Journal paper

Issue No.	No. 73
Title	A Survey of Modern Transnational History, with a Focus on Asia
Author	Lee, Yu-ping
Page	197-230
Abstract	Transnational history is a research method that preserves the nationstate as a unit of analysis while also emphasizing the importance of situating it within broader historical frameworks. Individual countries, for instance, are often examined within the context of continental or global history. As applied to the study of Asian history, three main trends in transnational history have emerged in recent years. First, by adopting a comparative perspective and analyzing Asia alongside other major regions, historians have been able to highlight the distinctive features of Asian regional studies. Second, the field has witnessed a paradigm shift from an emphasis on colonial knowledge systems to regional frameworks. Rather than viewing Asian countries solely as products of imperialism, scholars now attend more closely to the intricate relations among Asian nations. A growing body of case studies illustrates the region’s autonomy and historical agency. Third, the application of center-periphery theory, which explores the interactions between global forces and local political and economic systems, has fostered a more globalized historiographical outlook. Historians increasingly reject past geographical models, recognizing instead the diversity of centerperiphery dynamics. This paper concludes that transnational historical research not only contributes to the advancement of regional studies but also encourages the shedding of past Eurocentric frameworks, thus enabling more objective engagement with non-European histories.
Keyword	Transnational history, comparative history, imperial history, global history
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