Showing papers in "Journal of Contemporary Asia in 2020"
TL;DR: This paper argued that land dispossession for new economy projects may be a form of "land war" in contemporary India and rekindled older debates over the implications of capitalism for caste.
Abstract: Widespread “land wars” in contemporary India have rekindled older debates over the implications of capitalism for caste, with some arguing that land dispossession for new economy projects may be li...
28 citations
TL;DR: In various places in the world, aerial spraying of pesticides has met with resistance from local communities potentially endangered by toxic pesticide drift as discussed by the authors, and social movements, and the counter-experiments have been formed.
Abstract: In various places in the world, aerial spraying of pesticides has met with resistance from local communities potentially endangered by toxic pesticide drift. Social movements, and the counter-exper...
26 citations
TL;DR: Gujarat is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home State and training ground as mentioned in this paper, and his Gujarat Model is projected as growth and development oriented, and this article shows the actual Gujarat Model as to...
Abstract: Gujarat is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State and training ground. His Gujarat Model is projected as growth and development oriented. This article shows the actual Gujarat Model as to...
26 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the pieces collected in this special issue on the legacies of the Cold War in East and Southeast Asia, linking to the Journal of Contemporary Asia's 50th Anniversary volume.
Abstract: This article introduces the pieces collected in this special issue on the legacies of the Cold War in East and Southeast Asia. Linking to the Journal of Contemporary Asia’s 50th Anniversary volume,...
24 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, state-led development, with the Asian experience at the forefront, is increasingly operationalised through diffe... and it also offers opportunities also presents a constraint on state power.
Abstract: Financialisation presents a constraint on state power. It also offers opportunities. State-led development, with the Asian experience at the forefront, is increasingly operationalised through diffe...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explain why Vietnam and China, one-party states that allow only one official trade union, are traversing different paths in their trade unions' institutional structures.
Abstract: This article explains why Vietnam and China, one-party states that allow only one official trade union, are traversing different paths in their trade unions’ institutional structures, the state’s a
20 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the political narratives around a two-decade -old process of land acquisition and development in the "global city" Rajarhat, a former rural settlement in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Abstract: This article examines the political narratives around a two-decade -old process of land acquisition and development in the “global city” Rajarhat, a former rural settlement in the Indian state of W...
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the special issue through framing the debate on the role of caste in India's current land wars and draw attention to how caste consistently mediates land transfers in p...
Abstract: In this article we introduce the special issue through framing the debate on the role of caste in India’s current land wars. We draw attention to how caste consistently mediates land transfers in p...
19 citations
TL;DR: The anti-communist Emergency of 1948-1960 demonstrated the lengths to which elites in British colonial, then local, were prepared to go to combat communism's advance domestically.
Abstract: Malaya’s anti-communist Emergency of 1948–1960 demonstrated the lengths to which elites – first British colonial, then local – were prepared to go to combat communism’s advance domestically. But th...
19 citations
TL;DR: The legacies of Cold War authoritarianism in Thailand have continued to the present, including in the conduct and the outcome of the 2019 general elections as mentioned in this paper, and it is argued that not on...
Abstract: The legacies of Cold War authoritarianism in Thailand have continued to the present, including in the conduct and the outcome of the 2019 general elections. In this article it is argued that not on...
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the dynamics of land dispossession in one-party authoritarian regimes and multi-party democracy in China and India and found that both regimes have similar incentives to chase growth by developing land, but the institutions create diverging environments for aggrieved citizens to mobilise for collective action.
Abstract: Both China and India have witnessed extensive land expropriation by the state from farmers for use in industrialisation and urbanisation projects. Land conflicts have ensued from these developments. This article poses two questions: (i) Why do we see a similar escalation of land dispossession in both countries, despite their distinctively dissimilar political systems, one being a one-party authoritarian regime, the other being a multi-party democracy?; and (ii) How does the different regime type affect the politics of dispossession? Despite their diverse political institutions, government officials have been given similar incentives to chase growth by developing land, but the institutions create diverging environments for aggrieved citizens to mobilise for collective action. While it is unsurprising that the interests of the poor and weak are not protected in an autocracy, democracy provides no automatic safety valve in defending marginalised citizens either.
TL;DR: Anti-corruption became one of the top priorities in post-Soeharto Indonesia, with democratisation, market liberalisation and institutional anti-corruption frameworks pursued as means to enhance tra...
Abstract: Anti-corruption became one of the top priorities in post-Soeharto Indonesia, with democratisation, market liberalisation and institutional anti-corruption frameworks pursued as means to enhance tra...
TL;DR: The adivasi population represents a special case in India's new land wars as mentioned in this paper, and strong individual and community rights to agricultural and forest lands have been enacted for this group based on notions of notions of empowerment.
Abstract: The adivasi population represents a special case in India’s new land wars. Strong individual and community rights to agricultural and forest lands have been enacted for this group based on notions ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the rise of Filipino technocrats in the context of the Cold War and the fear of a communist takeover of newly independent yet vulnerable agrarian societies.
Abstract: This article discusses the rise of Filipino technocrats in the context of the Cold War. Because of the fear of a communist takeover of newly independent yet vulnerable agrarian societies, the USA e...
