ปีที่พิมพ์ 2563
 
Asian Review 2018 vol. 32 No. 3
บรรณาธิการโดย Jirayudh Sinthuphan

Introduction: Changing Asia
Jirayudh Sinthuphan
The world is constantly changing. Rapid technological, socio-political and climate disruptions have already imposed new challenges on human life and society. In order to persist, we must learn to adopt new ways of thinking and working. The five articles in this issue of the Asian Review address the issue of change and new challenges in societies across Asia.
Asia is increasingly threatened by intensifying inequality and an aging population. Its neo-liberal free-market ideology has not only resulted in its widened social disparity but also in the lack of knowledge and skills needed to develop proper mechanisms to protect the public. Without proper state intervention, rural populations are left behind and are vulnerable to poverty as demonstrated in the study by Thitiwan Sricharoen about vulnerability to poverty of rural farm households in Thailand. Likewise, Marie-Helene Thomas draws our attention to the effect of modernization ideology on Asia’s changing attitude towards old age and filial piety. With its youth-orientated ideology and its industrialization ambition, Asia’s aging population is considered counter-productive and hence less important. Unless Asian societies can come up with a new ideology and cultural mechanism, older individuals will soon be left behind to fend for themselves as opposed to being respected and celebrated in old age.