49 Alternative Discourses in Southeast Asia Sari 19 (2001) 49 - 67 Alternative Discourses in Southeast Asia SYED FARID ALATAS ABSTRAK Makalah ini memperhatikan soal wacana-wacana pengganti dalam ilmu- ilmu kemasyarakatan. Wacana pengganti adalah karya yang mencuba menghapuskan gagasan-gagasan yang kuat tertanam dalam ilmu-ilmu kemasyarakatan, sebahagiannya akibat daripada penjajahan dan Eropa- sentrisme yang berterusan. Dalam konteks Asia Tenggara dan sebahagian besar daripada dunia bukan-Barat, wacana-wacana pengganti bermaksud juga ilmu kemasyarakatan anti Eropasentrik. Rencana ini membincangkan kemunculan wacana-wacana pengganti di Asia Tenggara, takrif wacana pengganti dan masa depan wacana di rantau ini. Kata kunci: wacana alternatif, Eurocentrisma, Orientalisma, membentuk semula ABSTRACT This article brings into focus the question of alternative discourses in the social sciences. Alternative discourses are works that attempt to debunk ideas that have become entrenched in the social sciences, partly as a result of colo- nialism and the continuing Eurocentrism in the social sciences. In the context of Southeast Asia as well as much of the non-Western world, alternative dis- courses in the social sciences could also be referred to collectively as counter- Eurocentric social science. This paper discusses the emergence of alternative discourses in Southeast Asia, the defintion of alternative discourse, and the future of these discourses in our region. Keywords: alternative discourse, Eurocentrism, Orientralism, reconstruction INTRODUCTION This essay brings into focus the question of alternative discourses in the social sciences. Alternative discourses are works that attempt to debunk ideas that have become entrenched in the social sciences, partly as a result of colonialism and the continuing Eurocentrism in the social sciences. There is no attempt here to claim that the entirety of problems associated with the social sciences in