UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: Change and Resistance - Future Directions of Southeast Asia [Taipei, 5-7 December 2019]

SEASIA Biennial Conference 2019

Change and Resistance: Future Directions of Southeast Asia

5-7 December 2019, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Panel 8.4: Social Movements and Political Participation in Southeast Asia

Friday, 6 December 2019, 10:50-12:20, Room 904 (9th Floor)

Chair: Chia-Chien Chang (National Chengchi University)

Panelists:

• Social Movement and Political Participation: Fortification of Identity in Malaysia's Bersih Movement by Lim Hui Ying (Doshisha University)

• The “People Power” People Power Monument of the Philippines by Gil D. Turingan (University of the Philippines Diliman)

• Liberal Democracy and Civil Society: The Co-Production of Education Services by John Mark Hernandez Villanueva (Mapua University Manila)

• The Hybrid Public Sphere in Myanmar and Implications for Civil Society  by Carl Middleton (Chulalongkorn University)

• Activist Lawyering in an Emerging Democracy: the Case of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation by Timothy Sinclair Mann (University of Melbourne)

• Articulating a Broken Polity Social Movement and Political Party's Role in Organizing Cleavages by Zahra Amalia Syarifah (The University of Chicago)

For more information about the conference, please visit this link here.

Abstract for The Hybrid Public Sphere in Myanmar and Implications for Civil Society

by Carl Middleton*, Tay Zar Myo Win

Myanmar was under a military junta government for almost six decades, during which time the state heavily controlled the population’s access to information through maintaining an ‘authoritarian public sphere,’ including via severe control over civil society and independent mass media. In 2010, Myanmar held elections that, although highly flawed, resulted in a semi-civilian government. Whilst the military maintained considerable influence, a degree of electoral competition and civil, political and media freedoms were introduced, all within the constraints of the 2008 constitution. This melding of liberal and illiberal elements within an electoral system is best understood as a hybrid regime (Diamond, 2002). In this paper, we analyze the emergence of a ‘hybrid public sphere’ in Myanmar since 2010 that maintains some elements of the previous authoritarian control of the production and circulation of critical discourse, combined with more liberal elements that reflect recently gained civil, political and media freedoms and a greater role for civil society, journalists, and interaction via social media. The paper develops its analysis first through an assessment of the political transition at the national level, and then in a case study in subnational politics in Dawei City with a focus on local planning of electricity supply. We argue that for Myanmar to shift from a procedural to substantive form of democracy, independent civil society require strategies that link (and deepen) recently gained formal freedoms to ensuring the accountability of state and powerful non-state actors via the creation and maintenance of a substantive public sphere.

*Center of Excellence on Resource Politics for Social Development, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University (Carl.Chulalongkorn@gmail.com)

UPCOMING EVENT: "Demarcating public and private in land and environmental governance in the Mekong Region" [Kyoto, 19 April 2019]

Seminar by:

Emeritus Professor Philip Hirsch, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney and CSEAS Visiting Research Scholar

Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Moderator: Dr. Xiaobo Hua, CSEAS, Kyoto University

12:00 - 13:00, Friday 19th April 2019

Tonan-tei (Room no. 201), 2nd floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial building, Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University

Abstract:

In this presentation we take a critical look at the context-determined demarcation between the public and private spheres in the realm of land, natural resources and environmental governance in the Mekong Region. We explore the generation of plural meanings of “public” and “private” through development projects and policies, and the implications that such meanings hold for: the actor configurations and power relations that shape how collective and individual interests are defined; how claims to ownership of resources are formulated and legitimized; the spaces within which projects can be debated, contested and governed; and ultimately how benefits, costs and risks are distributed across society. Hydropower dams and large scale land concessions set the context in which we examine these issues.

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Resource Politics and the Public Sphere In Southeast Asia: Deliberation, Accountability and Alternatives" [Bangkok, 13 December 2018]

09.00 - 17.00, Thursday, 13th December at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Co-organized by the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, the Foundation for Community Educational Media (FCEM), and Heinrich Boell Stiftung (HBS) Southeast Asia Office

In Southeast Asia, access to resources, ranging from land and water, to clean air and energy, are central to livelihoods and wellbeing. The distribution of access to resources reflect state policies and societal values, as well as the inclusiveness and accountability of decision-making processes that link them together and result in their translation into practice. The public sphere is the arena where state policies and societal values interact and are debated, including on potentially contested issues such as access to resources. It includes public venues, and via the mass media and social media.

Civil, political and media freedoms are necessary for a vibrant public sphere, but they are increasingly challenged in Southeast Asia, and in practice accountability occurs only in part. Opportunities to utilize the public sphere for accountability and exploring alternatives vary across Southeast Asia due to diverse political and legal systems. It is important to reflect on the implications of these trends, and explore established and new opportunities to maintain an active public sphere for deliberating public policies and societal values, ensuring accountable decision-making and debating alternative development visions.

This public forum invites civil society, academics, journalists, lawyers, state officials and others to discuss the trends, opportunities and challenges of the public sphere for ensuring fair resource politics in Southeast Asia. Panelists will provide a range of case studies and analysis from across Southeast Asia in relation to resource politics and the public sphere, including: the role of civil society, government and corporations; an evaluation of the opportunities and challenges in local, national and transnational laws and policies; and the role of mass media and social media.

For the presentations and live video feed from this public forum, please click here.

For our blog about this event, please click here.