[Tlc] Responses (so far) to AAS Panel Proposal (more are welcome)

Mon Jun 8 05:30:24 PDT 2009

The following comes from Benny Widyono, who cannot come, but was very impressed with the panel proposal. I am posting with his permission, as his paragraph comparing the Thaksin period with the Hun Sen period is fascinating. See below. 

Incidentally, I would like to have the proposal just posted by our friend over at MacQuarie University, and Justin and I have just received a nice-looking one privately from a graduate student at a university up in Canada. -- Edwin

-----Original Message-----
From: BennyWidyono at aol.com
To: zehner1234 at aol.com
Sent: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 10:59 am
Subject: Re: [Tlc] T-AAS panel call - Panel Proposal (participants needed)

Dear Edwin,

I am very impressed and attracted to your proposal of one or two panels.I lived for 14 years in Thailand as a member of UN ESCAP. I was a visiting fellow at Cornell for three years 2003-2006 and wrote my book entitled: Dancing in Shadows: Sihanouk the KHmer Rouge and the UN in Cambodia"Rowman Littlefield 2008. I am putting together a panel for AAS on the trials of the Khmer Rouge and unfortunately because of te non doule ups I can not join your panel. I am Indonesian but my work is mostly about Cambodia but I promise you I will be an active participant from the audience in your dynamic panels.?There are parallels in the way Hun Sen slowly and successfully sliced up Sihanouk's power (which I described in detail in my book) and the way Taksin tried to do the same with the Kingdom but unsuccessfully.
?

In a message dated 6/6/2009 3:21:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, zehner1234 at aol.com writes:

With strong encouragement from Justin McDaniel (thanks, Justin), I am presenting the following panel proposal in response to his query:

PRECIS OF AN ABSTRACT: [Title to come later]
At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, Thailand was a country embroiled in two major internal conflicts. One was a multi-vectored conflict, beginning roughly 2006,?between the "reds" and "yellows" over what to do about ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and, quite possibly, over what form the country's governance should take in the coming years. The other, beginning roughly 2004,?is a conflict over what should be the relationship of Thailand's three predominantly Malay Muslim provinces to the rest of the nation, and, quite possibly, what form those provinces should take as a society, a polity, and a socio-religious community in the coming years. The origins of both conflicts have been traced to the governance style of former Prime Minister Thaksin, and to the reactions that style engendered among both supporters and opponents. But rarely have the two conflicts been placed in conversation with each other, neither in the media nor in popular im! aginations. This paper will attempt to do so, not so much by parallels of events, but, rather, by stepping back to look at the broader pictures, their relationships to each other, and their potential implications for the future of Thailand as an interactive set of social polities.

I think that this should be done in the "spirit" of a round-table, but the "official" format will probably be as a "panel," to encourage some serious thinking, research, and writing by the participants -- even though the actual oral "discussions" in the session should rise above the details in the ways indicated above. 

I also would like for participants to be willing to interact with each other both prior to and perhaps even after the panel, so that the discussions can build on each others' insights rather than being just a collection of papers being spoken in the same room. 

In addition to this announcement on the list, I encourage listmates to pass the note on to others who may not be reading this (note: if you know someone who might be good, please DON'T assume she is on the list). 

Finally, though I know we are all hoping for some participants on the level of the Duncan McCargos of the world (to name just one -- and I hope he won't mind), I also hope to include some newer voices, as I think the mix of perspectives and disciplines would be good for the discussion. (besides which, some of the "big names" were probably already spoken for months ago)

Finally, if we get too many responses (which would be nice), we could think of subdividing things into separate panels. Under the new program rules, we CAN'T do a "double panel." But I'll bet there are still creative ways to create the equivalent, if we really want to and the program committees are cooperative. 

If you are interested, or know somebody who you would like to suggest, please notify me and/or Justin McDaniel ASAP, including a brief description of the expected contribution and how it contributes to the above topic and goals. Suggestions for revising (and titling) the above statement are also welcome. The paragraph already uses up 205 of our allotted 250 words, so there is not much room for extra words. But there's always a possibility of tweaking. Thanks for your interest, and am hoping to hear from you, whether or not you are in a position to participate personally. 

-- Edwin Zehner, Visiting Fellow, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University (2008-2009)
Visiting Teaching Fellow, St. Lawrence University, 2009-2010
email - zehner1234 at aol.com

-----Original Message-----
From: justinm at ucr.edu
To: tlc at lists.ucr.edu
Sent: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 5:43 pm
Subject: [Tlc] T-AAS panel call

Dear All,

I was thinking of sending this call out to a few Thai Politics experts, but then 
I thought it might be better to cast a wide net.

Dr. Robert Snow of the AAS is eager to promote a panel or roundtable on issues 
in current Thai politics since it was such an important and disturbing year in 
Thai politics. The AAS this year is trying to connect policy-makers, NGOs 
workers, activists, etc. with scholars. They are trying to promote panels on 
contemporary North Korea and Sri Lanka (as it has obviously been big news years 
for those countries as well!), as well as Thailand.

If there are scholars out there that are thinking about a panel on contemporary 
Thai politics and the recent protests, etc., please contact me. The AAS sounds 
like it will be very responsive to panels on this topic.

Best,
justin  

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu
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