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative study about migrant factory workers in industrialised parts of China's Guangdong province and in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City was carried out through on-site interviewing.
Abstract: Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory workers in industrialised parts of China’s Guangdong province and in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Even th...
TL;DR: In China extensive, co-ordinated strikes such as those that have taken place in Cambodia in recent years remain rare, with most protests initiated by Chinese workers contained inside single factori as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In China extensive, co-ordinated strikes such as those that have taken place in Cambodia in recent years remain rare, with most protests initiated by Chinese workers contained inside single factori...
TL;DR: For over six decades, grandiose proposals calling for significant expansion of public irrigation schemes have been commonplace throughout the Mekong region, irrespective of the political configurat... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: For over six decades, grandiose proposals calling for significant expansion of public irrigation schemes have been commonplace throughout the Mekong region, irrespective of the political configurat...
TL;DR: The anti-special economic zone (SEZ) mobilisation in Haryana failed to generate a mass movement despite the political strength of farmers and their deep resentment of the government's policy as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Anti-Special Economic Zone (SEZ) mobilisation in Haryana failed to generate a mass movement. This is despite the political strength of farmers and their deep resentment of the government’s policy t...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the evolution of political finance reform debates in Malaysia, one of the world's most durable electoral authoritarian regimes, and find that the reliance of the dominant part of the government on money in political finance has increased.
Abstract: This article analyses the evolution of political finance reform debates in Malaysia, one of the world’s most durable electoral authoritarian regimes. While the reliance of the dominant part...
TL;DR: The authors reviewed three recent, commendable and important books about the Indonesian counter-revolution and killings of the mid-1960s, two case studies by Jess Melvin and Vannessa Hearman and a h...
Abstract: The article reviews three recent, commendable and important books about the Indonesian counter-revolution and killings of the mid-1960s. Two case studies by Jess Melvin and Vannessa Hearman and a h...
TL;DR: In Asia, "connectivity" is celebrated as a panacea to kick-start rapid economic growth in the region's less developed countries as mentioned in this paper. But connectivity is not limited to China and Japan, but also India, Thailand and South K...
Abstract: In Asia “connectivity” is celebrated as a panacea to kick-start rapid economic growth in the region’s less developed countries. In the process, China and Japan, but also India, Thailand and South K...
TL;DR: In anti-communist Asia, with US backing or tacit consent, governments devised institutions and practices for marginalising popular forces as discussed by the authors, and internalised the Cold War involved measures that marginalised popular forces.
Abstract: Governments across anti-communist Asia, with US backing or tacit consent, devised institutions and practices for marginalising popular forces. Such internalisation of the Cold War involved measures...
TL;DR: In 2018, Malaysia's 14th General Election in 2018 toppled the Barisan Nasional government after six decades in power as discussed by the authors, due to its performance legitimacy and a capacity to man...
Abstract: Malaysia’s 14th General Election in 2018 toppled the Barisan Nasional government after six decades in power. Barisan Nasional’s longevity was due to its performance legitimacy and a capacity to man...
TL;DR: In order to explain how the Korean economy underwent structural change through the two crises of 1997-1998 and 2008 within the context of globalisation, this article focused on class analyzes.
Abstract: In order to explain how the Korean economy underwent structural change through the two crises of 1997– 1998 and 2008 within the context of globalisation, this article focuses on class analy...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the caste and class dimensions of the local resource politics of conservation displacement, through long-term study of a conservation displacement site in central India, and explore the role of social class in the process of displacement.
Abstract: This article explores the caste and class dimensions of the local resource politics of conservation displacement. Through long-term study of a conservation displacement site in central India, it in...
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of US covert action in establishing and perpetuating the political dominance of the LDP in Japan during the Cold War was examined, and the authors shed light on the role that covert action played in the formation of the Japanese LDP.
Abstract: This article examines the role of US covert action in establishing and perpetuating the political dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan during the Cold War. The study sheds light...
TL;DR: The Cold War alliance between the USA and Thailand is well-known and well-documented as mentioned in this paper, but rather than recounting the details of that alliance, this article examines some important political legacies as...
Abstract: The Cold War alliance between the USA and Thailand is well-known and well-documented. Rather than recounting the details of that alliance, this article examines some important political legacies as...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the concepts of orchestration and spectacle to analyse the work of leaders of an anti-dispossession movement in rural West Bengal and examined what being a movement leader entails.
Abstract: This article uses the concepts of orchestration and spectacle to analyse the work of leaders of an anti-dispossession movement in rural West Bengal. It examines what being a movement leader entails...
TL;DR: The land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, as a part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, has become central for the country's economic diplomacy since 2013 as discussed by the authors, and as part of these initiatives, Chinese auth...
Abstract: The land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, as a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has become central for the country’s economic diplomacy since 2013. As part of these initiatives, Chinese auth...
TL;DR: In response to a dual crisis of legitimacy, ruling political elites in Thailand have, since the 2014 military coup, been engaged in a variety of initiatives aimed at reforming the relationship between political elites and the public as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In response to a dual crisis of legitimacy, ruling political elites in Thailand have, since the 2014 military coup, been engaged in a variety of initiatives aimed at reforming the relationship betw...