst the natives toiled on the farms. “In Southeast Asia, economic profit was the immediate and primary aim of the colonial enterprise. For that purpose, colonial powers tried wherever possible to work with local elites to facilitate the exploitation of natural resources. Indirect rule reduced the cost of training European administrators and had a less severe impact on the social group.

” (Duiker, p36). The colonial powers forced the natives to work hard on plantations in very harsh conditions. The Europeans exported all the products, mainly palm oil and spices to Europe, which they sold for very high profit margins. Duiker reports that the South East Asian barely had enough to feed himself and his family. However, the Europeans and their ‘priyayi’ (native collaborators) enjoyed luxurious lives in Southeast Asia whilst the locals were denied rights to basic necessities like education, healthcare and justice.

The main advantage of colonialism is that it set the stage for the modernization of these nations.