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2024-2025
2023-24 Annual Report
Our Annual Report is here! Take a look at SEAC’s milestones, research contributions, and impactful events that have advanced our mission in Southeast Asian studies over the past year.
Please click here to view the report.SEAC Research Fund Launch
The Centre invites applications for funding in aid of research on social science issues relevant to Southeast Asia, for LSE Academic Staff at Assistant Professor / Assistant Professorial Research Fellow level or above.
The next round of applications are now open, with a deadline of 1st Jan 2025 and an earliest project start date of 1st March 2025.
Alice Bian new Research Project
SEAC Associate Alice Bian has been awarded funding for a collaborative research project focusing on the health co-benefits of sustainable mangrove management in the Philippines. This project, supported by the British Academy's Official Development Assistance Challenge-Oriented Research Grants programme, aims to enhance marine food security and nutrition in coastal areas. We look forward to the impact this research will have on addressing global policy challenges at the intersection of climate change, nature, and global health.
Read more about the project by clicking here.Welcoming Visiting Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak
Professor Thitinan is Professor of International Relations at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of political science and Senior Fellow at its Institute of Security and International Studies in Bangkok. His current work focuses on the comparative politics and geopolitics and geoeconomics of ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific in view of the US-China rivalry and competition.
Welcoming Visiting Fellow Vilashini Somiah
Dr Vilashini Somiah is a Feminist Anthropologist from Sabah, Malaysia and is currently a tenured Senior Lecturer at the Gender Studies Programme, in Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, where she teaches courses on Masculinity and the patriarchy, Migration and Gender, and Feminists Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Her research focuses on the agency of Bornean women, migrants, indigenes, and other sexual and gender minorities, which are often underrepresented.
Prof Kirsten E. Schulze publishes new book
SEAC Associate, Prof Kirsten E. Schulze's new book Contesting Indonesia: Islamist, separatist, and communal violence since 1945 is now published by Cornell University Press.
Welcoming Alyssa Padbidri
We’re thrilled to welcome Alyssa as SEAC’s new Communications and Events Assistant! She will be responsible for managing the Centre’s event logistics and communications efforts.We are Hiring!
SEAC is recruiting a Communications & Events Assistant. If you're an incoming LSE graduate student looking for work, and have experience in communications and/or event management, please send your CV and a short statement outlining your interest to seac.admin@lse.ac.uk.
Please see job description here.
The deadline for applications are Sunday 8 September (23:59 UK time).
Join us at the LSE Southeast Asia Forum 2024
We are pleased to announce the return of our flagship event, the LSE Southeast Asia Forum 2024, a gathering of minds dedicated to dissecting and discussing the formidable challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Southeast Asia. This year, the Southeast Asia Forum shines a spotlight on these pressing issues, bringing together a distinguished cadre of four leading experts specialising in the region's economies.
Whether you're an academic, a professional engaged in Southeast Asian markets, or simply someone with a keen interest in the region's future, the Southeast Asia Forum 2024 offers an invaluable opportunity to engage with key issues at the heart of Southeast Asia's journey towards sustainable growth.
Inter-Asia Seminar Series on the 27th of March
We are proud to announce the launch of the Inter-Asia Seminar Series, which will take place on March 27th. This seminar, titled "Cold War and Asia Modernity", is a new initiative at the London School of Economics and Political Science to promote inter-Asia dialogues on critical regional issues. The Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre is pleased to be hosting this event, and we look forward to welcoming our guest speakers to this important occasion.
We remain committed to keeping you informed and engaged, and we encourage you to stay tuned for more updates on our activities and research in the coming weeks.The 2023/24 Southeast Asia Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant Scheme is now Open
SEAC presents the Southeast Asia Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, exclusive to current LSE undergraduate and taught master's students. This grant, generously supported by Arvind Khattar, facilitates field research in the Southeast Asia region as an integral part of the assessed dissertation. With a maximum grant of £500 per applicant, the funding covers travel and on-site research expenses. Open for the 2023/24 academic year, applicants from any discipline and utilizing any methodology within the Southeast Asia region (ASEAN member states) are encouraged to apply. SEAC emphasizes safety and diligence, urging applicants to stay informed through LSE and governmental updates. For eligibility and application details, visit here. Elevate your research with SEAC's Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.
LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre Postgraduate Dissertation Prize
SEAC is delighted to announce that the Postgraduate Dissertation Prize of this year has been awarded to Hong Kai Koh. He holds an MSc in International and Asian History and has won the award for his dissertation titled "Commissioned Knowledge – Local Elite Collaboration in Colonial Knowledge Formation in the Mui Tsai Commission in British Malaya (1936-1937)". We extend our heartiest congratulations to the winner for achieving this remarkable feat.
SEAC would also like to commend Yohana Parida Kristina, MSc Development Studies, on her submission for the Postgraduate Dissertation Prize this year, titled "Women Survive, Women Provide: An Analysis of Women’s Empowerment Pathways by Women-Led Social Enterprises in Indonesia". Congratulations!
We are pleased to announce the release of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre's 2022/2023 Annual Report
Explore the depth of our accomplishments and milestones in the recently unveiled 2022/2023 Annual Report. Delve into the insights, progress, and noteworthy achievements that have shaped our journey.
You can find the full report here, and join us on a visual and informational tour of our initiatives and successes.SEAC welcomes Dr Sharmila Parmanand as Centre Associate.
Dr Sharmila Parmanand is an Assistant Professor and Programme Director for the MSc in Gender, Development and Globalisation degree at LSE. Her research examines the colonial histories and gendered logics that underpin development and humanitarian interventions in the global south,with a focus on the politics of knowledge production and feminist entanglements with the state on issues such as migration, gender-based violence, precarious labour, economic restructuring and social protection. She also studies connections between gender and populism and gender and political dynasties in the Philippines.
SEAC welcomes Dr Laura Antona as Centre Associate.
Dr Laura Antona is Assistant Professor in Human Geography at the LSE. She is a feminist geographer whose research is centred on labour migration, forced migrant removal, and violence in the Southeast Asian region. Laura’s work both draws upon and contributes to feminist political economy, urban geography, and critical migration studies, while centring methodological innovation.
SEAC Associate, Dr Nicholas Long publishes co-edited volume
Dr. Nicholas Long, SEAC Associate, has recently published a co-edited volume titled "An Anthropology of Intellectual Exchange: Interactions, Transactions and Ethics in Asia and Beyond," which includes a chapter by Dr. Long on the idealization of intellectual exchange in Indonesia, alongside other Southeast Asia and Asia focused chapters. He has also published an article in "Social Analysis" titled "Afterlives and Alter-Lives: How Competitions Produce (Neoliberal?) Subjects in Indonesia". Additionally, Dr. Long has contributed a chapter to the edited volume "Against Better Judgment: Akrasia in Anthropological Perspectives". He has also written a short piece of creative non-fiction on how an Indonesian energy healer makes use of social media, titled "Energy-Based Hypnosis Content Creation, Indonesia,". Finally, Dr. Long has published a short article critically examining the new protocols for Indonesian research permits that were introduced in 2022 and the things that overseas researchers need to consider while trying to navigate them.
Recent Publications by SEAC Associate Dr. Shin Yee Koh
Dr. Sin Yee Koh has published several works. Drawing from interviews with aspiring migrants, current migrants, and members of the MM2H migration infrastructure, "Crisis Infrastructuring: The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Programme, 2018-2022," examines how various stakeholder groups respond to, defend, challenge and contest the programme’s impending infrastructural breakdown and transformation. She has also collaborated with other researchers on a publication titled "Care for Transactions," which ask key questions about what it means to publish ‘a journal’ at the current moment and set out a renewed vision as to how Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers might provide space for more collective approaches to geographical debate.
Prof Hyun Bang Shin featured on New Books in Southeast Asian Studies Podcast
A recent podcast interview with Prof Hyun Bang Shin, is now available on Apple Podcast. In the interview, Prof Shin discusses "COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Insights for a Post-pandemic World" with Dr Nicole Curato from the University of Canberra. The book, which can be downloaded freely from LSE Press, brings together an ensemble of social scientists who offer critical reflections on how the pandemic was experienced in the region.
SEAC Director, Prof John Sidel to give Virtual Keynote at the Association of Southeast Asian Studies Annual Conference
We are thrilled to announce that Prof John Sidel will be delivering a virtual keynote lecture on "Studies of Southeast Asian Politics: The Politics of Southeast Asian Studies, 1973-2023" at the upcoming ASEAN (UK) Annual Conference. Mark your calendars for Monday, 27th of November 2023, from 16:30-17:30 Indonesia time (GMT+7) and make sure to register to attend event here.
Prof John T. Sidel publishes new blog post
Read Prof Sidel's post on the Southeast Asia Blog, discussing 'Southeast Asian Studies at the LSE: Historical Legacies, Enduring Structures, New Directions' to learn more about the strengths and role of SEAC in Southeast Asian Studies at LSE and beyond.
Work for SEAC: now recruiting Comms and Events Assistant
SEAC is recruiting an assistant to work on Communications and Events. If you're an incoming LSE graduate student looking for work, and have have experience in communications and/or event management please email seac.admin@lse.ac.uk for more information. This is a paid position for around 15 hours per week during term time (October 2023- June 2024).
Southeast Asia Working Paper 9: ‘Seasons of the Anthropocene’: Politicisation of the Haze Season in Southeast Asia is published.
Helena Varkkey, Felicia Liu, Thomas Smith, & Sophie Trott delve into the discursive framework of ‘seasonality’ surrounding the societal perception and response to haze, exploring ‘haze season’ that has emerged in Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean societies to signify the recurring air pollution episode caused by the widespread burning of tropical peatlands.
