ABSTRACT
No country can be adequately captured in a single volume, however intellectually or physically weighty. A complete picture of all that comprises ‘contemporary Malaysia’ would hence clearly be beyond the possible scope of this volume. And yet, our aim is for more than a set of static descriptions or assessments. Instead, this volume presents a series of thoughtful, hopefully thought-provoking engagements with different dimensions of Malaysian politics, economics, and society. Each chapter can stand on its own; taken together, however, they offer an especially rich perspective on the extraordinary complexity of modern Malaysia. This brief introduction lays the ground for the more substantive chapters that follow, offering a sketch of key moments and attributes, then an overview of the volume as a whole.
