Beyond hearts and minds: a subaltern re-evaluation of the binary of coercion and soft power during the Malayan emergency, 1948–1960

• Main Author: Lau, Jun Hong
• Other Authors: Faizah Binte Zakaria
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Humanities::History::Asia::Malaysia; Humanities::History::Historiography
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165350
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project seeks to challenge the prevailing colonial perspective that views the Malayan Emergency through a binary between "coercion and enforcement" and "hearts and minds." Instead, it suggests a more nuanced approach that acknowledges the constant coexistence of coercive and softer tactics during the insurgency. The project argues that such an approach is necessary as current literature overlooks the role of coercion by the insurgents and lacks engagement with the experiences of rank-and-file insurgents and villagers. By utilising a social history approach, this project provides new perspectives on the use of coercion and softer approaches throughout the Emergency, and highlights their impact on the lived experiences of civilians and insurgents. The project also emphasises the wider impact of the Emergency beyond Malaya and its significance within the context of post-war decolonisation and the Cold War. The Malayan Emergency was not only a case study for counterinsurgency efforts but also an active cause of imperial overstretch and early Cold War fears among the British. This project intends to shift existing historiography towards a more comprehensive approach that considers how the Emergency interacted with contemporaneous events during the burgeoning Cold War and the British struggles to maintain order in their post-war Empire.