SEAC announces Autumn Term Events
SEAC is delighted to announce our upcoming events over Autumn Term. Featuring a diverse range of topics, disciplines, and speakers, we look forward to welcoming you in person or online via Zoom.
All our events are free to attend and open to students, academics, and the wider public. Full details of all our events can be found here.SEAC Associate, Prof Catherine Allerton published in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Prof Catherine Allerton has published 'Discordant temporalities of migration and childhood'in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Focusing on the children of Indonesian and Filipino migrants in Sabah, Malaysia, this article explores the contemporary clash between the temporalities of migration and childhood. This article follows on from Prof Allerton's delivery of the in 2021, a video of which can be viewed here.
SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao hosts conference in Indonesia
Dr Yimin Zhao, alongside Overlooked Cities Collective collaborators, hosted the first in a series of events on "Overlooked Cities: Thinking and doing global urban studies differently." in Bandung, Indonesia. The conference, held 6-8 September, also featured SEAC Associate Prof Hyun Bang Shin as one of two keynote speakers. Read more about the conference here.
SEAC Associate, Prof Duncan McCargo joins NTU
Prof Duncan McCargo is now Professor of Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He joined NTU from the University of Copenhagen, where he served as Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science from 2019 to 2023.
SEAC welcomes Prof John Sidel as SEAC Director
SEAC is delighted to welcome Prof John Sidel (Sir Patrick Gillam Chair in International and Comparative Politics) as the new Centre Director. He is a specialist on Southeast Asia and has conducted extensive research in Indonesia and the Philippines in particular.
You can learn more about Prof Sidel in our 'Spotlight On...' Series here.
2022-2023
Southeast Asia Working Paper 8: Questioning the traditional narrative over contemporary urban development in the Javanese royal cityis published.
Read more from former Visiting Senior Fellow, Ofita Purwani here.
And, read Ofita's Blog: The traditional royal-sponsored urban development in Yogyakarta; why different from futuristic Gulf cities? here.
SEAC bids farewell to Graduate Intern, Danyun Xiong
Thank you and farewell to Danyun Xiong as her Graduate Internship with SEAC comes to an end. We wish her well as she takes up a position with UNICEF.
Prof Hyun Bang Shin steps down as SEAC Director
Having served as Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC) since August 2018, Prof Hyun Bang Shin now returns full time to the Department of Geography and Environment.
"I am grateful for my time with SEAC and am pleased to leave behind a stable, well-connected, and engaged Centre that is recognised as one of the most active Southeast Asia centres globally." .
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellows
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow Dr Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz. At SEAC, Nicole has been looking at elite class formation in the Philippines over the last 200 years. Watch her recent SEAC seminar: bit.ly/3PUnJm1 Read her recent blog post: bit.ly/3XwSLlB
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow, Dr Benjamin Lawrence. During his time at SEAC, Ben has been finalizing his book, titled In the Shadow of the Constitution: the Micropolitics of Constitutionalism in Cambodia. Watch his recent SEAC Seminar here: bit.ly/3NIALA3
Southeast Asia Working Paper 7: Beyond Nostalgia: The Marcos Political Comeback in the Philippines is published.
Read more from former Visiting Senior Fellow, Prof Julio Teehankee here.
SEAC bids farewell to Comms and Events Assistants Candee Chee and Yohana Kristina
SEAC says farewell and thank you to our Comms and Events Assistants Yohana Kristina and Candee Chee. Candee and Yohana are studying MSc Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship and MSc in Development Studies respectively and we wish them good luck as they finish their degrees!
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin presents at Informalizing Asia workshops
On 30 June, Prof Shin spoke at Saitama University, taking part in an International Workshop on Asian Urbanism and Urban Informality. The workshop looked at the dynamism and dilemma of Asian urban development as well as new features of the urban informality, and Prof Shin presented on Circulating Asian Urbanism. The report and recording of the workshop can be found here.
On 1 July, Prof Shin was the speaker at a workshop When Critical Urban Studies Meet Asian Studies: A Dialogue on New Directions of Knowledge Production in Globalizing Asia also at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo. He discussed critical urban studies, knowledge production and publishing. Full details here.
These two workshops were organised by the Informalizing Asia project. Further information here.
SEAC Associate, Prof John Sidel presented "Crisis at Catalyst: Introducing Urban Transport Reforms in the Philippines Amidst the Global Pandemic"
Prof Sidel presented a paper titled "Crisis at Catalyst: Introducing Urban Transport Reforms in the Philippines Amidst the Global Pandemic" at Move as One coalition's third-anniversary event. He highlighted challenges such as gridlock traffic and under-investment in mass transit systems, while acknowledging the opportunities for reform brought about by the pandemic. His recommendation emphasised the establishment of a bus rapid transit system that would shift from battery-operated public utility vehicles to a regularized system providing reliable public transport. Prof Sidel was then featured in local news and radio further discussing his recommendations, including on . Read more about it here.
You can also read a blog post written by Prof Sidel for the Southeast Asia Blog in 2020 on this topic: What are the challenges faced by urban transport in the Global South?SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao awarded grant for "Overlooked Cities: Thinking and doing global urban studies differently" seminar series
Dr Yimin Zhao has received one of this year’s seminar series awards from the Urban Studies Foundation, together with other team members including Dr Isolde de Villiers (University of the Free State, South Africa), Dr Erwin Nugraha (Resilience Development Initiative, Indonesia), Dr Julia Wesely (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria) and Dr Hanna A Ruszczyk (Durham University, UK). With this award, they plan to organise a series of events on "Overlooked Cities: Thinking and doing global urban studies differently." The first event will be held in September 2023 in Bandung, Indonesia, where Prof Hyun Bang Shin will be one of two keynote speakers. Read more about the grant here
SEAC Associate, Prof Katherine Brickell published paper titled "Slow violence, over-indebtedness, and the politics of (in)visibility: Stories and creative practices in pandemic times"
SEAC Associate, Prof Katherine Brickell recently published "Slow violence, over-indebtedness, and the politics of (in)visibility: Stories and creative practices in pandemic times"in Political Geography. In the paper, she shares insights and thoughts on the ‘doing’ of creative practice for representing and communicating lived experiences of slow violence. Read the paper here
SEAC Associate, Dr Koh Sin Yee co-organised Online Writing Workshop for Southeast Asian Early Career Social Science Researchers Studying Southeast Asia
SEAC Associate, Dr Koh Sin Yee co-organised an online writing workshop for a small group of social science ECRs who are based in and beyond Southeast Asia. The workshop was funded by the Women in Southeast Asian Social Sciences (WiSEASS)network and was held 6-10 March 2023. The workshop attracted 71 Expressions of Interest from ECRs based in 20 countries and regions (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, the UK, the USA, Zimbabwe), from which 20 participants were selected. Read more about the event here
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin spoke at multiple events about Southeast Asia
Prof Shin attended and spoke about Southeast Asia at multiple events:
He was the keynote speaker for the event "What is the East?" on 13th of June at University of Sheffield. The event is hosted by Southern Theorising Group (STingG), an initiative of the JUST Design Research and Action Group at the Sheffield School of Architecture.
He also spoke at the Humbolt University of Berlin on 15th of May about urban manifestations of China’s overseas investment titled "Fast-tracked city unbound? Speed, Scale, and Risk in China’s overseas investment".New Publication from Prof Hyun Bang Shin and Dr Do Young Oh
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin, and SEAC Postdoctoral Associate, Dr Do Young Oh, co-authored University as real estate developer: comparative perspectives from the global east in GeoforumVolume 144. Examining comparatively two recent projects of university-led large-scale real estate development in South Korea and Singapore, this paper uses qualitative research methods to investigate how and why East Asian universities participate in real estate development projects; and how the universities pursue their material goals by negotiating with the state. The paper is open access and can be read here.SEAC supported the Southeast Asia Political Scientist Training Academy at LSE
SEAC was delighted to host PhD Students plus Professor Meredith Weiss (SUNY Albany) and Professor Sarah Shair-Rosenfeld (University of Essex) for a workshop session on the morning of Tuesday, June 6th, with additional students patching in via Zoom from various parts of Southeast Asia. This workshop is part of the "Southeast Asia Political Science Academy" sponsored by the American Political Science Association and hosted by the University of Essex.SEAC co-hosted Malaysia Futures Forumwith Khazanah Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Co-hosted with Khazanah Research Institute of Malaysia, this forum brought together leading scholars and policymakers to engage in a discourse regarding the possible ways in which these ‘futures’ could be imagined. Ideally, underwriting these ‘futures’ ought to be the commitment for ensuring or enhancing what we imagine to be the various forms of the common good or a life of value/ decent standard of living. Much of the discourse on development in this region have focused primarily on economic growth, without giving sufficient emphasis on its holistic aspects. This forum broadened the discourse, to put economic growth in its proper context, as part of the larger puzzle of development as a whole. Learn more here.SEAC publishes two new Working Papers
SEAC is delighted to have recently published two new working papers in the Southeast Asia Working Paper Series.
"Scrutinising Nusantara: The Making of an Authoritarian City"by Dr Sulfikar Amir, a past Senior Visiting Fellow, critically examines Indonesia’s ambition to build Nusantara, and the challenges and fallacies around this project.
