About the Journal

Aims, Scope, and Core Areas

SCA is rooted in the intersections of Asian studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, history, and political science, and seeks to move beyond the singular paradigm of “area studies.” The journal’s fundamental position is that the richness of Asia lies not only in its diverse social forms and cultural traditions but also—and especially—in the new experiences, concepts, and critical resources these societies and cultures continue to generate within the processes of global modernity.

We encourage authors to build creative dialogues between rigorous empirical research and profound theoretical reflection, and especially welcome high-quality submissions in the following areas:

Social Structures and Change

• Social stratification, class restructuring, and inequality in Asia

• Urban–rural relations, migration, and urbanisation

• Contemporary transformations of family, kinship, and intergenerational relations

• Education, occupations, and social mobility

• Civil society, social movements, and collective action

• Transformations of labour, work, and livelihood

Cultural Production and Meaning Practices

• Asian pathways of religion, ritual, and secularisation

• Ethnicity, nationalism, and identity politics

• Language, media, and cultural representation

• Popular culture, consumer culture, and everyday life

• Cultural heritage, the reinvention of tradition, and collective memory

• Art, literature, and the social imagination

Politics and Social Governance

• State formations, authoritarianism, and democratisation

• Governmentality, policy, and everyday politics

• Law, rights, and social justice

• Borders, sovereignty, and geopolitics

• Social protest and civil disobedience

• Regional cooperation, integration, and conflict

Gender, Body, and Intimate Relations

• Gender politics and feminist movements in Asian contexts

• Body, affect, and the governance of life

• Sexuality, intimacy, and marriage systems

• Intersectional perspectives on gender, class, and ethnicity

Development, Environment, and Technology

• Developmentalism and its critiques

• Environmental justice, ecological crisis, and sustainability

• Technopolitics, digital society, and the platform economy

• Infrastructure, the production of space, and regional connectivity

Intellectual History and Knowledge Production

• Asian philosophical traditions and modern social thought

• Postcolonial theory and Asian intellectual subjectivity

• The geopolitics of knowledge production: who produces theory, and for whom?

• Cross-cultural dialogue and the politics of translation

Interdisciplinary Dialogue
SCA consistently welcomes boundary-crossing scholarship from sociology, anthropology, history, political science, cultural studies, geography, communication studies, literary studies, religious studies, gender studies, urban studies, and related fields, provided it carries a clear Asian focus and sociological or cultural significance.