About Petra Alderman

Petra Alderman (prev. Desatova) is a post-doctoral research fellow at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham, and a research fellow with Birmingham's Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR). She is also an associate researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Petra's 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.

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.

Petra's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Petra:

Airports, Buses, Internet Cables, and the Local and National Politics in the Philippines

February 28, 2024

Airports, Buses, Internet Cables, and the Local and National Politics in the Philippines

John Sidel
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What can airports, busses, and submarine internet cables tell us about the local and national politics in the Philippines? And how do they position th…

How to Stage a Coup and Ten Other Lessons from the World of Secret Statecraft

February 14, 2024

How to Stage a Coup and Ten Other Lessons from the World of Secret Statecraft

Rory Cormac
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Why do states engage in secret statecraft and covert action? How different are these secret and covert state activities in real world settings compare…

Democracy, Great Powers, and the Russia-Ukraine War. A Discussion with Stefan Wolff

January 17, 2024

Democracy, Great Powers, and the Russia-Ukraine War

Stefan Wolff
Hosted by Petra Alderman

How helpful is the democracy-authoritarianism binary when it comes to our understanding of contemporary conflict? What is the state of the Russia-Ukra…

Reading the Stars: When Divination Meets Politics in Thailand

December 22, 2023

Reading the Stars

Edoardo Siani
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What does astrology, palm-reading and fortune telling have to do with politics in Thailand, and how can we make sense of these divination practices an…

Political Polarisation: Have We Got It Wrong?

November 17, 2023

Political Polarisation: Have We Got It Wrong?

Andreas Schedler
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What is political polarisation? How different is it from ‘normal’ democratic conflict? And why have we been getting it wrong? Listen to Andreas Schedl…

Digital Repression in Thailand

September 1, 2023

Digital Repression in Thailand

Janjira Sombatpoonsiri
Hosted by Petra Alderman
Listen:

How serious an issue is digital repression in Thailand? Who is behind it? And what effects does it have on Thai people? Listen to Janjira Sombatpoonsi…

What Can We Learn from Indonesian Democracy? A Conversation with Dan Slater

August 16, 2023

What Can We Learn from Indonesian Democracy?

Dan Slater
Hosted by Petra Alderman
Listen:

What can we learn from Indonesia about democratic resilience and backsliding? Why should we think of Indonesian democracy as a useful example? And wha…

Is Democracy in Trouble?

July 25, 2023

Is Democracy in Trouble?

Nic Cheeseman
Hosted by Petra Alderman
Listen:

How much do we need to worry about the global state of democracy? And what do we need to do to better understand what is happening in different parts …

Can Thailand Move Forward?

June 16, 2023

Can Thailand Move Forward?

Duncan McCargo and Ken Lohatepanont
Hosted by Petra Alderman
Listen:

Why was the May 2023 Thai election such a historic election? What does the surprising Move Forward victory tell us about the state of Thai politics? A…

China's Green Consensus: A Discussion with Virginie Arantes

May 12, 2023

China's Green Consensus

Virginie Arantes
Hosted by Petra Alderman

How has China’s one-party system dealt with the country’s growing environmental issues? And what implications does its green turn have on people’s eve…

Broken Pathways: Women’s Political Leadership in Sri Lanka

February 3, 2023

Broken Pathways

Ramona Vijeyarasa and Nadine Vanniasinkam
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Why are there so few women from non-elite backgrounds in Sri Lankan politics? What barriers do they face on their pathways to politics? And what can b…

The Race for the Governor: Talking Bangkok Elections with Saksith Saiyasombut

May 30, 2022

The Race for the Governor

Saksith Saiyasombut
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Why did Chadchart Sittipunt win the Bangkok governor race? What does his win tell us about broader political trends in Thailand? And how did it feel c…

Thai Totalitarians? Why the Love of Authoritarian Symbols?

March 4, 2022

Thai Totalitarians? Why the Love of Authoritarian Symbols?

Hosted by Petra Alderman

Why did Restart Thailand, a 2020 student-led pro-democracy movement, sport a red Communist-style logo with a hammer and sickle? Why did a Thai BNK48 s…

Understanding South Korea’s Taegukgi Rallies

December 20, 2021

Understanding South Korea’s Taegukgi Rallies

Myunghee Lee
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Why did so many of South Korea’s senior citizens take to the streets between 2016 and 2019? What motivated their participation in rallies? And what do…

‘Network Monarchy’ and Its Challengers: Making Sense of Thai Politics with Duncan McCargo

November 26, 2021

Network Monarchy’ and Its Challengers

Duncan McCargo
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What does a cup of coffee tell us about Thailand’s intricate power relations? Where does the country’s monarchy come into this? And why does it matter…

Chris Chaplin, "Salafism and the State: Islamic Activism and National Identity in Contemporary Indonesia" (NIAS Press, 2021)

September 17, 2021

Salafism and the State

Chris Chaplin
Hosted by Petra Alderman

How important is Islam to Indonesia’s identity? How different is Salafism from a more mainstream Sunni Islam? Why is it popular with mostly young Indo…

Thailand's Rice Politics with Jacob Ricks

January 20, 2021

Thailand's Rice Politics with Jacob Ricks

Jacob Ricks
Hosted by Petra Alderman

In this fascinating episode, Jacob Ricks joins Petra Desatova to talk about the politics of rice and rice prices in Thailand. Why is rice such a polit…

Sports Events, Nation Building and City Politics in Indonesia with Friederike Trotier

December 23, 2020

Sports Events, Nation Building and City Politics in Indonesia with Friederike Trotier

Friederike Trotier
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Friederike Trotier talks to Petra Desatova about her recent book titled Nation, City, Arena: Sports Events, Nation-Building and City Politics in Indon…

American Imperialism, Thai Scholarship and Buddhist Cosmology with Matthew Phillips

November 11, 2020

American Imperialism, Thai Scholarship and Buddhist Cosmology with Matthew Phillips

Matthew Phillips
Hosted by Petra Alderman

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 Sta…

Hidden Histories of Thai Nuns with Martin Seeger

August 28, 2020

Hidden Histories of Thai Nuns with Martin Seeger

Martin Seeger
Hosted by Petra Alderman

In this podcast, Martin Seeger from the University of Leeds joins Petra Desatova of NIAS to talk about his recent book Gender and the Path to Awakenin…

The Politics of Branding Kazakhstan and Qatar with Kristin Eggeling

August 10, 2020

The Politics of Branding Kazakhstan and Qatar with Kristin Eggeling

Kristin Eggeling
Hosted by Petra Alderman

In this episode, Kristin Eggeling from the University of Copenhagen talks to Petra Desatova of NIAS about her recently published book Nation-Branding …

Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia with Lucrezia Canzutti

July 23, 2020

Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia with Lucrezia Canzutti

Lucrezia Canzutti
Hosted by Petra Alderman

In this episode, Lucrezia Canzutti talks to Petra Desatova of NIAS about the lives of ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia: who are these people? How did the…

Buddhism and Constitutional Change in Thailand with Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang

July 17, 2020

Buddhism and Constitutional Change in Thailand with Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang

Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang
Hosted by Petra Alderman

Since becoming a constitutional monarchy in 1932, Thailand has been governed by twenty different constitutions. Although they all had their own unique…

Thailand’s Politically Less Privileged People with Saowanee Alexander

May 24, 2020

Thailand’s Politically Less Privileged People with Saowanee Alexander

Saowanee Alexander
Hosted by Petra Alderman

In this podcast Saowanee Alexander of Ubon Ratchathani University talks to Petra Desatova from NIAS about Thailand’s politically less privileged peopl…