This was a public seminar in person co- organized by the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University UNESCO Chair in Resource Governance and Futures Literacy; and China Dialogue Trust.
Please see the full agenda here.
A recorded vide can be found here.
On june 7, Carl Middleton from CSDS was invited as one of the speakers for the webinar "Contrasting China's Relationship with South and Southeast Asia: the Belt and Road Initiative, Hydropolitics, and Hydropower."
Carl was speaking on ‘Reworking the Mekong River Regime: The Geopolitics and Hydropolitics of Competing Regionalisms’.
The full panelists of the event are:
Prof Jiejin Zhu, School of International Relations and Public Affairs and center for UN and International Organizations studies at Fudan University
Dr Ruth Gamble, La Trobe University, Melbourne
Dr Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) in the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Rohan D’Souza, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University
Chair: Prof Lyla Mehta, Institute of Development Studies
For more information about the event, you can visit the organizer’s website here. You can also watch the full panel below:
On Thursday, 29 April 2021, Carl Middleton from CSDS was invited to be one of the speakers for Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University’s Spring 2021 Webinar Series: The Mekong, China, & SE Asian Transitions Series. Carl was one of the speakers for Panel 4: “Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence”.
The full panelists of the event are:
Brian Eyler, Stimson Center, Washington D.C.
Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
Nguyễn Hương Thủy Phan, Graduate Institute - Geneva, Switzerland
Pon Souvannaseng, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts
Apichai Sunchindah, Independent Development Specialist, Bangkok
Moderator: Wisa Wisesjindawat-Fink, Michigan State University
You can watch the full panel below:
On Monday, 22nd February 2021, Carl Middleton from Center for Social Development Studies, was one of the presenters for CRISEA Final Conference – Competing Regional Integrations in Southeast Asia: The Project and its Findings. Carl presented the research on “Southeast Asia and China: Transnational Water Issues on the Mekong”.
Competing Regional Integrations in Southeast Asia (CRISEA) is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme that studies multiple forces affecting regional integration in Southeast Asia and the challenges they present to the peoples of Southeast Asia and its regional institutional framework, ASEAN.
You can watch the video of the conference on the link here.
The Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance.
With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, on September 7, 2019, Center for Social Development Studies organized a seminar on "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River". The seminar explored the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides. The seminar also launched the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.
The Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, welcomed the participants by reflecting how the Salween River basin is at the cross-roads of a major political and development transition. Within the basin, there is intensifying resource extraction alongside dam construction, conservation projects and other forms of development intervention. He also highlighted the important contribution that research can make toeards ensuring inclusive, sustainable and fair development within the Salween basin.
The first session, chaired by Vanessa Lamb from the University of Melbourne, explored the theme around resource politics and Salween River. Carl Middleton from the Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University explored the many possible alternatives for the Nu River, from hydropower construction to national park creation, but not every pathway has been given equal consideration, concluding that decision-making about which development pathway is chosen for the future for the Nu River, should be inclusive, informed and accountable with the rights of ethnic communities recognized. Alec Scott from Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) talked about hydropower politics and conflict on the Salween River, explaining how Civil Society Organisations have been working across multiple scales. He also explained how collaborations between local communities, CSOs and Ethnic Armed Organisations have reconceptualized and decentralized water governance in the context of unresolved armed conflict. Laofang Bundidterdsakul from Legal Advocacy Center for Indigenous Communities (LACIC) reflected on the ongoing conflict between the national forest law and community livelihood in Thailand, and how the community were criminalized for using land and forest resources using the preservation areas declaration. He highlighted how the community should have the legal rights to get compensation from the products from the land and forest, as well as being involved in decision making since they should be regarded as affected people.
The second session, chaired by Professor Saw Win, retired Rector of Maubin University in Myanmar, explored the theme around the politics of knowledge making. Mar Mar Aye from Lashio University presented on the importance of understanding the traditional knowledge and practice in the Salween River basin especially on the use of the diverse plants by indigenous communities. These practice are being threatened by a range of factors including deforestation and agricultural expansion. Paiboon Hengsuwan from Chiang Mai University, explained the simplistic rendering of complex Salween Communities in their negotiation for development in Thailand. Saw Tha Poe, also from KESAN, presented on the lessons learned from Daw La Lake and Kaw Ku Island, Karen State, in regards to community-based water governance. He also gave recommendation for the government to prioritize peace and political settlement as well as to prioritize trans-boundary river management.
