This book is a compilation of papers first presented at the workshop “The Palm Oil Controversy in Transnational Perspective” that took place in Singapore, 2–4 March 2009. The workshop was jointly organized by the Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore. It was funded by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).

Because of the Asia-Europe focus of the workshop and the stipulations by the funding organization, the book is special in that it features a broad range of writers from Asian and European countries. Another interesting aspect of the book is that it brings together academics and practitioners from the field. Indeed, a large number of the authors are key personalities within the controversy discussed in this book and they also play a role in trying to resolve some of the most pressing issues. However, at the workshop the practitioners were asked to think beyond the everyday issues in which they are embroiled and reflect on bigger issues and the broader context. Conversely, the academics invited to the workshop were “forced” to engage with real issues and to test some of their theoretical abstractions against the vast and detailed empirical knowledge of the practitioners. The result was a very interesting three days of discussions which we hope is reflected in this publication.

The book discusses the controversy around palm oil, that is itself made up of a whole range of complex controversies that could each be the subject of separate publications. This necessarily means that the collection of articles here cannot offer a comprehensive discussion of the subject and that it leaves many gaps. For example, although some of the practitioners play an active role within the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), this institution is not itself the subject of any of the papers. Also, not many representatives from industry accepted the invitation to present at the workshop, although quite a few attended and participated in the discussion. Finally, the book only begins to develop systematic transnational enquiries of the palm oil industry, leaving many areas to be covered by future research.