Introduction

This chapter provides an introduction to the edited volume, Activism and Authoritarian Governance in Asia. Our starting premise is that while activism is a critical topic for state–society relations that has been explored across a range of geographical sites and spaces, there remains a need to critically examine how activism and authoritarian governance interact in practice. In particular, the chapter outlines the significance of Asia as a region through which to interrogate diverse and multiple activist practices, and how this may influence theorising about activism more broadly. The chapter sets out our tripartite theoretical organising framework exploring the concepts, spaces, and practices of activism. It provides a detailed overview of the contributions from an array of Asian countries that draw on a diverse range of theoretical and methodological approaches to examine in-depth case studies on activism and authoritarian governance across the region.