A Comparative Study of East Asia’s Past and Present

East Asia has experienced profound social, political, and economic transformations over the past two centuries, shaped by processes of empire, colonialism, state-building, industrialization, urbanization, and globalization. At the same time, historical legacies continue to influence contemporary patterns of development, inequality, governance, and regional relations. This session seeks to bring together scholars who examine East Asia from a comparative and historical sociological perspective, exploring how past trajectories shape present realities and future possibilities.
We welcome contributions that investigate the historical and contemporary dynamics of East Asian societies, with particular attention to the relationships among infrastructure, political economy, state formation, urban and regional development, colonialism, and social change. Papers may focus on individual countries or adopt cross-national and transregional approaches that illuminate similarities, differences, and connections across East Asia and beyond.
The session encourages dialogue between scholars working on diverse topics, including transportation and infrastructure development, imperial and colonial governance, economic modernization, uneven regional development, migration, cities and urban transformation, social inequality, and the changing role of states in a global context. We are particularly interested in research that employs comparative, historical, and interdisciplinary approaches to understand long-term processes of social transformation.
By fostering conversations across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, this session aims to advance comparative understandings of East Asia’s past and present and contribute to broader debates in comparative sociology, historical sociology, political economy, and regional studies.