"Seasonality in the Anthropocene: On the construction of Southeast Asia’s 'haze season'" by Felicia Liu, Thomas Smith, Vernon Yian, & John Holden investigates the emergent social construction of the ‘haze season’ in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. This paper is an output from the SEAC Research Fund projectof the same name.SEAC Director Prof Shin speaks at OECD Development Centre – ISEAS Joint Hybrid Seminar
The Asian Regional Expert Meeting on Development, Disasters and Catastrophes (Am-DC) co-hosted by OECD Development Centre and ISEAS provides opportunities to discuss policy priorities, analytical approaches and data challenges. It contributes to narrowing the gap between policy research and practical policy implementation in disaster mitigation and response. Prof Hyun Bang Shin, SEAC Director spoke at the seminar to discuss the findings from the project: Modelling Flood Risk and Community Resilience in Rayong Province, Thailandon which Advisory Board Member Jonathan Rigg is also a collaborator. . Read full details on the hybrid seminar here.
SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao received funding for Overlooked Cities: Thinking and doing global urban studies differently project
SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao's Overlooked Cities: Thinking and doing global urban studies differently project received funding from the Urban Studies Foundation. More details on the project here.
The project is a seminar series that expands on the term "overlooked cities" to mark the researchers' collective critique of the indifferent views on cities that are marginalised, off-the-map and under-theorised due to the logic of domination and control. This series aims to elaborate on counter-overlooking as a critical pathway to contest historical and contemporary neglect of cities and their dynamics – especially in Africa and Asia. The project will be hosting a seminar in Bandung, Indonesia in September 2023, the call for papers can be found here.SEAC welcomes Danyun Xiong as Communications Assistant
SEAC welcomes Danyun Xiong as the centre's Communications Assistant. She holds a master’s degree in Anthropology and Development Management. Coming from Guangxi, China, she has years of professional experience in both the education sector and NGOs. She is passionate about migration, labour market, education, rural and community development.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellows, Dr Lertchoosakul and Dr Chang
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow, Dr Kanokrat Lertchoosakul and Senior Visiting Fellow, Dr Andy Scott Chang. Dr Lertchoosakul joined SEAC from 1 February to 30 April 2023. Learn more about her work here. Dr Chang joined SEAC from 30 January to 24 April 2023. Learn more about Dr Chang and his work here.
SEAC awards Dissertation Fieldwork Grants
SEAC is pleased to support seven students with Dissertation Fieldwork Grants this year. These grants provide funds for field research in the Southeast Asia region as part of students' assessed dissertations. Awardees research includes: The interrelationship between Social Policy, Confucianism and Loneliness among the elderly in Singapore; Losing or Winning? Development and Dispossession in Malaysia; and Understanding Indonesian Conservatives and Liberals' Moral Values to Viral Social Media Contents in the #SahkanRUUPKS Campaign. Find out more about the grant and awardees here.
SEAC welcomes Visiting Fellows, Dr Purwani and Dr Lawrence
SEAC welcomes Visiting Senior Fellow, Dr Ofita Purwani and Visiting Fellow, Dr Benjamin Lawrence.
Dr Purwani is at the Centre as Visiting Senior Fellow from 1 April to 30 June 2023. Dr Purwani's research at SEAC focuses on urban development in Yogyakarta after decentralisation. Learn more about her work here. Dr Lawrence is at SEAC as Visiting Fellow from 1 May to 31 July 2023. Dr Lawrence's research at SEAC focuses on the Micropolitics of Constitutionalism in Cambodia. Learn more about his work here.SEAC Associate, Dr Hans Steinmüller co-awarded a £1.5m three-year grant from the British Academy
SEAC congratulates Dr Hans Steinmüller who is part of a group of 20 scholars that was awarded a £1.5m three-year grant from the British Academy on Chinese Global Orders. The team under grant leaders Leigh Jenco (LSE Government) and Hassan Karrar (Lahore) will focus on Chinese entanglements with different regions of the world to ask: what do Chinese global orders look like, where are they constituted, and from whose perspective?
Find out more about the project hereSEAC Associate, Dr. Kirsten Schulze co-published
SEAC Associate, Dr Kirsten Schulze presented a co-authored paper on ‘Indonesian jihadi training camps: Home and away’ at the 2023 International Studies Association conference in Montreal on 16th March 2023.
SEAC Associate, Dr Chris Chaplin spoke at the Faith and Climate Workshop
SEAC Associate, Dr Chris Chaplin spoke at the Faith and Climate Workshop hosted by State Islamic University Jakarta where he and other speakers discussed religious community responses to climate change and linking sense making and preventative activism.
SEAC Associate, Dr Hans Steinmüller published in the China Quarterly
SEAC Associate, Dr Hans Steinmüller published 'Introduction. Crises of Care in China today’ in China Quarterly. The introduction presents an overview of crises of care in China today, specifically as they affect the fields of kinship, health, and government. To study care ethnographically, we distinguish between the attentive and active dimensions of care: what people care about, and how they care for others. Acts of care always relate to larger concerns and general values, but they scale up in different ways. The imbalances that emerge are central to the politics of care which our contributors describe. Care as attentive co-growth engages different values, remakes inequality, and nourishes political life. The contributors use the same framework of attention, action, and politics to investigate crucial issues in Chinese society, including family, health, environment, ritual and animals. In all these fields care provides a privileged vantage point to understand social and moral change in China today.
SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao co-published in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao co-published an article titled 'Rearranging the urban: Forms, rhythms, politics' in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. Written by a collective of Asian based urban scholars, the essay explores the processes through which disparate dimensions of urban environments intersect with each other in a continuous process of re-arrangement. Working in tandem with other more familiar structural dimensions informing urban life, such re-arranging extends the forms of poitics and power making up the mundane operations of the city and its regions.
Navigating the 'Where', 'When' and 'How' of Publishing in International Journals
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin, and SEAC Advisory Board chair, Prof Jonathan Rigg, spoke at an event hosted by Chulalongkorn University's Department of Geography on the challenges of getting published in international journals.
SEAC congratulates Kristian Karlo Saguin for receiving an AAG award
SEAC congratulates SEAC Associate, Dr Kristian Karlo Saguin for receiving the 2022 AAG Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography for his book 'Urban Ecologies on the Edge: Making Manila’s Resource Frontier'. His book is said to be "an outstanding work of geographical scholarship, balancing empirical and conceptual insights that contribute to current interests in urbanization, the infrastructure turn, and environmental change in cities of the Global South. The writing is lively, highly accessible, and nuanced, and it is likely to serve as a model for students seeking to examine other urban places across the globe."
You can watch Dr Kristian Karlo Saguin talk about his work here
Find out more about the award hereSEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow Dr Helena Varkkey
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow Dr Helena Varkkey. Helena is seen here with collaborators Dr Felicia Liu and Dr Tom Smith. You can learn more about Helena in our Spotlight On featureand in her recent Southeast Asia Blog post.
New paper published in the Southeast Asia Working Paper Series
Congratulations to Alia Salleh, winner of the SEAC Postgraduate Dissertation Prize 2022, who has published her dissertation "Does the ‘culture of property’ normalise eviction and demolition? The case of Kampung Sungai Baru, Kuala Lumpur"in the Southeast Asia Working Paper Series.
SEAC is delighted to welcome four new Visiting Fellows:
- Dr Helena Varkkey (Visiting Fellow) is an Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya.
- Dr Andy Scott Chang (Visiting Senior Fellow) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Singapore Management University.
- Dr Kanokrat Lertchoosakul (Visiting Fellow)is an assistant professor at the department of government, faculty of political science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
- Dr Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz (Visiting Fellow) is a Research Fellow at Clare Hall, Supervisor in World History, and the Executive Director of the Toynbee Prize Foundation.
2021 winner of SEAC Postgraduate Dissertation Prize published
SEAC is happy to announce that Gray Brakke, winner of the 2021 SEAC Postgraduate Dissertation Prize , has published his dissertation titled "Ambivalent Insurgencies: Citizenship, Land Politics, and Development in Hanoi and Its Periurban Fringe" as an article in Urban Studies. Read his article here.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Professor Tamaki Endo
SEAC bids farewell to Professor Tamaki Endo (Saitama University)who was a Visiting Professor at SEAC until 31st January 2023. To learn more about Prof Endo's work you can read her Working Paperon Urban Redevelopment, Spatial Restructuring, and Displacement of Communities in Bangkok, and watch a video of her SEAC Seminar Urban Risk and Well-Being in Asian Mega Cities: Urban lower and middle classes in Bangkok, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Dr. Catalina Ortiz co-designed exhibition:A Tale of Two Flower Markets: Bangkok-London
Photo exhibitions from two flower markets, Pak Khlong Talat in Bangkok and Columbia Road Sunday Flower Market in London, tell stories of the daily lives of people, traders, and reveal the transient and casual ways of using the space. Including the development of urban areas with different strategies. Check out the exhibition from 4th Feb till 12 Feb 2023 at Chakkraphet Road, Bangkok, Thailand. Find out more about the event here
SEAC Associates published in new volume How People Compare
The new volume How People Compare, edited By Mathijs Pelkmans and Harry Walker, features chapters by two SEAC Associates: Dr Nicholas Long authored a chapter "In Defence of Bad Comparisons? Comparisons and their Motivations in Indonesia’s Riau Islands"; and Dr Hans Steinmuller co-authored a chapter with Stephan Feuchtwang on "Implicit Comparisons, or Why it is Inevitable to Study China in Comparative Perspective".
Prof Katherine Brickell joins King's College London
SEAC congratulates Prof Katherine Brickell on her appointment at King's College London as a Professor of Urban Studies. She holds 20 years of area-focused expertise in Cambodia where she works on the changing geographies of home and work. She is a recipient of the 2014 RGS Gill Memorial Award, and 2016 Philip Leverhulme Prize, and journal editor of Gender, Place and Culture. Prof Brickell was Chair of the RGS-IBG Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group (2016-2018).
