American Imperialism, Thai Scholarship and Buddhist Cosmology with Matthew Phillips

Summary

How did American imperialism affect Thai scholarship? And what does Buddhist cosmology got to do with the Thai royal tours to Burma and the United States in the 1960s? In this fascinating episode, Matthew Phillips talks to Petra Desatova of NIAS about moving beyond binary readings of Thai history, avoiding existing preconceptions and using images to gain a more holistic understanding of the past.

The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) based at the University of Copenhagen, along with our academic partners: the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Turku, Asianettverket at the University of Oslo, and the Forum for Asian Studies at Stockholm University.

About NIAS: https://www.nias.ku.dk/

Transcripts of the Nordic Asia Podcasts: https://www.nias.ku.dk/nordic-asia-podcast

Your Host

Petra Alderman

Petra Alderman (prev. Desatova) is an associate researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and a post-doctoral research fellow at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. Her research interests lie in the area of authoritarian legitimation, electoral studies and promotional politics. Her regional focus is on Southeast Asia and has a particular expertise on Thailand.

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