New Books Network
Southeast Asian Studies
Anthropology January 22, 2021

Everyday Economic Survival in Myanmar

Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung

Hosted by John Traphagan
Reforms in Myanmar (formerly Burma) have eased restrictions on citizens' political activities. Yet for most Burmese, Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung shows in Everyday Economic Survival in Myanmar (U Wisconsin Press, 2019), eking …

Subscribe to

Southeast Asian Studies

on the NBN

RSS Spotify Stitcher Apple

Category Sponsors:

Southeast Asian Studies January 15, 2021

Disturbed Forests, Fragmented Memories

Jarai and Other Lives in the Cambodian Highlands

Jonathan Padwe

Hosted by Faizah Zakaria
Cambodia’s troubled history has often been depicted in terms of conflict, trauma and tussles between great powers. In Disturbed Forests, Fragmented Memories: Jarai and Other Lives in the Cambodian Highlands …
Southeast Asian Studies December 31, 2020

Speaking Out in Vietnam

Public Political Criticism in a Communist Party-ruled Nation

Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet

Hosted by Michele Ford
Since 1990 public political criticism has evolved into a prominent feature of Vietnam's political landscape. Over the last three decades, such criticism has become widespread around four main clusters of …
East Asian Studies December 22, 2020

Buddhist Tourism in Asia

Courtney Bruntz and Brooke Schedneck

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
This edited volume is the first book-length study of Buddhist tourism in contemporary Asia in the English language. Featuring chapters from diverse contributors from religious studies, anthropology, and art history, Buddhist …
Southeast Asian Studies December 21, 2020

Man of Contradictions

Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia

Ben Bland

Hosted by Patrick Jory
Joko Widodo, or “Jokowi”, as he is popularly known, famously rose from a riverside shack to become president of Indonesia in 2014. In a country better known for decades of …
East Asian Studies December 21, 2020

Asymmetrical Neighbors

Borderland State-Building Between China and Southeast Asia

Enze Han

Hosted by Victoria Lupascu
Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State-Building Between China and Southeast Asia (Oxford UP, 2019) explains the variations in state building across the borderland area between China, Myanmar, and Thailand. It presents a …
SSEAC Stories December 17, 2020

COVID-19 and Migrant Workers in Southeast Asia

A Discussion with Emeritus Professor Philip Hirsch

Philip Hirsch

Hosted by Natali Pearson
COVID-19 has had such far-reaching impacts that it can be, and has been, studied from the perspective of almost any academic discipline. For geographers, the ways in which COVID-19 affects …
SSEAC Stories December 10, 2020

Beating Plastic Pollution in Timor-Leste with Professor Thomas Maschmeyer

Thomas Maschmeyer

Hosted by Thushara Dibley
As environmental emergencies go, the explosion of plastic waste is right up there. With global plastic production exceeding 300 million tonnes each year, the world has generally looked at it …
East Asian Studies December 9, 2020

Monks in Motion

Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea

Jack Meng-Tat Chia

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea (Oxford University Press 2020) is the first monograph in the English language to explore the transnationally connected history of …
History December 9, 2020

Asian Place, Filipino Nation

A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912

Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

Hosted by Michael Vann
The Philippine Revolution of 1896-1905, which began against Spain and continued against the United States, took place in the context of imperial subjugation and local resistance across Southeast Asia. Yet …
SSEAC Stories December 3, 2020

Transforming Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Vietnam

A Discussion with Professor Patrick Brennan

Patrick Brennan

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Globally, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, with over 1 million cases detected annually. The disease is particularly worrisome in Vietnam, where breast cancer incidence has …
SSEAC Stories November 25, 2020

Projectland

Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village with Associate Professor Holly High

Holly High

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In her latest book, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village (University of Hawaii Press), due out in May 2021, Associate Professor Holly High argues that socialism remains an …
History November 23, 2020

In the Dragon's Shadow

Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century

Sebastian Strangio

Hosted by Michael Vann
For centuries Southeast Asia has enjoyed a relatively pleasant relationship with China, its massive neighbor to the north. While Chinese merchants and laborers were common throughout the region, with exception …
Southeast Asian Studies November 20, 2020

Singapore

A Modern History

Michael D. Barr

Hosted by Faizah Zakaria
Singapore’s history has generally been represented through a linear, upward trajectory “from Third World to the First,” in the words of the postcolonial state’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew. In …
SSEAC Stories November 19, 2020

Social Media, Grassroots Activism and Disinformation in Southeast Asia

A Discussion with Dr Aim Sinpeng and Dr Ross Tapsell

Aim Sinpeng and Ross Tapsell

Hosted by Thushara Dibley
Social media has become a crucial avenue for political discourse in Southeast Asia, given its potential as a “liberation technology” in both democratising and authoritarian states. Yet the growing decline …
Indian Ocean World November 16, 2020

Fluid Jurisdictions

Colonial Law and Arabs in Southeast Asia

Nurfadzilah Yahaya

Hosted by Kelvin Ng
Fluid Jurisdictions: Colonial Law and Arabs in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press, 2020) by Prof. Nurfadzilah Yahaya is a wide-ranging, geographically ambitious book that tells the story of the Arab …
SSEAC Stories November 12, 2020

Southeast Asian Performance, Ethnic Identity and China’s Soft Power

A Discussion with Dr Josh Stenberg

Josh Stenberg

Hosted by Natali Pearson
From glove puppets of Chinese origin and Hakka religious processions, to wartime political theatre and contemporary choirs and dance groups, the diverse performance practices of ethnic Chinese communities throughout Southeast …
SSEAC Stories November 5, 2020

Improving Food Security in Laos and Cambodia

A Farmer’s Perspective with Associate Professor Russell Bush

Russell Bush

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Southeast Asia's demand for protein in the form of animal meat is increasing by more than 4% every year. This has important consequences for regional food security and household incomes …
Asian American Studies October 30, 2020

In Camps

Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Repatriates

Jana K. Lipman

Hosted by Jane Richards
In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Repatriates (University of California Press, 2020) is an in-depth study of the fate of the nearly 800,000 Vietnamese refugees who left their country …
SSEAC Stories October 29, 2020

Myanmar’s Disciplined Democracy and the 2020 Elections

A Discussion with Dr Roger Lee Huang

Roger Lee Huang

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Myanmar is scheduled to hold general elections in November 2020. While the country has experienced political liberalisation since 2011, the latest Freedom House Report ranked Myanmar as “not free.” Dr …