Professor Shin spoke at CDRI event last December
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin, spoke at the Researcher Conversation Series: Meeting the Editors: Publishing in Leading Development Journals at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) in December 2022. At this event in Pnomh Penh, Prof Shin discussed publishing an academic/scholarly journal in leading development journals.
SEAC'sAnnual Report 2021/2022 is Published
SEAC's Annual Report details the full range of the Centre’s activities over the course of the year, offering you a reminder of last year's many activities, schemes, and successes.
Centre Associate, Dr Hans Steinmüller published article and blog post
How nation-states give complicity a bad name
Nation-state institutions have re-drawn the boundaries of complicity, accountability, and responsibility. This article illustrates the changes with a comparison of two fieldsites, the Wa State of Myanmar, where nation-state institutions are weak, and Hubei Province in China, where they are relatively strong.
Grace Is Incommensurability in Commensuration: The Semantics of Bwan among Three Generations of Wa and Lahu Prophets'
Abstract: Since the seventeenth century, prophets have reappeared periodically among the Wa and Lahu ethnic groups of mainland Southeast Asia. Exceptionally talented, these men built on the syncretic cults of runaway soldiers, secretive Buddhist sects, and Christian missionaries and became leaders of millenarian movements. Typically, in the Wa language, such leaders are said to be very strong and blessed, or full of grace (bwan). The prophets might be understood as reincarnations of mythical ‘men of prowess’ or as the representatives of the peripheral situation. However, both interpretations fundamentally misread the semantics of grace in Wa and neighbouring languages: a kind of cunning and strength that is so radical that it cannot be measured or mediated. Grace, here, is neither a ‘mediative concept’ (as Pitt-Rivers suggested), nor is it the consequence of Christian conversion. Instead, grace is the incommensurability that emerges at the margin of a world that is being measured.
Centre Associate, Dr. Sin Yee Koh published 2 articles
Global Competition Over Skills
This article in the International Encyclopedia of Education (Fourth Edition) provides a critical review of the rationale, strategies and consequences of the global competition over skilled human capital.
Contesting reproduction migration: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) controversies during the COVID-19 pandemic
The article examines the controversies surrounding the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme during the COVID-19 pandemic and illustrates how stakeholders are rethinking the premise of lifestyle migration programmes. These varied contestations of the MM2H programme reveal the complexity of reproduction migration as a multifaceted phenomenon.
Attend Meeting the Editors: Publishing in Leading Development Journalsfeaturing Professor Hyun Bang Shin
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin will join CDRI on Friday, 16th December 2022 at 10:00AM (UTC +7) for a discussion on publishing.
SEAC is delighted to welcome a new Centre Associate, Dr. Chris Chaplin.
He is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow in the Religion and Global Society Research Unit at the LSE. He has spent over 14 years working on the region in both academic and other professional roles and specialises in the anthropology of maritime Southeast Asia. His research focuses on the convergence between global religious doctrines and local understandings of piety and faith, and how these influence contemporary ideas of religious belonging, solidarity, and social activism.
SEAC was delighted to meet with a delegation from IPB University including Prof. Arya H. Dharmawan, Prof. Ujang Sumarwan, Dr. Nurmala K. Pandjaitan, Dr. Djuara Lubis, Dr. Eka Intan, and Dr. Alfian Helmi to discuss Southeast Asia research and possibilities for future collaboration.
SEAC was pleased to welcome Prof Jonathan Rigg, Prof Anne Booth, Prof Chua Beng Huat, and Dr Suraya Ismail to LSE for SEAC’s Advisory Board meeting.
Postgraduate Dissertation Prize 2022 Winner and Highly Commended Submission
SEAC is proud to announce that the winner of the Postgraduate Dissertation Prize this year is 'Does the ‘culture of property’ normalise eviction and demolition? The case of Kampung Sungai Baru, Kuala Lumpur' by Alia Salleh. Her dissertation questions prevailing narratives on redevelopment, reflecting her deep interest in urban development issues in her home-city, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
We would also like to highlight Itamar Carillo on her highly commendable dissertation "Rainfall shocks and cash transfer effects on stunting. A case study of Indonesia".
Find out more about the Postgraduate Dissertation Prize and past winners here.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellows
SEAC bids farewell to Senior Visiting Fellows - Professor Julio Tehankee from De La Salle University, Dr Sulfikar Amir fromNanyang Technological University, and Visiting Fellow - Dr Gerard McCarthy from National University of Singapore
Professor Shin presented Urban Korea Inc.? A critical analysis of South Korea’s export of its urban development model to Kuwait
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin, spoke at Ca' Foscari University of Venice on 20th of October 2022 about the challenges faced by Korean firms and experts in the course of promoting the Kuwaiti new city construction project. The talk aimed to encourage a more plural understanding of heterogeneous urbanisation processes due to the growing influence of Asian urbanism and to show how urbanism as ideology, knowledge, and capital from one site is transferred to another in non-Western contexts.
SEAC hosted From Red Revolution to Red Solution: China and the Cold War Endgame in Indochina talk
On 5th of October 2022, SEAC hosted Dr Qingfei Yin (Assistant Professor of International History and SEAC Associate, LSE) who presented From Red Revolution to Red Solution: China and the Cold War Endgame in Indochina.‘Isles and islands’ – an anthology of cultural flows between United Kingdom and Philippines is launched!
Prof Deirdre McKay, one of our centre’s Associates, is the lead editor for ‘Isles and islands’. This anthology explores the cultural relationships and shared knowledge circulating between the United Kingdom and the Philippines from the perspective of those who criss-cross that space. It brings together contributions from writers, artists, and academics – identifying as British, Filipino, Filipino-British and as global citizens – all working to make contemporary convergences visible.
The full anthology and interactive version will be available to the public on 2 November 2022.Read ‘Contesting reproduction migration: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) controversies during the COVID-19 pandemic’ by Nirmala Prabhakar and Sin Yee Koh
Read Nirmala Prabhakar and Sin Yee Koh's discussion how different Malaysia My Second Home stakeholder groups are contesting lifestyle migration as reproduction migration. Read the article here
Read ‘Sovereignty as Care: Acquaintances, Mutuality, and Scale in the Wa State of Myanmar’ by Dr Hans Steinmüller
Dr Hans Steinmüller, Associate Professor at LSE published an article titled ‘Sovereignty as Care: Acquaintances, Mutuality, and Scale in the Wa State of Myanmar’. The article describes the logic of personal relations that allows for the exercise of popular sovereignty in the Wa State and elsewhere. Read the article here
Reports from the ‘Depleted by Debt? Focusing a gendered lens on climate resilience, credit and nutrition in Cambodia and South India’ research project is published!
Two reports: Microfinance, over-indebtedness and climate adaptation and Trapped in the service of debt have been published on how household over-indebtedness needs to be understood and tackled in tandem with the climate crisis and the negative impacts these are both having on people’s health and well-being. Read and download the reports here
SEAC Welcomes Comms and Events Assistants
SEAC welcome Candee Chee and Yohana Kristina who joined SEAC in October as Comms and Events Assistants. Candee and Yohana are studying MSc Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship and MSc in Development Studies respectively and bring expertise and passion in comms, education, womens' and youth empowerment amongst other things. We look forward to working with them.
The Special Issue on Pandemic Politics (Volume 43, Issue 2) co-edited by Professor Julio Tehankee is now online!
The Special Issue on Pandemic Politics (Volume 43, Issue 2) of the Philippine Political Science Journal (PPSJ) co-edited by Professor Julio Tehankee, one of our centre’s visiting Senior Fellow, is now available online. #pandemic #covid #pandemicpolitics
SEAC Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Sulfikar Amir publishes op-ed
Dr Sulfikar Amir, SEAC’s Visiting Senior Fellow has published an op-ed in Media Indonesia about the new capital project of Nusantara. You can read the article (in Bahasa Indonesia) here. Dr Amir also gave a SEAC Seminar on the topic of Scrutinizing Nusantara: The Fallacies of Indonesia's New Capital. You can watch the seminar here.
SEAC Welcomes Visiting Professor Tamaki Endo
SEAC is delighted to welcome Professor Tamaki Endo (Saitama University)who will be with SEAC until 31st January 2023, and will focus on urban inequality and the gig-economy during her time as Visiting Professor. Learn more about Prof Endo in SEAC’s Spotlight On... Series
Dr Yimin Zhao published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Centre Associate Dr Yimin Zhao published THE INFORMAL CONSTITUTION OF STATE CENTRALITY: Governing Street Businesses in (Post-)Pandemic Chengdu, Chinain the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. This article was co-authored with formerSEAC Postdoctoral Research Assistant Dr Yi Jin. You can read the article here.
LSEAAS Gala Dinner with LSE Director Baroness Minouche Shafik
On Wednesday 12 October, the LSE Alumni Association of Singapore will host a gala dinner to celebrate LSE Director Baroness Minouche Shafik's visit to Singapore. Minister for Health, Mr Ong Ye Kung will join as Guest-of-Honour, and alongside Baroness Shafik, will discuss the new social contract. This will be moderated by bestselling author and LSE alumnus Dr Parag Khanna. The event will also pay tribute to the memory of Prof Saw Swee Hock (1931-2021). Further information and the link to purchase tickets can be found here.Prof Katherine Brickell publishes reports on Cambodia including insights from the ReFashion study
Centre Associate Prof Katherine Brickell has published a report from the ReFashion study Building Forward Worse: How COVID-19 has accelerated the race to the bottom in the global garment industry. Full details can be found here.
