Showing posts with label Seminar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seminar. Show all posts

Nov 25, 2014

Nov 24, 2014

Nov 17, 2014

Forthcoming Seminars: What Voters Want: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Thailand by Dr Allen Hicken (17 Nov 2014 (Monday)


What Voters Want:
Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Thailand
Dr Allen Hicken Associate Professor of Political Science Research Associate Professor at
the Center for Political Studies, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies University of Michigan







Date: 17 November 2014 (Monday)
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: G5-131, AC1, City University of Hong Kong

Nov 7, 2014

Oct 8, 2014

Aug 8, 2014

Apr 25, 2014

Apr 14, 2014

SEARC Apr seminar on "Bosses, Bullets, and Ballots: Electoral Violence and Democracy in Thailand, 1975-2011" by Dr Prajak Kongkirati on 14 April, 4 pm

Bosses, Bullets, and Ballots: Electoral Violence and Democracy in Thailand, 1975-2011

by Dr Prajak Kongkirati

(Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University)

Date: 14 April 2014 (Monday)
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: Y4-702, AC 1
City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

This seminar will examine the relationship between political violence and democratic structures in Thailand since 1975. The main objective of the research is to identify the primary factors and processes that enable violence in elections and to explain the variation in Thai electoral violence across time and space. Since democratization began in the mid-1970s, electoral processes in Thailand have been tainted with various forms of violence. In the last fourteen national general elections from January 1975 to July 2011, hundreds of people have died or been injured as a result of election-related violence. Arising from this are two important elements of variation that call for investigation. First, the patterns and degrees of violence have shifted over time. Election-related violence first manifested itself in the 1975 and 1976 elections. The intensity and degree of violence increased in the 1980s and remained relatively constant until the late 1990s. Thai society then observed a sharp rise in violence in the 2001 and 2005 elections, and a sharp decline in 2007 and 2011. In explaining the changes in forms and patterns of violence over time, I focus on the characteristics of the state, the changes in electoral and party systems, the impact of decentralization, and the relative importance of ideological politics. Second, electoral violence in Thailand is unevenly distributed in spatial terms (some provinces are more violent than others). Since electoral violence in Thailand is province-specific, my research focuses specifically on the local factors that promote violent conflict. I compare three provinces harboring chronic electoral violence, namely Phrae, Nakhon Sawan, and Nakhon Si Thammarat, with three provinces that are relatively peaceful: Phetchaburi, Buriram, and Sa Kaeo. Collectively, they illuminate the dynamics of political contestation and violence in other provinces throughout the country.

Short Bio

Prajak Kongkirati is lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University. His comments on Thai politics have been regularly appeared in Thai-language newspapers, as well as the Bangkok Post, the Nation, New York Times, and other media. His book, And Then The Movement Emerged: Cultural Politics of Thai Students and Intellectuals Movements before the October 14 Uprising (Thammasat University Press, 2005), received the award in 2005. Prajak received his Ph.D. from the Department of Political and Social Change, ANU in 2013, with a dissertation titled “Bosses, Bullets and Ballots: Electoral Violence and Democracy in Thailand, 1975- 2011.” His study has been supported by the Australian Leadership Award (ALA) of AusAID. His latest book is The Not-So-Bloody Election: Violence, Democracy and the Historic July 3, 2011 Election (Kobfai, 2013).


Mar 17, 2014

Upcoming Seminar (24/Mar): Taking responsibility for employment companies that overcharge Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong

Seminar

Taking responsibility for employment companies that overcharge Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong

Dr Wayne Palmer

Visiting Scholar
Southeast Asia Research Centre
City University of Hong Kong

Date: 24 March 2014 (Monday)

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Venue: Y4-702, AC1, City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

The issue of migrant workers in Hong Kong is again in the news following the recent event involving the mistreatment of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih. Last year the Hong Kong Labour Department conducted over 1,000 inspections of employment companies, responding to reports, for example, that they illegally overcharged foreign domestic workers for their services. These efforts resulted in the revocation of four business licences. In the same year, Amnesty International claimed that these companies systematically extracted illegal fees from tens of thousands of Indonesian domestic workers. Why is this practice so prolific among Indonesians? The answer lies in how the Indonesian consulate engages with the Hong Kong migration policy that requires foreign governments to endorse citizens for domestic helper visas. The Indonesian consulate uses this control to impose an extraterritorial accreditation system on Hong Kong employment companies, requiring those it approves to act as intermediaries for their citizens. This paper examines the administrative arrangement, arguing that it forms part an emerging state-society social contract concerning responsibility for labour migrants.

