The Nordic Asia Podcast

Satoko Naito speaks to Lasse Lehtonen about his research on Japanese women singer-songwriters of the 1970s and 1980s. Focusing on popular pioneers like Yumi Matsutoya (Yūmin), Miyuki Nakajima, and Takako Okamura, Dr. Lehtonen discusses how the artists assert their agency and artistry, not necessarily through their lyrics but via what Matsutoya once identified as "backstage feminism." He also share...

Why has the military junta that seized power in Myanmar on February 1 failed to gain popular support and legitimacy? How credible are attempts by the opposition to form an alternative government in exile? Have strikes and civil disobedience run their course? Why are those opposed to the military turning towards violent resistance? And what future scenarios might we expect to unfold in the months a...

How could we turn the tables on the military junta who held power in Thailand between 2014 and 2019, by using legal mechanisms to challenge the culture of impunity under which the regime operated? Like previous military coups in Thailand, the May 2014 coup was completely illegal – yet the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as the regime called itself, did not hesitate to deploy the full...

How has the study of China evolved in the Nordic region since the 1970s? What are the challenges for Danish scholars of China today? In this wide-ranging conversation, recently-retired Professor of China Studies at the University of Copenhagen - and former NIAS Director - Jørgen Delman discusses his life, his distinguished career and the changing nature of China studies with current NIAS Director...

Western media accounts often suggest that China is rising inexorably as a global economic and political powerhouse. A new book by Luke Patey offers a more nuanced picture, focusing on the growing backlash against Chinese aspirations. Author Luke Patey, a senior researcher from the Danish Institute for International Studies, discusses his new book How China Loses: The Pushback against Chinese Globa...

In this episode Kennth Bo Nielsen of Asianettverket at the University of Oslo is joined by Niladri Chatterjee (University of Oslo), Zaad Mahmoud (Presidency University) and Arild Engelsen Ruud (University of Oslo) to analyse the results of the recently concluded West Bengal state assembly elections. The elections dealt a major blow to the expansionist ambitions of the party of Prime Minister Naren...

In this episode Astrid Norén-Nilsson of Lund University discusses her latest research about the Cambodian online news outlet Fresh News with Duncan McCargo, the Director of NIAS. Fresh News has become an indispensable source of information for Cambodia’s political and bureaucratic elite – but just how independent is the platform from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party? How can we classify the rol...

This episode is from the opening session of the 2021 Thailand Update Conference, held annually at Columbia University and co-hosted by NIAS. Distinguished Thailand historian Thongchai Winichakul is in conversation with Duncan McCargo on the subject of political protests: how do the student-inspired demonstrations of 2020 compare with those of the 1970s, especially with the 6 October 1976 massacre...

In this podcast, Andrew Nathan of Columbia University talks to Duncan McCargo about the NIAS Director’s recent co-authored book, Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party (NIAS Press 2020). How far did the success of Future Forward symbolize the rise of a new and more politically conscious Generation Z, which in turn launched a wave of mass student-led protests during 2020? 

In this episode, Kristian Stokke, Professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo, and Marte Nilsen, Senior Researcher at PRIO, analyse the consequences of the military coup in Myanmar and the sustained popular resistance this has triggered.

In this episode, Professor Xiangming Chen from the Trinity College in Hartford joins Andreas Bøje Forsby from NIAS to talk about his new book on `The Belt and Road Initiative as epochal regionalization´. Focusing mainly on relations between China and Southeast Asia, the conversation revolves around topics such as infrastructural connectivity projects and regional economic development within the br...

In this episode, Arve Hansen talks to Jonathan London to get an update on politics and development in Vietnam. How do we make sense of the ‘socialist market economy’ today, what came out of the recent party congress, how does Vietnam balance its relations to China and the US, and how does Vietnam’s Covid success impact the legitimacy of the party?

In this episode, Adela Briansó talks to Rosalie Stolz about her latest NIAS Press book 'Living Kinship, Fearing Spirits: Sociality among the Khmu of Northern Laos.' She offers a fresh perspective on the actual lived experience of kinship based on fascinating insights from her extensive fieldwork among this upland minority group.   

In this episode, Kenneth Bo Nielsen is joined by Øystein Tunsjø, Henrik Chetan Aspengren, and Paul Midford to discuss what the new Biden administration will mean for the balance of power in Asia.

In this episode, Kenneth Bo Nielsen talks to Guro Samuelsen, Arild Engelsen Ruud, and Niladri Chatterjee about the striking changes in the style, dress, and appearance of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Has the erstwhile "CEO of India" transformed into a Sage King? 

Jimmyn Parc of Sciences Po speaks with Satoko Naito about the global popularity of K-pop and the history of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), highlighting significant factors like Korea-Japan political relations, copyright laws, and digitisation. Dr. Parc also explains how consumer trends and collaborations with producers from Nordic countries have contributed to make K-pop the international phenomenon it...

Jyrki Kallio of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs returns to the podcast to discuss Confucianism in China, including its beginnings in The Analects, key developments by Mencius, and the Ming-Qing reinterpretation of select teachings. Dr. Kallio explains to Satoko Naito the various complexities of Confucianism's internal contradictions as well as its enduring legacy, seen in Beijing's...

Join Jason Keith Fernandes and Kenneth Bo Nielsen in conversation about Fernandes’s new book 'Citizenship in a Caste Polity: Religion, Language and Belonging in Goa.' Fernandes uses his study of the way Catholics in Goa negotiate a space for themselves within the Indian nation-state to critique popular and academic discourses on secular citizenship in India. Most importantly, he documents how cast...

In this episode, Kenneth Bo Nielsen is joined by sociologist Alf Nilsen who analyses the economic and political impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, where a prolonged lockdown has resulted in an unprecedented disruption of everyday life.

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 politically significant subject in Thailand? How have the different incarnations of the state rice policy shaped Thailand's political direction since the Second World War? And what role did rice play in the country's latest 2014 military coup? 

In this episode, Stig Toft Madsen from NIAS - the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies joins Kenneth Bo Nielsen from the University of Oslo to talk about the liberalization of Indian agriculture and the ongoing farmers’ protests that have seen tens of thousands of Indian farmers laying siege to the national capital New Delhi for more than a month.

In this podcast, Friederike Trotier talks to Petra Desatova about her recent book titled ‘Nation, City, Arena: Sports Events, Nation-Building and City Politics in Indonesia’ published by NIAS Press. Friederike shares her insights into why sports events matter, how she researched them in Indonesia and how they helped to transform the previously grim image of South Sumatra’s capital city, Palembang....

In this episode, Edyta Roszko joins Adela Brianso from NIAS Press to talk about her latest book Fishers, Monks, and Cadres: Navigating State, Religion, and the South China Sea in Central Vietnam published by NIAS Press in October 2020. Edyta Roszko and Adela discuss the fascinating geopolitics of the South China Sea, religion in Vietnam, and the pragmatic ways in which people navigate the Vietname...

Following the resignation of Japan’s Abe Shinzo in September 2020, Suga Yoshihide became the country’s first new Prime Minister in nearly 8 years. Suga served under Abe as his Chief Cabinet Secretary for many years, but what does this change mean for Japan? In this episode, Benedicte Irgens talks to Paul Midford and Dick Stegewerns about Japan’s direction after Abe including domestic politics, for...

Stephen Ranger of the European Centre for International Political Economy speaks with Satoko Naito about his recent publications on the early twentieth century Japanese film industry. Stephen explains the state of the Japanese, European, and American film industries of the time, including the decline of British influence on the international film market and subsequent Hollywood domination. He also...