The third session, chaired by John Dore, Lead Water Specialist from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, explored the theme around reconciling knowledge across divides. Vanessa Lamb presented on the effort to think about the Salween across knowledge divides. The key messages from the presentation includes a different approach on state of knowledge, recognizing history and contributions across knowledge divides, values in addition to threats and maintain room for critique and collaboration. Cherry Aung from Pathein University provided information on current situation of governance and fisheries of the Salween River estuary with the focus on the community fishery livelihoods and the socio-economic change in the villages. She also highlighted how the Salween River estuary is facing pressures from a number of ecological and anthropogenic stressors. Khin Sandar Aye from Loikaw University shared key finding from her study in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State, Myanmar, that forest depletion and changes in land utilization have caused changes in the local economy. Her recommendation is that the government should promote community-based natural resource management in villages.
The fourth session, chaired by Carl Middleton, explored the theme around the future of the Salween River from the policy, politics, and practice. Khin Maung Lwin, advisor to the National Water Resources Committee, Myanmar, presented the various ways of advocacy on positioning the Salween River in Myanmar’s river politics. He shared his ideas on water governance in Salween River and also the importance of dialogues with relevant stakeholders including governments, armed groups, developers and business sectors. Nang Shining from Weaving Bonds across Borders and Mong Pan Youth Association explained her work on collaborating with partner organisations to empower the women and youth to have a more active role in sustainable development. She highlighted how ethnic groups should have a primary role in water management across different scales, and also women, children and vulnerable group should be the major concerns in the decision-making processes, and should be involved as part of accountable and transparent decision-making processes. Youth should have the opportunity to be involved in all the above processes and activities. Pianporn Deetes from International Rivers presented on local community activism on transboundary river protection under military control in Thailand and her concern for justice and peace in the Salween River. She highlighted that on moving forward, ensuring a peaceful existence of ethnic peoples in the basin and clear pathway for justice must come first.
The presentations from this public forum can be accessed here. All of the sessions were broadcast on Facebook Live and can also be viewed on the above link.
*Report written by Anisa Widyasari, Communications Coordinator at CSDS
On September 7, 2019, Center for Social Development Studies organized a seminar on "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River". The seminar also launched the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.
The seminar discussed how Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, the seminar explored the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides.
Panel 1: Resource politics and the Salween River
Chair: Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne
“From Hydropower Construction to National Park Creation: Changing Pathways of the Nu River” by Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University [with Chen Xiangxue]
“Hydropower Politics and Conflict on the Salween River” by Alec Scott, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) [with Carl Middleton and Vanessa Lamb]
“Local Context, National Law: The Rights of Karen People on the Salween River in Thailand“ by Laofang Bundidterdsakul, Legal Advocacy Center for Indigenous Communities (LACIC)
Panel 2: Politics of knowledge making
Chair: Professor Saw Win, Retired Rector of Maubin University
“An Ethnobotanical Survey in Shan State, Myanmar: Where Thanlwin Biodiversity, Health, and Deforestation Meet” by Mar Mar Aye, Lashio University [with with Swe Swe Win]
‘'Not only Anti-dam: Simplistic Rendering of Complex Salween Communities in Their Negotiation for Development in Thailand” by Paiboon Hengsuwan, Chiang Mai University
“Opportunities and Challenges for Salween Water Governance: Lessons learned from Daw La Lake and Kaw Ku Island, Karen State” by Saw Tha Phoe
Panel 3: Reconciling knowledge across divides
Chair: John Dore, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
“A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research” by Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne [with Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nang Aye Tin, Nang Shining, Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti]
“Fisheries and Socio-economic Change in the Thanlwin River Estuary in Mon and Kayin State, Myanmar” by Cherry Aung, Pathein University
“The Impact of Land Cover Changes on Socio-economic Conditions in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State” by Khin Sandar Aye, Loikaw University [with Khin Khin Htay]
Panel 4: The future of the Salween River: Policy, politics, and practice
Chair: Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University
“Positioning the Salween in Myanmar’s River Politics” by Khin Maung Lwin, Advisor to the National Water Resources Committee, Myanmar
“What’s Next for the River? Is the Thanlwin ‘Under Threat’ or ‘on the Thread’” by Nang Shining, Weaving Bonds Across Borders and Mong Pan Youth Association
“Salween as a Site for Transboundary Justice and Activism” by Pianporn Deetes, International Rivers
On 29 November 2018, the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) hosted a workshop led and coordinated by our partner the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, to discuss about disaster and displacement in Asia Pacific. The discussion is part of a ten-country study on a range of types of disaster and displacement scenarios understood through a human rights perspective. The overall study examines how state actors fulfill their obligations to prevent displacement, conduct evacuation, protect people during displacement, and facilitate durable solutions in the aftermath. Aspects of the ongoing research were presented during the workshop by the researchers involved.