Short Bio

Wayne Palmer is a Visiting Scholar at the City University of Hong Kong Southeast Asia Research Centre. He contributed a book chapter on the role of discretion in handling human trafficking cases within an Indonesian embassy to Labour Migration and Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Critical Perspectives. Wayne's article on extraterritorial interventions that the Indonesian consulate makes through public-private partnerships with employment companies in Hong Kong was published in Political Geography. He submitted a doctoral thesis on the role of government officials' discretion in shaping and implementing Indonesia's state migration programme at the University of Sydney in 2013. Wayne is the Senior Client Advisor at the Christian Action – Domestic Helpers and Migrant Workers Programme.

Mar 11, 2014

Mar 10, 2014

SEARC's March 2nd Seminar: Political Consequences of Policy Decisiveness in Southeast Asia by Dr Eric Vincent C. Batalla

Political Consequences of Policy Decisiveness in Southeast Asia

Dr Eric Vincent C. Batalla

Full professor and current chair,
Political Science Department,
De La Salle University

Date: 17 March 2014 (Monday)
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: Y4-702, AC1, City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Policy decisiveness reflects a unity of purpose among veto players, or formal approving authorities, in a political system. In international negotiations, the ability of states to adopt policies quickly is desirable so that they could begin work on mutual goals and concerns. However advantageous for international agreements, policy decisiveness can bring about regime instability, especially if “strong” governments neglect informal domestic ratification constraints. This paper examines the political consequences of policy decisiveness in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines with respect to bilateral economic partnership agreements with Japan.

Short Bio

Eric Vincent C. Batalla is full professor and current chair of the Political Science Department, De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila, Philippines. He is senior fellow of policy research groups based at DLSU, namely the Yuchengco Center and the Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance.

Dr. Batalla teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on political economy, public policy, and comparative politics. He has written articles on regional politics and Philippine studies. His most recent article is “Veto players and state decisiveness: negotiating bilateral economic partnership agreements between Southeast Asia and Japan” published in 2012 by the Philippine Political Science Journal. He is currently doing research on corruption and regional disputes.

Dr. Batalla was former Dean of the School of Management and Information Technology, College of St. Benilde and former Vice-Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University. He served as visiting professor/scholar at Waseda University, Kobe University, Hiroshima University, and was also visiting fellow at the Institute of Developing Economies in Japan.

Dr. Batalla obtained his Ph.D. and M.A. from Hiroshima University as well as M.B.A. and A.B. History- Political Science degrees from De La Salle University. He is a member of the Philippine Political Science Association, Pi Gamma Mu International Honors Society in the Social Sciences, and the Association of Asian Studies.

Feb 26, 2014

Watch our Feb seminars online

We just uploaded the video recording of our Feb seminars:

Liberalism, Free Trade and Empire: The diverse roles of John Bowring in Asia

17 Feb 2014 (Mon)
Mr Philip Bowring

Governing Maritime Space: The South China Sea as a Mediterranean Cultural Area

24 Feb 2014 (Mon)
Prof Hans-Dieter Evers, Eminent Visiting Professor, Institute of Asian Studies, FASS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Feb 25, 2014

SEARC's March 1st Seminar: Indonesia's Tryst with Destiny by Prof Peter Carey on 10 March 2014

Seminar

Indonesia's Tryst with Destiny: The 2014 elections and the challenges of democracy in historical perspective, 1998-2014

Prof Peter Carey

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Indonesia &
Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College, Oxford

Date: 10 March 2014 (Monday)

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Venue: Y4-702, AC1, City University of Hong Kong




Abstract
The April and June 2014 legislative and presidential elections in Indonesia are without doubt the most important elections of the reformasi (democratic reform) period (1998 to present), and will determine the country’s future in an era of rapid demographic and social change. Peter Carey’s 10 March presentation will look at the issues confronting Indonesia in the historical perspective of the past sixteen years. He will develop various scenarios for the coming decade based on the track record of the three key presidential candidates, former generals Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto, and businessman Aburizal Bakrie, and the still undeclared candidacy of the popular Governor of Jakarta, Haji Joko Widodo (Jokowi), the likely choice of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the. Given that 40 percent of Indonesian voters are below the age of 35, the presentation will consider whether 2014 will mark a generational change in leadership and a move towards a new style of democratic governance which can provide answers for the most pressing current issues confronting the country, focussing on the environment, religious pluralism, corruption and the re-greening of the Indonesian political elite.