And, Prof Brickell has co-authored two reports from the Depleted by Debt? Project: Trapped in the Service of Debt: How the Burdens of Repayment are Fuelling the Health Poverty Trap in Rural Cambodia; and Microfinance, Over-indebtedness and Climate Adaptation: New Evidence from Rural Cambodia. Further info here.Dr Sin Yee Koh published in the Urban Studies Journal
Centre Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh published The inversion of majority/minority at the de/reterritorialised urban higher education enclave: Xiamen University Malaysiain the Urban Studies Journal. You can read the article here.
Congratulations also to Dr Koh who joins the editorial boards of Global Networks and Springer's "Asia in Transition"book series.SEAC Director gives talk to US-Asia Law Institute at NYU
On 22 September, Prof Hyun Bang Shin gave a talk on Urban Growth and Social Movements in Asiato the US-Asia Law Institute at NYU. You can watch the video here.
SEAC hosts Modelling Flood Riskresearch team
On 23 July SEAC was delighted to host Dr Chanita Duangyiwa, Dr Pannee Cheewinsiriwat, Dr Areerut Patnukao, and Dr Puttaporn Areeprachakun from Chulalongkorn Universityand Prof Jonathan Rigg (SEAC Advisory Board and Bristol Uni).
The team is working together on the British Councilproject: , Thailand. And, came together to discuss findings from two rounds of interviews with local experts and villagers, and plans for joint publications.
SEAC is delighted to welcome Prof Julio Teehankee, Dr Gerard McCarthy and Dr Sulfikar Amir
Prof Julio Teehankee (De La Salle University) joins SEAC as Visiting Senior Fellow and will focus on Authoritarian Nostalgia and the Marcos Restoration in the Philippines. You can learn more about Prof Teehankee's work at his .
Dr Gerard McCarthy (ARI-NUS) joins SEAC as Visiting Fellow to pursue research on the Politics of gig-economy in Southeast Asia; and hybrid political order in Asia.
Dr Sulfikar Amir (NTU) joins SEAC as Visiting Senior Fellow to Scrutinizing Nusantara: The Fallacies of Indonesia’s New Capital, and How Political Leadership Shapes Covid-19 Mitigation in Southeast Asia. You can learn more about Dr Amir's work at his .
2021-2022
SEAC Director gives talk in Virtual Geography Speaker Series
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin gives a talk at the Virtual Geography Speaker Series as he reflects on what it means to conduct academic writing as scholars in Asia. Further information can be found here.
SEAC Research Fund project covered by the European Geosciences Union
Congratulations to SEAC Associate Dr Tom Smith and Felicia Liu whose SEAC funded research project on 'Seasonality in the Anthropocene: social constructions of Singapore's 'haze season''was presented at EGU22 and has been covered in the EGU Blog.
SEAC Announces 2022 Undegraduate Research Fellowship
SEAC is delighted to announce the 2022 Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Kesha Menon Jayadeep will be working with SEAC Associate, Prof. Catherine Allerton on her project Migration and Childhood in Sabah and beyond. Full details can be found here.
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin returns from a visit to Southeast Asia
During April to June 2022 SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin undertook visits to Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. This included: working on a new research project Modelling Flood Risk and Community Resilience in Rayong Province, Thailand; engaging with LSE alumni in Bangkok and Singapore; meeting with SEAC affiliates; and undertaking academic engagement. .
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin undertales new research project
Prof Shin is collaborating with colleages at Chulalongkorn University (a team of geographers led by Dr Pannee Cheewinsiriwat), the University of Sussex (Dr John Barlow and Dr Yi Wang), and the University of Bristol (Prof Jonathan Rigg) on a new Research Project: Modelling Flood Risk and Community Resilience in Rayong Province, Thailand.
Combining expertise in climate science, physical geography, social science and economics, the partnership team will use high-resolution climate modelling to develop flood risk maps, research how government policies have shaped communities’ responses to flooding and how community knowledge and resilience can be applied to creating better flood management policies for the government and private sector in Thailand.
SEAC Director, Prof Hyun Bang Shin to present at International Symposiumon Sustainable Urban Renewal
On Saturday 18 June, Prof Shin will speak about Whose renewal? Critical reflections on the aspirational politics of urban changeson a panel chaired by SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao, at the International Symposium on Sustainable Urban Renewal at Renmin University.
SEAC announces the launch of the Southeast Asia Working Paper Series
SEAC is delighted to launch our new Southeast Asia Working Paper Series which publishes critical and constructive dialogues on region-related affairs. The goal of the Southeast Asia Working Paper Series is to showcase work-in-progress research by the SEAC community, and is open to contributions from all disciplines that SEAC engages with. Find out more here.
SEAC's Research Fund Awardee Announced
Congratulations to the latest awardee of SEAC’s Research Fund, Professor Neil Lee (Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE) who alongside Augustin Boey (PhD Candidate, LSE) will undertake the project Tech beyond Silicon Valley: Examining the development of Singapore’s high-tech ecosystem.
SEAC Announces Advisory Board
SEAC is delighted to announce our inaugural Advisory Board. We welcome Prof Beng Huat Chua (NUS), Prof Anne Booth, (SOAS), Dr Suraya Ismail, (Khazanah Research Institute), and Prof Jonathan Rigg (University of Bristol, and NUS) and look forward to their contributions to the work of the Centre.
SEAC welcomes new Centre Associates
SEAC welcomes Dr Fenella Cannell, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at LSE, and Dr Qingfei Yin, Assistant Professor of International History (China and the World) at LSE who are new Centre Associates. We look forward to their contributions and to working with them in the years ahead.
SEAC is delighted to announce our Dissertation Fieldwork Grant awardees for 2022.
Congratulations to the ten students who have been awarded funds to support their fieldwork in Southeast Asia. More information can be found here.
The Centre congratulates SEAC Associate Dr. Sin Yee Koh for joining the Editorial Board for academic journal Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (TIGB).
Dr. Koh has been appointed following an open application process and will support the journal’s editors over the next two years, setting the strategic direction of the journal, adapting editorial guidelines, and promoting the journal and its papers to prospective readers and authors.
Join SEAC Associate Dr. Catalina Ortiz for a discussion on "Urban Design Otherwise: Reframing Spatial Justice Through Decolonial Inspirations and Living Heritage".
Date: Saturday, 12 February, 2022
Time: 9.45am-11am UK Time
Click herefor more information and to register.
SEAC welcomes new Visiting Fellow Dr Lin Hongxuan
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Lin Hongxuan, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, joins the Centre as Visiting Fellow from 31st January 2022 for a year.
During his fellowship his research will focus on the historical production and circulation of progressive Islamic ideas across the Malay Archipelago.
Read more on Dr Lin and his interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC Director, Prof. Hyun Bang Shin and SEAC Associates Dr. Sin Yee Koh and Dr. Yimin Zhao hosted a two day workshop on the Urban Agency of Global China
This workshop concluded the British Academy funded project and gave attendees the opportunity to listen to some of the key findings of the research as well as broader discussions on global China and urban development.
Recordings of the panel presentations and roundtable on day 2 can be found here and here.SEAC welcomes our new graduate Communications intern, Tianzi Liu.
We are pleased to announce the arrival of Tianzi (Tansy) to the team. She will be assisting with the Centre's events programme and providing support for all SEAC communications from January 2022.
SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin publishes new edited volume on COVID-19 in Southeast Asia
The book features the work of 38 contributors, more than 30 of whom originating from Southeast Asia or based therein. This new edited volume compiles reflections on the following three themes: (1) Urbanisation, digital infrastructures, economies, and the environment; (2) Migrants, (im)mobilities, and borders; and (3) Collective action, communities, and mutual action.
Read more and download your copy here.
SEAC publishes its Annual Report for 2020/2021
The annual report provides you with the full range of the Centre’s activities over the course of the year. It offers a reminder of last year’s many successes and the diverse contributions from across our community.
SEAC says goodbye to Visiting Fellow Dr Junjia Ye
Dr Junjia Ye, Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Nanyang Technological University, finished her Visiting Fellowship in January. We thank her for her important contributions to the Centre's work.
Read more on Dr Ye and her interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Fellow Dr Jayde Roberts
Dr Jayde Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism in Asia at UNSW, completed her Visiting Fellowship in December 2021. We thank her for her important contributions to the Centre over the term.
Read more on Dr Roberts and her interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC wishes farewell to Visiting Fellow Dr Emma Colven
Dr Emma Colven, Assistant Professor of Global Environment at the University of Oklahoma, completed her time at the Centre as Visiting Fellow in December 2021. We thank her for her important contributions to the Centre over the term.
Read more on Dr Colven and her interests in our Spotlight On...Series.
SEAC announces the 2021 Winner of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre Postgraduate Dissertation Prize on Southeast Asia
Gray Brakke wins the postgraduate dissertation prize this year for his work on the Vietnamese state and urban citizenship.
Find out more here.
SEAC launches the Southeast Asian Waters Series
The first event featured a fascinating talk from Prof. Eric Tagliacozzo on technology, imperialism and maritime Asia.
A video recording of this event is available here.
SEAC welcomes new Visiting Fellow Dr Joseph Scalice
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Joseph Scalice, Postdoctoral researcher at Nanyang Technological University, joins the Centre as Visiting Fellow from 15th November 2021 to 30th April 2022.
During his fellowship his research will focus on Philippine politics, Communism and the Sino-Soviet Split.
Read more on Dr Scalice and his interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC hosted a roundtable on Southeast Asia's Contentious Polls
SEAC hosted this workshop with the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) on Southeast Asian electoral management in comparative perspective.
A video recording of this event is available here.
SEAC hosted the final event of the Southeast Asia Forum
SEAC held an event showcasing some of the on-going work of PhD researchers at LSE. The talks featured researchers came from the Departments of Anthropology, Economic History, and Geography and Environment, discussing lifelong journeys of self-transformation amongst Catholic nuns in Indonesia, the financing of the Manila Trade (1668-1828), and the experience of ride-hailing drivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Further details and a recording of this event can be found here.