Regarding the prevention of displacement, the experience of Thailand and the Philippines were shared. For Thailand, Dr. Carl Middleton from Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University, presented on the 'Hat Yai Model', which is an effort to develop ‘soft infrastructure’ in the form of improved flood warning, and the strengthening of local government, community, civil society and local business capacity and collaboration to live with floods over the several days when it occurs. While it still has room for improvement, the researchers propose that the ‘Hat Yai Model’ as a preventative measure should be widely promoted in Thailand and beyond as a means to promote constructive state and non-state cooperation, enhance community empowerment and awareness, as well as to reduce the community’s vulnerability to flood disaster. Ryan Jeremiah D. Quan from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law presented the research on displacement prevention effort in the Philippines, particularly during the Typhoon Haiyan, which revealed that even though there is a disaster prevention system in place, there is a gap between the guidelines that are implemented by the government agencies on the national and provincial level and the experience and needs of the local government personnel in the field.
The studies from Indonesia and Vanuatu provided insights about the evacuation process, especially for vulnerable groups. The study on Indonesia was presented by Andika Putra from ASEAN Studies Center, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). The study, which focused on recurrent eruptions of Mount Sinabung and how it affected persons with disabilities, revealed how the disaster management system and the rights of persons with disabilities are managed under two different legal frameworks, which are yet to be synchronized at both national and local level. It is also noted that when the government doesn't present itself, non-government actors such as religious groups played an important role in supporting people with disability.
Lack of representation from vulnerable groups was also found in the case of Vanuatu, which was struck by Cyclone Pam in 2015. Tess Van Geelen in her presentation showed how there is no permanent position within government institution to consistently represent these groups. Such a condition led to the lack of protection provisions in government policies and effective approach in responding to disasters. International assistance has supported the development of many exemplary protection policies, however, the government staff is presently not equipped with the skill to implement the protection policies.
In terms of protection of affected people during disaster, researchers looked at the experience from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and flooding in Bangladesh and Cambodia. The study in Nepal by Dr. Bala Raju Nikku highlighted the limited access to basic necessities and services, as well as mental health issues that became very common among displaced persons. Currently, there is limited capacity in the government to address this issue, and therefore mental health issue is not included in the protection planning. In the future, the researcher argued that it is very important to psychosocial assistance as the first aid for people facing the issue of displacement, especially for vulnerable groups such as women, children, and persons with disabilities.
The displacement scenario was revealed to be different in Bangladesh. MD Abdul Awal Khan from the Law Department of Independent University, Bangladesh, said on his presentation that currently there is no systemic plan on displacement organized by the government, causing people to move haphazardly. There is an existing policy with statutory provisions regarding disaster management, but the lack of implementation mechanism and strategies made it inadequate to mitigate when disaster happens. The lack of coordination between concerned government agencies is particularly affecting persons with disabilities, because there is no existing plan to handle such situation.
Ratana Ly from Cambodia on her research examined how people who live with annual flooding experience displacement. People in area that flood has been living there for generations; they are tied to the land and are unwilling to move away to other areas, even though disaster may happen every year. From the Cambodia research, it was shown that disaster management-related policies need to address the local knowledge, so that policy can reflect local values.