Short Bio
Peter Carey is Adjunct Professor at the Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya (Faculty of Humanities) of the Universitas Indonesia (University of Indonesia), in Jakarta and Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College, Oxford. His short biography of the Indonesian national hero, Prince Diponegoro (1785-1855), Destiny; The Life and Times of Prince Diponegoro of Yogyakarta, 1785-1855, will be published in April in Oxford and Jakarta.

Feb 23, 2014

Seminar reminder: Coming Monday, Prof Hans-Dieter Evers on South China Sea

 

Please come to SEARC next Monday Seminar by Prof Hans-Dieter Evers on the South China Sea issue:

Governing Maritime Space: The South China Sea as a Mediterranean Cultural Area

Prof Hans-Dieter Evers

Date: 24 February 2014 (Monday)
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: Y4-702, AC1, City University of Hong Kong

More detail:

Feb 17, 2014

Jan 28, 2014

Check SEARC Feb seminar 1: Liberalism, Free Trade and Empire: The diverse roles of John Bowring in Asia by Mr Philip Bowring

There will be a seminar organized by SEARC in February:

Liberalism, Free Trade and Empire:
The diverse roles of John Bowring in Asia

by Mr Philip Bowring,

17 Feb (Mon), 4 pm
(Y4-702, AC 1, City University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

This paper looks at the impact of various strands and contradictions of western liberalism and imperialism through the career of Sir John Bowring, 1792-1892. Bowring was a hyperactive poloyglot and polymath, a liberal writer, trader and entrepreneur who was deeply engaged with democratic reform movements in Europe, a radical member of parliament in Britain and supporter of Chartism, a pioneering advocate of free trade, became consul in Canton and then governor of Hongkong, a peace advocate who started a war with China but also negotiated the Bowring Treaty with King Mongkut which proved a crucial event in Southeast Asian history. His career not only spanned the 60 years of Britain's global pre-eminence from the defeat of Napoleon to the rise of the US and of united Germany but was engaged with several of its key issues in Britain, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The paper will place his roles in China and Hongkong in a wider context than normally viewed by historians of Hongkong.

Jan 14, 2014

Seminar on Myanmar and education in Hong Kong (HKIED)

There will be a seminar on Myanmar and education governance in The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIED).
People who interested may pay a visit.

Centre for Governance and Citizenship -

Public Seminar on "Myanmar's Democratic Transition: The Role of Education Governance"

(CGC Seminar Series 2014/01)

Myanmar’s Democratic Transition: The Role of Education Governance

by

Professor Kerry Kennedy

Director, Centre for Governance and Citizenship

Research Chair Professor of Curriculum Studies

The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Date:       22 January 2014 (Wednesday)

Time:       12:30pm to 2pm

Venue:     Room B3-P-04 (Podium Floor, Block B3)

       HKIEd Tai Po Campus

     10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po

Abstract

With a constitution in 2008, multi-party elections in 2010 and by elections in 2011 involving Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Myanmar appears to be on new pathway to democracy following almost fifty years of military dictatorship. As part of this transition a Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR) was commissioned by the government in 2012 with the support of development partners.  Its purpose was “to promote a learning society capable of facing the challenges of the Knowledge Age” and to build “a modern developed nation through education”.

This seminar will explore the issue of how an education system that has served the purposes of a military dictatorship might be transformed to serve democratic purposes. The focus will be on governance issues and what education governance for democracy might mean in Myanmar and elsewhere. A comparison will be made with other ASEAN countries and a distinction will be drawn between ASEAN versions of democracy and liberal democracy. The implications of these differences for education governance will be discussed. 

Myanmar’s efforts at democratization have been welcomed but the outcomes of the transition are by no means agreed.  As the date of the next election is now set for 2015 and the National League for democracy has indicated its intention to participate, it is a timely opportunity to evaluate progress.

 

Speaker

Professor Kerry J Kennedy is Research Chair Professor of Curriculum Studies and Director of the Centre for Governance and Citizenship at HKIEd. He has been a consultant to UNESCO providing advice on the development of new education legislation for Myanmar as part of the Comprehensive Sector Education Review. In November 2013 he gave a presentation in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on legislative reform proposals.

 

Please email cgc@ied.edu.hk for registration and seats reservation.

 

Dec 16, 2013

Nov 13, 2013