Southeast Asia Forum - Day 4
SEAC invited project leaders Dr Sin Yee Koh and Prof. Katherine Brickell, and associated (undergraduate) research fellows to present their findings about work, life and migration in the COVID-19 era, examining the gendered contingencies amongst Cambodian garment workers and the trends of lifestyle migration in Malaysia. Further details and a recording of this event can be found here.
Southeast Asia Forum - Day 3
SEAC held an event reflecting on the impact of the late Professor Saw’s philanthropy at LSE. With the world in flux after a global pandemic, the discussion looked at how philanthropy plays an increasingly important role in society. Further details of this event can be found here.
SEAC's Southeast Asia Forum continued
SEAC held a roundtable discussion on Comparative Urbanism for Southeast Asia on day 2 of the Forum. The event, held in collaboration with the Urban Salon, featured emerging scholars whose work engages with urbanising sites across Southeast Asia and beyond. Further details and a recording of this session can be found .
SEAC began the Southeast Asia Forum
SEAC held a discussion of two research projects awarded by the SEAC Research fund. Dr Tom Smith and Felicia Liu discussed the haze season in Singapore and Dr Omar Mcdoom spoke on kleptocratic elites.
A video recording of the event is available here
SEAC hosted the book launch for Prof. John Sidel's new title
SEAC held a discussion with three invited speakers on the new book: Republicanism, Communism, Islam: Cosmopolitan Origins of Revolution in Southeast Asia by Prof John Sidel (SEAC Associate)
You can find a video recording of this event here
SEAC welcomes new Visiting Fellow Dr Junjia Ye
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Junjia Ye, Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Nanyang Technological University, joins the Centre as Visiting Fellow from 4th October 2021 to 3rd January 2022.
During her fellowship her research will focus on surveilance and bordering in Singapore.
Read more on Dr Ye and her interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC welcomes new Visiting Fellow Dr Jayde Roberts
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Jayde Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism in Asia at UNSW, joins the Centre as Visiting Fellow from 27 September 2021 to December 2021.
During her fellowship her research will focus on public space in Yangon and Mandalay.
Read more on Dr Roberts and her interests in our Spotlight On... Series.
SEAC welcomes new Visiting Fellow Dr Emma Colven
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Emma Colven, Assistant Professor of Global Environment at the University of Oklahoma, joins the Centre as Visiting Fellow from 27 September 2021 to December 2021.
During her fellowship her research will focus on flooding and real estate in Jakarta.
Read more on Dr Colven and her interests in our Spotlight On...Series.
SEAC welcomes Centre Manager, Charles Tocock
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Charles Tocock as SEAC Centre Manager from 16 August 2021. Charles has a strong history at LSE, having previously worked for Research and Innovation. Charles will be covering Katie's maternity leave until mid-2022.
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin, to give Keynote Speech at International Institute for Asian Studies Symposium
On 1 September, Prof Shin will deliver a keynote speech on Neighborhood Transformation in East Asian Cities: Is 'Gentrification' the Right Frame of Reference? at the International Institute for Asian Studies Symposium.
SEAC announces call for expressions of interest for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, funded by the European Commission, is designed to to support researchers’ careers and foster excellence in research. SEAC welcomes expressions of interest by post-doctoral candidates who wish to apply for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to be hosted at SEAC. Further details can be found here.
SEAC welcomes Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Shanthi Thambiah
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Shanthi Thambiah, Associate Professor in the Gender Studies Program, at the University of Malaya, will be joining the Centre as Visiting Senior Fellow from 15 July to 15 October 2021. Dr Thambiah's research at SEAC will focus on the emotional interconnectedness and governance of Indonesian and Malaysian Migrant Domestic Workers.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Joanne Lim
SEAC bids a fond farewell to Dr Joanne Lim whose time as Visiting Senior Fellow at SEAC comes to an end in July. We have thoroughly enjoyed Dr Lim's time with us, and thank her for her contributions to the Centre.
Thank you to SEAC's Graduate Interns
SEAC bids farewell to our three Graduate Interns: Gray Brakke, Ili Mohammad Rahan, and Luisa Pineda who complete their internships with SEAC in May and June. We are thankful for all their contributions to and hard work for the Centre and wish them the best as they complete their Master's degrees.
SEAC bids farewell to Visiting Senior Fellow Professor Tamaki Endo
SEAC bids a fond farewell to Professor Tamaki Endo whose time as Visiting Senior Fellow at SEAC comes to an end in June. We have thoroughly enjoyed Prof Endo's time with us, and thank her for her contributions to the Centre.
SEAC Visiting Senior Fellow, Dr Joanne Lim speaks about Digital Interventions on Urban Societal Challenges in Southeast Asian Communities
On Wednesday 16 June, SEAC's Visiting Senior Fellow, Dr Joanne Lim (Associate Professor in Communications, Media and Cultural Studies, and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia) delivered an online SEAC Seminar on Digital Interventions on Urban Societal Challenges in Southeast Asian Communities. Full details including a recording of the event can be found here.Dr Lim also hosted an "Author meets ECRs" small group discussion with PhD Students to further explore her research.
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin is published in Global Urbanism: Knowledge, Power and the City
SEAC Director, Professor Hyun Bang Shin's chapter 'Theorising from where? Reflections on De-centring Global (Southern) Urbanism’ is published in Global Urbanism: Knowledge, Power and the City edited by Michele Lancione and Colin McFarlane. In it, Prof Shin reflects on attempting to interrupt Global North-South binaries. Further information can be found here.
SEAC Associate Dr Jurgen Haacke writes about The United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific ‘tilt’
SEAC Associate, Dr Jurgen Haacke (Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, LSE) has written for the Philippine Strategic Forum about Britain and it's increasing role in the Southeast Asia region "The United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific ‘tilt’". The full article can be read here.
SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh is published in the International Migration Review Journal
SEAC Associate, Dr Sin Yee Koh (Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Monash University Malaysia) has recently published "Disrupted Geographic Arbitrage and Differential Capacities of Coping in Later-Life: Anglo-Western Teacher Expatriates in Brunei" in the International Migration Review Journal. The full article can be found here.
SEAC Associate Prof John Sidel publishes Republicanism, Communism, Islam: Cosmopolitan Origins of Revolution in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press, 2021)
Congratulations to SEAC Associate, Professor John Sidel who recently published his new book, which has been reviewed by the New Yorker and launched via an online book launch online book launchhosted by the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University.
SEAC announces call for expressions of interestfor Newton International Fellowship
The Newton International Fellowship Scheme is designed to select the very best early career postdoctoral researchers from all over the world and enable them to work at UK research institutions for two years. SEAC welcomes expressions of interest by post-doctoral candidates who wish to apply for the Newton International Fellowship to be hosted at SEAC. Further details can be found .
SEAC collaborates with the South Asian Centre on
On 27 May the South Asia Centre, in collaboration with SEAC, will host a panel discussion with academics and activists on the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 overturning the results of the recent elections, thus jeopardising the future of democracy in the country. Further details can be found .
SEAC welcomes Senior Visiting Fellow, Dr Joanne Lim
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Joanne Lim, Associate Professor in Communications, Media and Cultural Studies, and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia, will be joining the Centre as Visiting Senior Fellow from 4th May 2021 to 2nd July 2021. Dr Lim’s research will focus on digital interventions in Southeast Asian cities.
SEAC's Research Fund Awardee Announced
Congratulations to the latest awardee of SEAC’s Research Fund, Dr Thomas Smith(Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE) who alongside Felicia Liu (PhD Candidate, Kings College London) will undertake the project Seasonality in the Anthropocene: social constructions of Singapore’s ‘haze season’.
SEAC Announces 2021 Undegraduate Research Fellowships
SEAC is delighted to announce the 2021 Undergraduate Research Fellowships. Angbeen Abbas will be working with SEAC Associate Prof. Katherine Brickell on her project ReFashion Study: Social Protection and the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 in the Cambodian Garment Industry. Jimin Oh will be working with SEAC Associate Dr. Sin Yee Koh on her project Lifestyle Im/mobilities in/to Malaysia in the COVID-19 Era. Full details can be found here.
SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao announced as an Editor for CITY journal
Congratulations to SEAC Associate, Dr Yimin Zhao (Assistant Professor in Urban Planning and Management, Renmin University of China) who has been made an Editor of CITY journal. Full details here.
Dr Andrea Pia awarded SEAC's Seminar and Networking Grant
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Andrea Pia, (Assistant Professor, Dept of Anthropology, LSE) has been awarded SEAC's Seminar and Networking Grant to organise an event on Justice After Carbon: A collaborative investigation of civil society’s perceptions of China-led Hydropower Projects in South-East Asia
Al Lim is honoured for his LSE Southeast Asia Blog Post
Congratulations to Al Lim whose blog 'New Narratives for Food Insecurity' has been given a Merit Award by the Stories of a Pandemic Initiative from The Majurity Trust.
SEAC Announces 2021 Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grants
SEAC is delighted to announce the 12 Students who have been awarded Dissertation Fieldwork Grants to support their regionally focused dissertation research. With the ongoing pandemic, these students impressed with their innovative research and methods to work around travel restrictions. We look forward to seeing how their research progresses. Full details can be found here.
SEAC Associate, Dr Catherine Allerton to deliver The Malinowski Lecturefor the Department of Anthropology
On Thursday 20 May 2021, Dr Allerton will lecture on "Discordant Temporalities of Migration and Childhood". Exploring the contemporary clash between the temporalities of migration, and those of childhood, Dr Allerton will first focus on the children of Indonesian and Filipino migrants in Sabah, Malaysia, and then on theorising the experiences of children in other contexts. This event is free and open to all. More information can be found .
