On the Intricacies of Wa State as a Borderland between China and Myanmar

Summary

In this episode, host SEAC Director John Sidel talks with Dr Hans Steinmüller, SEAC Associate and Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the LSE. Dr Hans Steinmüller, originally a specialist in China, shares his journey from conducting extensive fieldwork in Hubei province to his recent focus on the Wa State along Myanmar's border with Yunnan Province, China. This episode delves into how the region's unique socio-political landscape challenges conventional notions of statehood and sovereignty. Drawing from his research, Dr Steinmüller provides insights into the intricate relationship between local practices and broader political dynamics.

Dr Hans Steinmüller is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, LSE and a specialist in the anthropology of China. He has conducted long-term fieldwork in Hubei Province (central China) and in the Wa hills of the China-Myanmar border. Publications include the monograph Communities of Complicity (Berghahn 2013), and more recently special issues on Governing Opacity (Ethnos 2023) and Crises of Care in China Today (China Quarterly 2023). He is editor of Social Analysis and convenor of the MSc programme 'China in Comparative Perspective'.

“Dialogues on Southeast Asia” is hosted by the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC), a cross-disciplinary, regionally focused academic centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. SEAC creates wide and varied podcasts with the aim to build upon a history of engagement between the LSE and Southeast Asia. Please find out more by checking our website https://www.lse.ac.uk/SEAC and following us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

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Dialogues on Southeast Asia

"Dialogues on Southeast Asia" is hosted by the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC), a cross-disciplinary, regionally-focused academic centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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