The social sciences provide robust yet flexible methods and approaches for understanding the region of Southeast Asia. Through analysing issues and problems, local scholars come to understand more deeply how things might change for the better. They foreground the lived experiences and shaping discourses of communities and people, including those who are not front and centre in global events. Contemporary economic growth, political manoeuvring and nation state-building are understood as deeply entwined with past and recent histories of colonisation, globalisation, migration, ethno-religious conflict and even civil war. It is evident that the protracted end of colonisation in Southeast Asia has fuelled a strong sense of social justice in social science scholarship and research. In the near future, the region as a whole will face a host of challenges, both regional and global. Most cogently, countries will have to deal with the devastating multiple impacts of climate change which are already underway. Hopefully, Southeast Asia will consolidate its current standing as an open, autonomous region, where small and middle powers can maintain their sovereignty despite the externally driven reshaping of the geopolitical order.