Laura Antona is honoured for her LSE Southeast Asia Blog Post
Congratulations to Laura Antona whose blog 'The New Normal or Same Old?: The Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Live-in Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore'has been given a Merit Award by the Stories of a Pandemic Initiative from The Majurity Trust.
SEAC Associate Professor Duncan McCargo presented at Columbia University's conference Thailand Update: Protests Revisited
On Monday 15 March, Prof McCargo kicked off a two-day conference with a key talk with Thongchai Winichakul to discuss Thongchai's important new book Moments of Silence: The Unforgetting of the October 6, 1976, Massacre in Bangkok (Hawaii 2020). They reflected on how the student protests of 2020 may be understood through the lens of political struggle, mass protest and state violence in Thailand. More information here.
Winner of Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia UK Postgraduate Dissertation Prize announced
On 12 March, SEAC announced the winner of its 2021 UK Southeast Asia Postgraduate Dissertation Prize, Madhumitha Ardhanari (LSE) for her dissertation entitled, " Sand extractivism and its inequalities: Elite scripts in the Singaporean demand for sand". Leonard Yip (University of Cambridge) and Al Lim (LSE) were given Highly Commended awards.
SEAC Director to participate in Dislocating Urban Studies Workshop
SEAC Director, Hyun Bang Shin will lead a session on day 2 of Dislocating Urban Studies upcoming workshop places 'off the map': bringing to light the hidden locations of urbanisation,taking place 18-19 March 2021.
SEAC welcomes Centre Manager, Katie Boulton
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Boulton as SEAC Centre Manager from 8 March 2021. Katie has a strong history at LSE, having previously worked for the International Inequalities Institute. She is looking forward to becoming part of the SEAC community.
SEAC thanks Dr Do Young Oh for his contributions as Interim Centre Manager.
We are grateful to Do Young for all his hard work and dedication. Do Young will continue working with SEAC on the "Asian Capital and the Rise of Smart Urbanism" research project.
SEAC Associate Dr Catalina Ortiz to organise and chair working paper launch
On 9th March 2021, Dr Catalina Ortiz (UCL) will chair the launch of a working paper entitled, "Trajectories of spatial violence in Southeast Asian cities."SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin will be a discussant. You may book your slot for the upcoming virtual event here.SEAC Director and Associates publish working paper as part of the Centre’s "The Urban Spectre of Global China" research project
SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin and SEAC Associates Dr Sin Yee Koh and Dr Yimin Zhao have published their working paper as part of the Centre's "The Urban Spectre of Global China" research project, funded by the British Academy. The paper entitled, "The micropolitics of speculative green urbanism at Forest City, Iskandar Malaysia" can be accessed here.
SEAC Seminar Series: Book Launch of "Thinking and Working Politically in Development: Coalitions for Change in the Philippines"
On 10th February 2021, SEAC hosted a Book Launch for the 2020 book "Thinking and Working Politically in Development: Coalitions for Change in the Philippines," written by SEAC Associate Prof John Sidel (Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics at LSE) and Jaime Faustino (The Asia Foundation). You may view the event here.
SEAC appoints new Graduate Intern for communications and events
We are pleased to announce that Luisa Pineda joined the Centre as Graduate Intern for communications and events from January 2020.
SEAC Associate Dr Hans Steinmuller published articles in Social Anthropology and Critical Asian Studies
SEAC Associate Dr Hans Steinmüller recently published an article titled "The Moral Economy of Militarism: peasant village, military state, and Chinese capitalism in the Wa Region of Myanmar" in Social Anthropology. Dr Steinmüller also published article titled "The Golden Triangle is in the papers" in Critical Asian Studies.SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay appointed to REF Sub-Panel
SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay (Keele University) has been been appointed to the Research Excellence Framework or REF Sub-Panel 25, Area Studies (Main Panel D), for the 2021 exercise. Dr McKay also published a paper together with Elyse Stanes, Nicole Githua, Xiaoyu Lei and Simon Dixon entitled, "On Global Plasticity: Framing the Global Through Affective Materiality" in New Global Studies.
SEAC Seminar Series: Flooding and the Politics of Property Rights in Jakarta
On 27th January 2021, SEAC hosted a research seminar chaired by SEAC Director Prof. Hyun Bang Shin. Prof. Gavin Shatkin (Professor at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and the School of Architecture, at Northeastern University) spoke on "Flooding and the Politics of Property Rights in Jakarta." You can watch a recording of the event here.
SEAC appoints new Graduate Intern for research
We are pleased to announce that Ili Rahan joined the Centre as Graduate Intern for research from January 2020.
SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh delivers online seminar and workshop
As part of the Urbanisation, Planning and Development Seminar Series at Department of Geography and Environment (LSE), SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh (Monash University Malaysia) conducted a seminar last 4th March entitled "The Interurban Migration Industry: ‘Migration Products’ and the Materialisation of Urban Speculation at Iskandar Malaysia". Dr Koh's article was also published in Urban Studies.
Dr Koh also co-organised a five-day online workshop, "Education and Migration: Publication and Grant Writing Workshop for Asia-based Early Career Researchers," last 14-18 December 2020.SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao published articles in Urban Geographyand Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao published an article entitled, "Folding Beijing in Houchangcun Road, or, the topology of power density"in Urban Geography. Dr Zhao also published an article entitled, "Jiehebu or Suburb? Towards a translational turn in urban studies"in Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society.SEAC Seminar Series: Book Launch of "Home SOS: Gender, Violence and Survival in Crisis Ordinary Cambodia"
On 20th January 2021, SEAC hosted a Book Launch for the 2020 book 'Home SOS: Gender, Violence and Survival in Crisis Ordinary Cambodia', written by SEAC Associate Prof. Katherine Brickell (Royal Holloway, University of London). This event invited four panellists to discuss the book and Prof Brickell responds to them. This event was by SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin. More details about the event can be found .
SEAC appoints new Graduate Intern for COVID-19 and Southeast Asia project
We are pleased to announce that Gray Brakke joined the Centre as Graduate Intern for the COVID-19 and Southeast Asia project from January 2020.
SEAC Seminar Series: "Foreign, ‘Fresh' and 173cm: The Commodification of Domestic Workers in Singapore"
On 9th December, Dr Laura Antona (ESRC Research Fellow, University of Oxford) spoke on how employment agencies commodify and sell domestic labourers, shaping their relationships with their employers and the spaces in which they live and work: namely, the home space. More information about the seminar can be found .
SEAC Associate Dr Catherine Allerton published an article in Critique of Anthropology
Dr Catherine Allerton (LSE Department of Anthropology) recently published an article titled "Invisible children? Non-recognition, humanitarian blindness and other forms of ignorance in Sabah, Malaysia" in Critique of Anthropology. This article is freely accessible from here.SEAC Associate Prof Danny Quah spoke at the United Nations' event
SEAC Associate Prof Danny Quah (National University of Singapore) was invited to speak at the "Rebirthing the Global Economy to Deliver Sustainable Development" roundtable, convened by the United Nations Secretary-General on 23rd November 2020. You can watch the roundtable here.
On 11th December, Prof Quah also delivered a guest lecture titled "Global Power Shift to Asia: Great Power Competition in the Marketplace for World Order" for LSE Department of International Development's Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking & Practice series, co-convened by SEAC Associate Prof James Putzel. You can watch his guest lecture here.SEAC meets with LSE Student Union Society representatives
On 8th December, SEAC held its termly meeting LSE SU Society representatives including ones from ASEAN, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines to discuss plans for continued engagement between the Centre and LSE student societies.
SEAC bids farewell to Graduate Intern, Malvin Kaur
SEAC Graduate Intern Ms Malvin Kaur departs the Centre this winter after finishing her four-month internship at SEAC. We are thankful for all of her contributions to SEAC and wish her the very best in her future career.
Roundtable on Postcolonial Urbanism and History of Southeast Asia
On 25th November, SEAC hosted a roundtable event to promote a better understanding of postcolonial urban histories in Southeast Asia while seeking an opportunity to locate them in different disciplines including urban history and urban studies. Dr Kah Seng Loh (Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia), Dr Su Lin Lewis (Senior Lecturer in Modern Global History at the University of Bristol) and Dr Do Young Oh (SEAC) were invited as panellists. You can watch the video of the event here.
SEAC Associate Prof Katherine Brickell has been awarded "Research Project of the Year" by the Times Higher Education Awards
Prof Katherine Brickell (Royal Holloway, University of London)'s research project "Blood Bricks" has been awarded "Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences" by the Times Higher Education Awards 2020. You can find more information about her project and the award here.
Prof Brickell also published a co-authored article titled "Diffuse Drivers of Modern Slavery: From Microfinance to Unfree Labour in Cambodia" in Development Change.
Prof Brickell's co-edited "The Handbook of Displacement" is also recently published by Palgrave McMillan.SEAC Seminar Series: "Nalehmu Urbanism: The informal, intimate and relational economies of Yangon Street Vending"
On 17th November, Dr Jayde Lin Roberts (Senior Lecturer in Built Environment, University of New South Wales) spoke on street vending as an integral part of Yangon’s urbanism. The video of this seminar is accessible here.
SEAC Seminar Series: "Theorising the City in and from Southeast Asia"
On 11th November, Dr Rita Padawangi (Senior Lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences) spoke on urban experience from city neighbourhoods to connect with theorising the city in and from Southeast Asia. The video of the event is accessible here. This seminar was followed by a for early career researchers on 13th November, covering the challenges of conducting research under the pandemic.
SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin delivered a keynote speech
On 6th November, SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin delivered a keynote speech at "Making and Unmaking of Speculative City: Urban Politics in South Korea" virtual symposium, sponsored by the Academy of Korean Studies, York University’s Korean Office for Research and Education, Center for the Study of Korea at the University of Toronto, and School of Cities at the University of Toronto. Prof Shin’s keynote was titled "Whiter progressive urban futures? Critical reflections on the politics of temporality in Asia".
SEAC 2019/20 Annual Report has been published
Please check out the recently published SEAC's 2019/20 Annual Report summarising various activities of the Centre during the 2019/20 academic year.
SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay appointed Deputy Director of the Keele Institute for Social Inclusion
SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay (Keele University) has become Deputy Director of the Keele Institute for Social Inclusion. She will chair the University's Public Engagement with Research network and will introduce the new Community-Centred, Collaborative methodologies (C3M) Network.
Dr McKay also recently spoke on the issue of e-waste in the BBC World Business Report on 26th November 2020.New article by SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh
SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh (Monash University Malaysia) published a new co-authored article "Multicultural reflexivity: university students negotiating ‘pockets’ and ‘strings’ of multiculturalism in Malaysia" in Children's Geographies.
A paperback edition of her co-edited volume "New Chinese Migrations: Mobility, Home, and Inspirations" was also recently published.LSE Southeast Asia Week 2020
SEAC's flagship event LSE Southeast Asia Forum was held as a week-long series of online discussions titled LSE Southeast Asia Week from 26th to 30th October. You can recap its exciting programme from here. Recordings of events are available from each event page.
Two COVID-19 and Southeast Asia Seminars
As part of SEAC's COVID-19 and Southeast Asia project, SEAC invited several contributors for two seminars, titled 'Marginalised and Vulnerable Groups and Strategies for Mutual Support During Covid-19' and 'The Experiences of Southeast Asia’s Migrant Workers, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees During Covid-19' on 19th and 21st October respectively. You can access the videos of the seminars from SEAC's Publications and Media page.
SEAC Seminar Series: "The Production of Jakarta’s Water Crisis: A Political Ecology of Speculative Urbanism"
On 14th October, Dr Emma Colven (Assistant Professor of Global Environment, University of Oklahoma) spoke on how Jakarta’s "water crisis" is experienced in socially and spatially uneven ways. The video of this seminar and reflections written by Dr Emma Colven and Al Lim can be found .
SEAC Associate Prof Katherine Brickell published a blog post regarding her new book 'Home SOS: Gender, Violence and Survival in Crisis Ordinary Cambodia'
In this post, published in Geography Directions, Professor Brickell summarises her recent book 'Home SOS: Gender, Violence and Survival in Crisis Ordinary Cambodia' where she explores the home as a political polarising entity. You can read her post here to learn more about her book.Everyday Justice in Myanmar: Informal Resolutions and State Evasion in a Time of Contested Transition
On 9th October, SEAC co-hosted an event with LSE South Asia Centre to discuss the diverse views regarding state-society relations in Myanmar. SEAC Associate Dr Hans Steinmuller (LSE Anthropology) moderated the event. You can watch the video of the event here.
SEAC Seminar Series: "Mapping Transdisciplinary Data for Spatial Justice: Migration and Urbanization in Vietnam and Beyond"
On 7th October, Dr Annette Kim (Associate Professor, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California; Director, Spatial Analysis Lab) spoke on her research projects in Ho Chi Minh City and connected them to projects in Beijing, Shanghai and Los Angeles to home in on the global commonalities and contextual specificities. The video of the event is accessible . This seminar was followed by a research master class on 16th October regarding transdisciplinary spatial ethnography and critical cartography.
SEAC Associate Dr Tom Smith published a co-authored article
Dr Tom Smith's (LSE Geography & Environment) recently published a co-authored article 'Arctic fires re-emerging' in Nature Geoscience, urging to put more international effort to manage a changing fire regime in the vulnerable Arctic.
New working paper by SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao
SEAC Associate Dr Yimin Zhao (Renmin University of China) published a new co-authored working paper 'Sanxian: re-/un-thinking Chinese urban hierarchy with a medium-sized city' with SEAC ECR Network member Dr Yi Jin in Geography and Environment Discussion Paper Series, published by LSE Department of Geography and Environment.
SEAC Associate Prof John Sidel re-launched his personal website
Prof John Sidel recently re-launched his personal website. Please visit johntsidel.co.uk to learn his research and writings, his courses, and his various activities in the realm of public outreach.SEAC Seminar Series: Decolonsing Higher Education Roundtable
On 30th September, as the first event of the seminar series, SEAC hosted an online roundtable discussion themed around 'decolonising higher education' in relation to the Southeast Asian region and beyond. This roundtable invited three speakers whose research is rooted in such effort of decolonising higher education, addressing the structural power inequalities of knowledge production.
SEAC has re-launched LSE Southeast Asia Blog
SEAC is bringing the SEAC Blog in house from the Medium to be in line with those of other centres and institutes, while contributed pieces will enjoy greater visibility and exposure. The new address for the LSE Southeast Asia Blog is https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/.
SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin was invited as a discussant for a book launch
On 25th September, SEAC Director Prof Hyun Bang Shin spoke as a discussant at the book launch for 'On the Margins of Urban South Korea: Core Location as Method and Praxis', jointly organised by Jesook Song (University of Toronto) and Laam Hae (York University).
SEAC welcomes new Management Committee members
From the 2020/21 academic year, Prof. Kent Deng (SEAC Associate; LSE Dept. of Economic History) and Prof. Steve Gibbons (ex-officio; Head of the LSE Dept. of Geography and Environment) joined the SEAC Management Committee.
SEAC Research Officer and Interim Centre Manager Dr Do Young Oh published a new article in the Journal of Urban History
Dr Oh's new article titled 'The University and East Asian Cities: The Variegated Origins of Urban Universities in Colonial Seoul and Singapore' explores and compares the development of colonial urban universities in Seoul and Singapore for the purpose of examining the multifaceted and scaled socio-political relationships in colonial cities.
Former SEAC Associate late Prof Sylvia Chant's article published in Area
Late Prof Chant's article titled 'Geography and gender, hindsight and foresight: A feminist development geographer's reflections on: "How the Other Half Lives: The Geographical Study of Women"'is a must-read for everyone who remembers her and her extraordinary scholarship as a feminist development geographer. Another discussion paper titled 'Missing Girls’ in Urban Slums of the Global South? Exploring the Intersections Between Puberty, Poverty and Gender Inequality',co-authored with Dr Jordana Ramalho (UCL), was also published.
New article by SEAC Associate Dr Catalina Ortiz published in Environment and Urbanization
SEAC Associate Dr Catalina Ortiz (University College London) published a co-authored article analysing civil society responses to COVID-19’s impacts on informal settlements in Latin American cities, titled 'Mapping repertoires of collective action facing the COVID-19 pandemic in informal settlements in Latin American cities'.
New commentary by SEAC Associate Prof Tim Forsyth published inEnvironmental Conversation
SEAC Associate Prof Tim Forsyth published a co-authored commentary 'Who gets to imagine transformative change? Participation and representation in biodiversity assessments'published in Environmental Conversation. The article discusses the emerging challenges for biodiversity assessments.
New article by SEAC Associate Dr Nicholas Long published in Medicine Anthropology Theory
SEAC Associate Dr Nicholas Long recently published an article, focusing on an anthropological critique of ‘social distancing’, titled 'From social distancing to social containment: Reimagining sociality for the coronavirus pandemic'.
SEAC Associate Prof John Sidel published a new book and a new article
Prof John Sidel published a co-authored book, titled 'Thinking and Working Politically in Development: Coalitions for Change in the Philippines', reviewing the Coalitions for Change's diverse initiatives in the Philippines. Prof Sidel also recently published an article titled 'Averting "Carmageddon" through reform? An eco-systemic analysis of traffic congestion and transportation policy gridlock in Metro Manila'in Critical Asian Studies, providing a holistic analysis of traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
New article by SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh published in Asian Studies Review
SEAC Associate Dr Sin Yee Koh recently published a co-authored article, titled '"Mandarin Fever" and Chinese Language-learning in Brunei’s Middle Schools: Discrepant Discourses, Multifaceted Realities and Institutional Barriers'. The article investigates how a surge in Chinese language-learning worldwide has unfolded in Brunei, a Muslim and English–Malay bilingual majority country.
SEAC Associate Dr Tom Smith published two co-authored articles
Dr Smith's (LSE Geography & Environment)'s co-authored article 'Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore' was published in Environmental Science & Policy. Dr Smith also recently published another co-authored article titled 'An optimal environment for our optimal selves?: An autoethnographic account of selftracking personal exposure to air pollution' in Area.
New article by SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay published in Modern Languages Open
SEAC Associate Dr Deirdre McKay (Keele University) published an article exploring how digital objects have contributed to attempts to rework the history of the Martial Law era, titled 'Decorated Duterte: Digital Objects and the Crisis of Martial Law History in the Philippines'.
SEAC to welcome Visiting Senior Fellow, Dr Tamaki Endo
SEAC is pleased to announce that Dr Tamaki Endo, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Saitama University, will be joining the Centre as Visiting Senior Fellow from 1st October 2020 to 25th June 2021. Dr Endo’s research will focus on urban inequality in Thailand.
SEAC appoints new Graduate Intern for COVID-19 and Southeast Asia project
We are pleased to announce that Malvin Kaur joined the Centre as Graduate Intern for COVID-19 and Southeast Asia project from September 2020.