Podcasts about ordering power contentious politics

Today's episode focuses on a major issue of enduring importance in Southeast Asia and in Southeast Asian Studies: authoritarianism. Even today, various forms of dictatorship remain alive and well across Southeast Asia, raising questions about their origins, their endurance, and the prospects for their evolution. To discuss these issues, we are joined by Dan Slater, one of the world's leading specialists on authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and the author of important and influential works on this topic and more broadly on the politics of the region. Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center of Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan, where he's been since 2017 after receiving his PhD from Emory University in 2005 and teaching at the University of Chicago. Dan is one of the most prolific and prominent scholars of Southeast Asian politics, publishing a raft of important and influential articles in leading Political Science and Southeast Asian Studies journals over the years as well as two major book-length studies, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and (with Joseph Wong) From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia (Princeton University Press, 2022). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

How did Indonesia's labour movement go from being small and divided at the demise of the New Order regime in 1998 to play lead parts in politics some two decades later? What lessons have labour organizers learned along the way? And what lessons can we draw from Indonesia relevant to industrial organizing elsewhere? Informed by over a decade of multi-method research in selected sites across the west of the archipelago, Teri Caraway and Michele Ford address these and other questions in their Labor and Politics in Indonesia (Cambridge University Press, 2020), our featured title for this episode of New Books in Southeast Asian Studies. Tracking how labour unions found resources and identified opportunity structures by sequentially coupling contentious street politics with strategic targeting of executive offices and legislative contests, Caraway and Ford show that Indonesian unions and their allies have succeeded not only in greatly elevating wages and improving workplace conditions but also have built an identifiable working-class constituency. This constituency has given organized labour political clout far beyond what was or what seemed possible a couple of decades ago. And it has made for a more democratic Indonesia, one in which workers not only have participated in but at times taken the lead in local and national political struggles. Like this interview? If so you might also be interested in: Ben Bland, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia Dan Slater, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia Nick Cheesman is a Fellow in the Department of Political & Social Change, Australian National University. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel and hosts the New Books in Interpretive Political & Social Science series on the New Books Network.

Prof. Dan Slater of Univ. of Michigan discusses with James the ongoing protests, coup, election fraud, and democratization in Myanmar. Dan is author of Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia and a co-editor of Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis.