The final two studies presented were on China and Myanmar examining durable solutions to the aforementioned issues. In China, Tang Yixia found on her research that the legal framework for disaster relief had encompassed various aspects from the prevention measures before disasters, emergency rescue measures at the time of disasters, coping strategies after disasters, as well as incorporating special provisions on the rights of women and minors. However, in implementation, human rights and gender perspective are still being left behind, which makes the protection of displaced persons’ rights not fully effective.
Myanmar, which has ratified various international human rights treaties, also has existing national laws and policies which promote protection of the human rights of displaced persons in the context of disaster. Prof. Dr. Khin Chit Chit of Yangon University revealed in her presentation that there is even a provision within the national law that require the government to prioritize children, women, and persons with disabilities. However, a more detailed regulation is needed to ensure that the government has a long-term plan to manage risks within these vulnerable groups. Harmonization between the disaster management laws with other related laws is also needed to ensure the substantial protection.
The feedback gathered during the consultation workshop, with valuable inputs from international organisations and experts in regards to internally displaced persons in the context of disaster, will be incorporated into these ongoing studies, will be incorporated into the finalization of the research projects.
For the research in Thailand and about the wider project, please visit our project page here, for updates.
*Report written by Anisa Widyasari, Communications Coordinator at CSDS
08.15 - 09.00 Registration
09.00 - 09.15 Welcome remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean of Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
09.15 - 10.45 Session 1: The Belt and Road Initiative: Geopolitical implications for Asia
Moderator: Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
'Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of the Belt and Road Initiative' by Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chulalongkorn University
'The Belt and Road Initiative: A Perspective from China' by Mr. Li Hong,Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP)
'What does the Belt and Road Initiative mean for US-Thailand relations?' by Benjamin Zawacki, Independent Analyst
'Debt Diplomacy?: The experience of Sri Lanka' by Amantha Perera, Journalist
10.45 - 11.15 Coffee break
11.15 - 12.45 Session 2: Transboundary Water Cooperation – Progress and Challenges
Moderator: Dr. Ukrist Pathmanand, Mekong Research Center, Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University
'Positioning the MRC in the context of the Mekong Lancang Cooperation Framework' by Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun, Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat
'From GMS to Belt and Road Initiative: Continuities and discontinuities in transboundary water governance in the Lancang-Mekong basin' by Dr. John Dore, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
'The implications of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noi disaster for transboundary water governance' by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, The Nation (Thailand)
12.45 - 13.30 Lunch
13.30 - 14.45 Session 3: Rise of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework: Emerging cooperation issues
Moderator: Kamol Sukin, China Dialogue
'Regional energy cooperation: Institutions, infrastructure and investment' by Courtney Weatherby, Stimson Centre
'Opportunities for sustainable Lancang-Mekong scientific cooperation' by Chayanis Krittasudthacheewa, Stockholm Environment Institute
'The Lancang Mekong Cooperation Framework: Implications for Thailand and ASEAN' by Apichai Sunchindah, Independent analyst
14.45 - 15.15 Coffee Break
15.15 - 16.45 Session 4: Reporting on the Mekong and China’s role: Trends, challenges and successes for Southeast Asia’s media
Moderator: Sim Kok Eng Amy, Earth Journalism Network
'Challenges and opportunities reporting on the Mekong from China' by Wang Yan, News China
'Chinese power investment and natural resource governance in Myanmar' by Zayar Hlaing, Mawkun magazine
'Obstacles in covering China-investment-related stories in Vietnam' by Bui Tien Dung, Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper
16.45 - 17.00 Closing Reflections
Dr. Sam Geall, China Dialogue
Professor Surichai Wun’gaeo, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University
On 3 September 2018, the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University hosted a policy forum discussing the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) and China's role in the Mekong region. The forum was co-organized with chinadialogue, The Third Pole, and Earth Journalism Network. Over ninety participants were spending the full day discussing important issues on the cooperation framework and initiatives in Southeast Asia.
The Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, opened the event with welcoming remarks highlighting how the countries of mainland Southeast Asia are facing a period of rapid change with growing flows of investment from China into a range of projects. He observed that whilst economic growth continues, there remain unresolved challenges on environmental sustainability, social equity, and public participation.
The first session, moderated Dr. Carl Middleton from CSDS, discussed the geopolitical implications of the Belt and Road Initiative for Asia. Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak from the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) of Chulalongkorn University raised the question on how the Belt and Road Initiative posed challenges to the existing legal international regimes, while Mr. Li Hong who is the Permanent Representative of China to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP) discussed the ideas behind the Belt and Road Initiatives and how it is an open initiative and it is expected to be a joint effort between the countries instead of just centering on China. Legal and Political Analyst Benjamin Zawacki explained the impact of Belt and Road Initiatives for the relations between Thailand and the US, including US proposals for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, as well as the crucial role Thailand could be playing once it takes up the ASEAN chair in 2019. Wrapping up the session was Amantha Perera, a journalist from Sri Lanka, who shared the experience of Sri Lanka dealing with investments from China which has led in some cases to a so-called “Debt Trap” when loans failed to perform. He also reminded how environmental impact from investments are rarely being properly assessed and not publicly disclosed.
The second session, moderated by Dr. Ukrist Pathmanand from the Mekong Research Center of Chulalongkorn University, discussed the progress and challenges on transboundary water cooperation. Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun, Chief Strategy and Partnership Officer of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat explained about the MRC and how it was increasingly engaging with China, including through the LMC. Dr. John Dore, Lead Water Specialist from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted how around transboundary water governance on the Mekong River involved not only governments, but multiple actors and coalitions through multi-track diplomacy that influences development directions and decision-making. Meanwhile Supalak Ganjanakhundee from The Nation newspaper reflected on the Xe Pian - Xe Nam Noi disaster and how he expected the existing initiatives in the Mekong Region, including the MRC, to play a bigger part in responding to the disaster.
The third session, moderated by Kamol Sukin from chinadialogue, discussed emerging cooperation issues with the rise of the LMC. Courtney Weatherby from the Stimson Centre raised the issue of energy market shifts. In particular, she addressed how the price of non-hydropower renewables were dropping quickly, there are now innovations in energy transmission, and how China’s current excess hydropower could drastically alter investment needs in the Lower-Mekong region. Dr. Chayanis Krittasudthacheewa from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) explained the necessity of sustainable scientific cooperation across the region to address knowledge gaps. She also highlighted how better approaches to knowledge production and need to influence policy, in particular the “co-production of knowledge” between researchers and practioners. Dr. Apichai Sunchindah, an Independent Development Specialist, highlighted the lack of sufficient cooperation between different existing regional frameworks and how ASEAN could help in backing initiatives in the Mekong Region to balance the influence of China.
In the last session, moderated by Sim Kok Eng Amy from Earth Journalism Network, journalists from China, Myanmar, and Vietnam shared the trends, challenges, and successes for Southeast Asia's media on reporting the Mekong and China's role. Wang Yan from News China highlighted journalists' role in reporting regional issues such as helping to facilitate communications between upstream and downstream countries and communities. Zayar Hlaing from Mawkun Magazine in Myanmar shared the story of the Sino-Myanmar pipeline project and its impact on the livelihood of people living along the pipeline. Bui Tien Dung from Vietnam shared about the importance of networking and capacity building for journalists working on environmental and social issues in the Mekong Region to improve the quality of the reporting. This session also highlighted the importance of cooperation between media and research institutes to help inform public debates.
For the closing remarks, Dr. Sam Geall from chinadialogue highlighted the importance of improved communication between China and the Lower Mekong countries and the role that journalists could play. Professor Surichai Wun'gaeo from the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies of Chulalongkorn University ended the forum with a reminder that any regional inter-governmental cooperation needs to be understood from the perspective of the impact on people’s lives, and emphasized the importance of always putting the well-being of people as the priority.
The shared presentations from this discussion can be accessed here. Some of the sessions were broadcast on Facebook Live and can also be viewed on the above link.
