Organizer: Thailand Studies Program and Philippine Studies Program, ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute
Type/Location: Hybrid / Singapore
Description:
Across Southeast Asia, political elites representing opposing sides of major divides are forming unexpected coalitions, setting aside the ideological, ethnic, religious, and regional differences that have historically shaped voter cleavages. Alongside these elite power-sharing arrangements, the transfer of political power within and between families has become increasingly pervasive at the highest levels of government. This seminar brings together leading experts to examine these twin phenomena—elite collusion and dynastic succession—through panel sessions on Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia, probing their underlying causes and broader consequences across the region.
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About the Speakers:
Professor Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and Director for the Center of Emerging Democracies at the International Institute, University of Michigan. He specializes in the politics and history of enduring dictatorships and emerging democracies, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. His book examining how divergent historical patterns of contentious politics have shaped variation in state power and authoritarian durability in seven Southeast Asian countries, entitled Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia, was published in the Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics series in 2010.
Dr. Duncan McCargo is President’s Chair in Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University and Associate Senior Fellow at ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. His books on Thai politics include the best-selling The Thaksinization of Thailand (co-authored, NIAS 2005), the award-winning Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand (Cornell 2008), and most recently Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party (co-authored, NIAS 2020). Duncan edits the Talking Thai Politics podcast on New Books Network. Website: thaipolitics.leeds.ac.uk
Dr. Mark Mun Vong is a research fellow at the Democratizing the Developmental State Hub at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. Mark’s research examines the political institutions, social dynamics, and international behavior of authoritarian regimes with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. His research has appeared in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, Journal of East Asian Studies, and South East Asia Research. Mark received his PhD in Political Science from Griffith University, Australia.
Ms. Mary Joyce Bulao is a PhD student at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs in the Australian National University. Prior to coming to ANU, I was a faculty member and the chairperson of the Social Sciences Department of the Ateneo de Naga University in the Bicol Region located in the southeastern tip of Luzon in the Philippines. Her research interests include elections, urban political machines, local governance, and distributive politics.
Dr. Napon Jatusripitak is the Acting Coordinator and a Visiting Fellow in the Thailand Studies Programme at ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University. His research interests include democratization, elite politics, patronage, clientelism, and urban-rural dynamics in Thailand and Southeast Asia. His recent publications include “The Rise and Fall of the Palang Pracharath Party in Thailand: The Problems of Patronage-Oriented Authoritarian Party Building” (2024) in Contemporary Southeast Asia.
Dr. Prajak Kongkirati is Associate Professor, and former Associate Dean for Research and Academic Services and former Head of the Government Department at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University. He was formerly Head of the Southeast Asian Studies Center, East Asian Institute, Thammasat University, and Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He has published widely in the fields of Thai politics, political conflict and violence, party and electoral politics, democratization, and social movements.
Dr. Tricia Yeoh is Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Nottingham Malaysia’s School of Politics and International Relations. She is also currently a 2024/25 Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellow and Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She also holds the positions of Senior Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University Malaysia, and Campus Visitor at the Australian National University, as well as recently Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. She is former CEO of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Malaysia, where she served up to September 2024.
Dr. Yoes Kenawas is a political scientist with over 20 years of research experience focusing on democracy, political parties, subnational politics, and foreign policy in Indonesia. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative politics from Northwestern University, where his dissertation examined the subnational variation of dynastic politics in Indonesia. His research investigated why some political dynasties are more durable than others, with a particular emphasis on organizational factors. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Research, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia.
Dr. Aries Arugay is Visiting Senior Fellow and the Coordinator of the Philippines Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He is also Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Politics & Policy. His research interests are comparative democratization, civil-military relations, international relations of the Asia-Pacific, and social media. He obtained his PhD in political science from Georgia State University as a Fulbright Fellow.
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