The Center
for Southeast Asian Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa
April 21, 2009
Issue: 65
Announcements

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East-West Center Political Science Seminar

A local-level View on political Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia: Comparing PAS in Kelantan State and KPPSI in South Sulawesi Province

By Dr. Michael Buehler
Post-doctoral Fellow, Modern Southeast Asian Studies
Columbia University, New York

Why do some Islamist movements succeed politically while others fail? Comparing local politics in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia with local politics in South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, this article argues that Islam plays less of a role in gaining access to the political system politics for Islamist groups in Kelantan than it does for similar groups in South Sulawesi. Paradoxically, it is the relative unimportance of religion as a mobilizing factor that allowed Islamist groups to win elections in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. In contrast, Islamist groups continue to be marginalized politically in South Sulawesi province due to the fact that Islam has remained the single most important ideology for Islamists in the region in their attempts to mobilize the population.

Michael Buehler received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also received his M.Sc. in Comparative Politics. He is a political scientist who specializes in local politics under conditions of democratization and decentralization. He also has a special interest in local elections, sub-national authoritarianism, machine politics and political corruption. His current research and applied work in Southeast Asia focuses on the comparative analysis of local politics in Indonesia where he conducted in-depth research 2005-2008.

Monday, April 27, 12:00 p.m.
East-West Center
Burns Hall, Room 2118
East-West Center Seminar on Politics, Governance ad Security

Is the Middle Class a Harbinger of Democracy?
Evidence from Southeast Asia

By Erik Kuhonta
Assistant Professor of Political Science
McGill University
Montreal, Canada

A vast body of literature claims that the middle class is a critical force for democratic transitions, democratic consolidation, and political stability. Yet, recent events in Thailand and in many Southeast Asian newly-industrializing countries indicate that the middle class often challenges democratic regimes or supports authoritarian juntas. How should we reconcile these divergent views of the middle class? This presentation will argue that to understand the relationship between the middle class and democracy it is necessary to analyze the interests of the middle class, rather than to simply theorize the middle class as the causal link between economic development and democratization. By analyzing middle class behavior in four Southeast Asian countries - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore - this article shows that this class will rebel when democratic or authoritarian regimes fail to address their key concerns: corruption, economic development, and political stability.
 
Dr. Kohunta is a Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
East-West Center
Burns Hall, Room 3012

more info
Political Science Colloquium 

The Politics of Surviving: Tribal Wars, Political Conflict and the Simulated Nation in 'Survivor Philippines'

By Antonio (Tonton) Contreras, Ph.D.
Visiting Fulbright Professor

The Department of Political Science hosts a colloquium by Dr. Antonio (Tonton) Conteras. Dr.Tonton is a visiting Fulbright professor from the Philippines.

Friday, April 24, 2009
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Saunders 624, Harry Friedman Room
Open Positions and Fellowships

Call for Lao Translators

The Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center is looking for Lao speakers to volunteer their language skills to assist Lao-speaking individuals who have acute and immediate legal and medical needs. The Center would like to help these individuals by June 2009.

Please contact:
Robin H. Kobayashi
Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center (formerly Na Loio)
P.O. Box 3950
Honolulu, HI 96812
Phone: (808) 536-8826
Fax: (808) 537-4644
Email: rkobayashi@hijcenter.org


Tour Guide Positions: Vietnamese, Indonesian and Khmer Speakers

National Geographic Student Expeditions and Putney Student Travel seek qualified college graduates to lead groups of high school students on our programs in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the U.S. Fluency in the language(s) is required. You must be able to motivate students in a wide range of situations and have a capacity to organize, lead, and work well with others. Leaders receive a stipend and all expenses are paid during travel. You are responsible for health insurance and certification in basic first aid. There is an Orientation in Vermont May 29-31 (NGSE) and June 11-14 (PST). Please submit your resume and cover letter indicating which programs you feel qualified to lead to Britt Doran <jobs@goputney.com>. For more information, please go here.

We are especially interested in:
  • male Vietnamese speakers
  • male Indonesian speakers
  • male and female Khmer speakers
  • photographers
For more information please contact:
Britt Doran
Putney Student Travel & National Geographic Student Expeditions
Putney, VT
802 387 5000
http://www.goputney.com/
Call for Papers

Permanence and Change: The Roles of Culture and Language
3rd Annual International ACSA Conference
Bangkok, August 13-14, 2009

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr Yasukata YANO, Professor of Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan and President of the Japan Association for Teaching Language and Culture.

Asian Cultural Studies Association (ACSA) seeks to provide a forum in which a broad spectrum of issues in Asian cultures and languages can be researched and critically discussed. It seeks to offer opportunities for interdisciplinary studies and an arena for in depth exchanges of the cultural dynamics of Asia today. The scope is international and the commitment is to further dynamic understanding among and about Asia today. ACSA welcomes all scholars, graduate students and interested persons in Asian cultures and languages.

more info | Deadline: May 15, 2009

The Phantasm in Southern Thailand: History Writings on Patani and the Islamic World
December 11-12, 2009
Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand

more info | Deadline: May 31, 2009
SEA Publications

The site "Hong Kong Journals Online" database maintains a collection of pdfs of articles published in Hong Kong journals, some going back to 1872. It includes a small number of articles and notes on Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia:

Thailand

Bidhya Bowornwathana, "Administrative Reforms and Regime Shifts: Reflections on the Thai Polity" Asian Journal of Public Administration 16.2 (December 1994): 152-164

pdf file

Bruce, R. "King Mongkut of Siam and His Treaty with Britain" Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 9 (1969)

pdf file

Fry, Gerald. "Decentralization as a Management and Development Strategy: A Thai Case Study" Asian journal of Public Administration 5.2 (Dec. 1983)

pdf file

"The Tai Tribes of Yunnan" China Review 6.5 (1878) [brief note]

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "The Old Thai or Shan Empire of Western Yunnan" China Review 20.6 (1893)

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "The Coast of Tennasserim" China Review 20.4 (1893)

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "History of the Churches of India, Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia, Annam, ..... entrusted to the Society of the Missions Etrangeres" China review 18.1 (1889)

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "Siamese Words in Hainan and China" China Review 18.3 (1889) [brief note]

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "Si-fan or Siamese" China Review 18.1 (1889) [brief note]

pdf file

[E. H. Parker] "Sino-Siamese Terms," China Review  16.6 (1888) [brief note]

pdf file


Laos

E.H. Parker, "The Early Laos and China" China Review 19.2 (1890)

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "The Laos of China" China Review 13.3 (1884) [brief note]

pdf file


Cambodia

E. H. Parker, "Cambodja" China Review 15.4 (1887) [brief note]

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "Cambodian Writing" China Review 17.2 (1888) [extremely brief note]

pdf file

E. H. Parker, "History of the Churches of India, Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia, Annam, ..... entrusted to the Society of the Missions Etrangeres" China review 18.1 (1889)

pdf file

Gray H. Fefferson, "The Precarious Relationship: People's Republic of China and Cambodia, Its Implications for American Policy." Chung Chi Journal 8.2 (1969)

pdf file

The database is continually expanding, so it might pay to check again in the near future.-Courtesy of Dr. Michael Charney
In This Issue
Islam in Malaysia & Indonesia
The Middle Class in SEA
The Politics of Surviving in the Philippines
Open Positions & Fellowships
SEA Publications
CSEAS Films

SEA Film Series
f-s-3
Now in its fifth year!

The Film Series is returning to the Korean Studies Building in January 2009!  See you there...and bring a sweater.
 
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is one of nine National Resource Centers (NRCs) for the study of Southeast Asia as designated and funded by the United States Department of Education.