*Report written by Anisa Widyasari, Communications Coordinator at CSDS
Session organized at the 10th International Convention of Asian Scholars
11:30-13:15, 22nd July 2017, Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Center
Session convened by the Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
Political authoritarianism is strengthening across Southeast Asia, mirroring a noted trend globally. This panel explored the politics, processes, and implications of the (re)assertion of authoritarianism, focusing on its political-economic regimes, but also including its ideologies and discourses. The panel engaged in a long-standing debate that globalisation and economic liberalism goes hand in hand with liberalisation and democratization in the political sphere. This association goes back to Lipset’s Modernisation Theory. Refuted by many and of fading interest by the 1970s, it came back into fashion in the 1990s with the spread of neoliberal capitalism and the so-called “third wave” of democratization.
The recent rise of authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia and globally seems to be a sustained trend that may be connected to economic projects associated with a specific stage of capitalist development (crisis driven late capitalism), and that also mirror the interests of the elite in power. This can be analysed through what Poulantzas, in the 1970s, called authoritarian statism, whereby a growing role of the state seeks to ensure economic growth under conditions of capitalist crisis tendencies.
In this panel, we situated the new authoritarianism of contemporary Southeast Asia within a post-Washington and post-aid era of globalization. The region’s new authoritarianism builds upon legacies of past authoritarianism, in particular the various guises of developmental states - both capitalist and socialist - since the 1950s. Even if authoritarian statism receded in the 1990s and 2000s, it never fully ended. Now, the region is increasingly under the political and economic sway of China, but also subject to intensified attention of the United States. Some countries have visibly becoming more authoritarian in recent years, including by military coup (Thailand) or strong-handed leaders (the Philippines; Cambodia), whilst others apparently less so, in particular Myanmar. Vietnam and Laos, meanwhile, have stated themselves as socialist-orientated market economies. Trends towards regional economic integration, market expansion and intensification, meanwhile, add a regional-scaled dynamic to political authoritarianism.
The panel sought to address the following conceptual and empirical questions:
How can we conceptualize the connection between the trend of authoritarianism and the current state of capitalist development in Southeast Asia?
What are the characteristics of the authoritarian states in Southeast Asia? What economic models of development are being proposed by these states?
What are the implications for civil society, social movements, democracy and human rights?
The following papers were presented :
The One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative and its influence on the political situation of China's neighbouring countries, by Dr. Wolfram Schaffar, University of Vienna
Thailand 4.0: the Rise of Neo-authoritarian Developmental State, by Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon, Chulalongkorn University
'Ephemeral transnational' and 'authoritarian domestic' public spheres in Laos hydropower dams, Dr. Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University
Authoritarian development, frontier capitalism and indigenous counter-movements in Myanmar Rainer Einzenberger, University of Vienna
The panel was chaired by Dr. Chantana Banpasirichote Wungaeo of Chulalongkorn University.
The papers presented on the panel are part of a forthcoming Special Issue to be published in the Austrian Journal of Southeast Asia Studies in mid-2018.
On 14th June 2017, the MAIDS and CSDS programs were very glad to welcome Prof. Xiangming Chen and his Faculty Colleagues and 25 students from the Center for Urban and Global Studies of Trinity College, Hartford, US. The faculty staff and students were mid-journey through their field trip visiting "River Cities" in China, Thailand and Cambodia.
The Trinity College faculty and students at Chulalongkorn University
(Credit: Saittawut Yutthaworakool)
During the Visit, Dr. Carl Middleton of CSDS and MAIDS offered a lecture titled "Think global, act 'teleconnected' local: Exploring the connections between regional trade, water security, and community vulnerability in Bangkok and Tokyo." The lecture sought to stimulate discussion amongst the group on how processes of industrialization and urbanization in East Asia have impacted peri-urban wetland spaces and community livelihoods in Bangkok and Tokyo.
Following a brief discussion on the lecture, the group toured the Chulalongkorn University campus and visited the CU museum.
Dr Carl Middleton provides a lecture titled “Think Global, Act ‘Teleconnected’ Local” (Credit: Saittawut Yutthaworakool)
