Asian Studies Centre

Dr Amy King, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, gives a talk for the Asian Studies Centre. Conventional wisdom holds that the post-WWII international economic order was the product of a dominant Anglo-American power structure and the policy ideas of British and American officials. But this account overlooks the leading role played by Nationalist China at the...

Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash gives a talk on Pakistan and it's constitutional sovereignty on 19th January 2016. The constitution of a country is its 'Supreme National Institution.' Hence, the creation of a constitution is a central process in institution making in a country, as the incentives and disincentives provided in the constitution are critical for the political, economic and social progress of t...

Bertil Lintner (Independent Journalist and Author) speaks at the Southeast Asia Seminar on 20th January 2016. The United States and the West did not change their policy of isolating Burma because of their concerns were primarily with the lack of democracy and human rights. It was "the China factor". Burma was becoming a vassal of China, which was seen as a threat to the status quo and regional sta...

Sheila Smith (Council on Foreign Relations) gives a talk for the Asian Studies Centre on 24th November 2015. No country feels China's rise more deeply than Japan. CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith will discuss her new book, Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China. Smith explores the policy issues testing the Japanese government as it tries to navigate its relationship with a...

Pingtjin Thum (Research Associate, Centre for Global History; Coordinator, Project Southeast Asia) speaks at the Southeast Asia seminar on 21st October 2015. The outcome of the recent general elections in Singapore was a shock to observers, who had predicted a far tighter outcome. The unprecedented six seats (out of 87, plus a seventh seat won in a by-election in 2013) won by the Workers’ Party in...

Dr Lorraine Paterson gives a talk at the Southeast Asia Seminar on June 10th, 2015. Under French colonialism in Indochina, approximately ten thousand prisoners from Vietnam and Cambodia were deported to penal or exile sites within the wider French colonial world. From Gabon in Africa to French Guiana, these prisoners were transported for sentences ranging from five years to a lifetime. Many of the...

Southeast Asia Seminar Trinity Term 2015 In early July 2014, Myanmar's second largest city became the site of anti-Muslim riots, extending a pattern of violence that has developed in the shadow of a much-heralded transition away from military rule. State authorities responded by blocking access to Facebook, locating the riot’s cause in rumours circulating on social media. This explanation for the...

A talk as part of the Southeast Asia Seminar Series Since the collapse of the authoritarian New Order regime in 1998, hundreds of Islamic laws have been adopted across Indonesia. Over the past years, scholars have examined both the causes and the consequences of these shari'a laws. Yet, existing research has yet to explain why and how these shari'a laws have actually spread across the country. For...

Zhiyuan Cui (Tsinghua University) gives the Chun-tu Hsueh Distinguished Lecture 2014. This is an annual lecture held in St Antony's College, the topic of which involves some aspect of Modern China.

Dr Burak Akcapar talks on his book 'People's Mission: Dr. Ansari and the Indian Medical Mission to the Ottoman Empire, 1912-13' published by Oxford University Press. The talk was given in Michaelmas term 2014 as part of the South Asia Seminar Series. Dr. Burak Akcapar, Author of 'People's Mission: Dr. Ansari and the Indian Medical Mission to the Ottoman Empire, 1912-13' (Oxford University Press).

As Burma (Myanmar) opens up to the world during a period of rapid change, Matthew J Walton, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, explores the effects on Buddhist identities. Matthew Walton examines how Buddhists in the country are defining and redefining themselves, with reference to other religious groups, their own histories and a global Buddhist community, and how these identities are dis...

The first talk given as part of the Southeast Asia Seminar, St Antony's College during MT14 In 1999 Timor-Leste was given the opportunity to vote on a self-determination referendum that put an end to centuries of Portuguese colonial and Indonesian neo-colonial rule. Two and a half year later, Timor-Leste proclaimed its Independence, and set off on a road to create a modern, democratic state. Fifte...

A talk given as part of the Southeast Asia Seminar Series The session will be focussing on Thai politics following the 2006 coup and how the protesters, the care taking government, the courts and military establishment and different classes in Thai society are currently dealing with the political struggles while relying on some form of legal arguments. The current political battle is not fought by...

Public lecture and discussion organised by the Middle East and Asian Studies Centres, St Antony's College, in collaboration with Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and the Sultan Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

A co-sponsored event from the Asian Studies Centre, the Dahrendorf programme for the Study of Freedom, the Middle East Centre and North American Studies Programme from the world renowned from the author of the award-winning book a Secular Age

Roundtable Discussion on the future of Burma Burma is at a very sensitive moment in its transition. The peace process with ethnic armed groups is in a delicate phase, the divisive constitution is being debated in parliament, Buddhist nationalism pervades sectors of society, and elections in late 2015 could be the first relatively free polls in a generation. As Burma and its captive audience look t...

An Informal Rountable Discussion on Burma Matthew Walton will discuss ethnicity and differential experiences of suffering more broadly as well as the ways in which geography plays a role in mediating the effects of government/military repression. Dan Hkung will consider the Kachin struggle, a case of particular importance at present as the intensification of conflict in Kachin state has occurred a...

This talk examines Land Politicis in Burma Kevin Woods has been engaged in research and activism on land politics in Burma for over a decade. His initial research focused on the Burma-China timber trade, but since then has expanded to include research on the country's emerging agribusiness sector as the frontline of land grabs and conflict. Most of his work has focused on examining Chinese agribus...

This talk examines the recent rise of violence perpetrated by Buddhist nationalists on Muslim and Christian residents in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The recent emergence of Buddhist nationalist movements in Myanmar and Sri Lank--represented most prominently by the 969 Movement and Bodu Bala Sena, respectively--has resulted in violence directed against Muslims and Christians as well as a renewed attenti...