Malaysia and the Development Process: Globalization, Knowledge Transfers and Postcolonial Dilemmas

Drawing on recent deconstructions in anthropology, postcolonial studies, and critical sociology, Malaysia and the Development Process situates and explores the phenomenon of international knowledge transfers within the context of globalization. Based on primary and secondary research, and a series of ‘experiential’ reflections, fieldwork was conducted in two foreign electronics multinationals and a variety of public and semi-public institutions. The findings reassess issues of knowledge, power, subjectivity and agency, and the relations between the West and the non-West, as they are negotiated between and within multinational workplaces and local agencies in Malaysia.