Since the 1990s, vast sums of money and time have been invested in training and resources to hold elections around the world, including in parts of Southeast Asia. The conventional wisdom is that elections either enable or consolidate democracy. Where they do not have either of these effects, the reasoning goes, it’s because the design of elections is not yet right, or conditions in which they have been held are not yet sufficiently matured as to make democracy possible. In Behind the Facade: Elections under Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia (SUNY Press, 2016), Lee Morgenbesser departs from these positions and seeks to explain why and how dictators also hold elections. Through close comparative study of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore, Morgenbesser argues that even when held competitively, elections can be pliable instruments for dictators to obtain information, manage subordinates, distribute largesse and claim legitimacy. Lee Morgenbesser joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to talk about the functions of elections under authoritarian government in Southeast Asia (tabulated here), the targets of electoral functions (tabulated here), and the relevance of the region for study of authoritarian electoral politics elsewhere. You may also be interested in: –Dan Slater, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia –Erik Ching, Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1880-1940 Nick Cheesman is a fellow at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He can be reached at nick.cheesman@anu.edu.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the 1990s, vast sums of money and time have been invested in training and resources to hold elections around the world, including in parts of Southeast Asia. The conventional wisdom is that elections either enable or consolidate democracy. Where they do not have either of these effects, the reasoning goes, it’s because the design of elections is not yet right, or conditions in which they have been held are not yet sufficiently matured as to make democracy possible. In Behind the Facade: Elections under Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia (SUNY Press, 2016), Lee Morgenbesser departs from these positions and seeks to explain why and how dictators also hold elections. Through close comparative study of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore, Morgenbesser argues that even when held competitively, elections can be pliable instruments for dictators to obtain information, manage subordinates, distribute largesse and claim legitimacy. Lee Morgenbesser joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to talk about the functions of elections under authoritarian government in Southeast Asia (tabulated here), the targets of electoral functions (tabulated here), and the relevance of the region for study of authoritarian electoral politics elsewhere. You may also be interested in: –Dan Slater, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia –Erik Ching, Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1880-1940 Nick Cheesman is a fellow at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He can be reached at nick.cheesman@anu.edu.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the 1990s, vast sums of money and time have been invested in training and resources to hold elections around the world, including in parts of Southeast Asia. The conventional wisdom is that elections either enable or consolidate democracy. Where they do not have either of these effects, the reasoning goes, it’s because the design of elections is not yet right, or conditions in which they have been held are not yet sufficiently matured as to make democracy possible. In Behind the Facade: Elections under Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia (SUNY Press, 2016), Lee Morgenbesser departs from these positions and seeks to explain why and how dictators also hold elections. Through close comparative study of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore, Morgenbesser argues that even when held competitively, elections can be pliable instruments for dictators to obtain information, manage subordinates, distribute largesse and claim legitimacy. Lee Morgenbesser joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to talk about the functions of elections under authoritarian government in Southeast Asia (tabulated here), the targets of electoral functions (tabulated here), and the relevance of the region for study of authoritarian electoral politics elsewhere. You may also be interested in: –Dan Slater, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia –Erik Ching, Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1880-1940 Nick Cheesman is a fellow at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He can be reached at nick.cheesman@anu.edu.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the 1990s, vast sums of money and time have been invested in training and resources to hold elections around the world, including in parts of Southeast Asia. The conventional wisdom is that elections either enable or consolidate democracy. Where they do not have either of these effects, the reasoning goes, it’s because the design of elections is not yet right, or conditions in which they have been held are not yet sufficiently matured as to make democracy possible. In Behind the Facade: Elections under Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia (SUNY Press, 2016), Lee Morgenbesser departs from these positions and seeks to explain why and how dictators also hold elections. Through close comparative study of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore, Morgenbesser argues that even when held competitively, elections can be pliable instruments for dictators to obtain information, manage subordinates, distribute largesse and claim legitimacy. Lee Morgenbesser joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to talk about the functions of elections under authoritarian government in Southeast Asia (tabulated here), the targets of electoral functions (tabulated here), and the relevance of the region for study of authoritarian electoral politics elsewhere. You may also be interested in: –Dan Slater, Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia –Erik Ching, Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1880-1940 Nick Cheesman is a fellow at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He can be reached at nick.cheesman@anu.edu.au Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. According to conventional wisdom, democracies can only form once an authoritarian regime collapses in a destabilizing crisis. Yet East and Southeast Asia have shown that leaders can democratize nations during times of strength without sacrificing political stability. In fact, conceding democratic reforms at stabler times allows ruling parties to leverage their strength in order to win free and fair elections and stay in power. In this lecture, Dan Slater will describe the rise of democracy under such conditions in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia in contrast to its struggles to emerge in Thailand and Myanmar. Dan Slater is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and associate member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and coeditor of Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis (Stanford University Press, 2008).

Few books on Southeast Asia cover as much geographic, historical and theoretical ground as Dan Slater's Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Working across seven case studies, the book argues that existing theories of institutionalization don't account for regional variation in regime type. Tracing causal processes from the colonial period to the present day, it shows how internal conflicts occurring at critical moments of state building encouraged the formation of elite “protection pacts” with a high degree of durability. Along the way, it engages with an expansive and diverse array of literature on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. Ordering Power is an ambitious and demanding study, but also a highly accessible one that appeals to a range of audiences. Above all, it is a book that demands the attention of anyone interested in Southeast Asian politics. As John Sidel puts it, “Slater has single-handedly raised the standards–and the stakes–of cross-national comparative analysis” of the region.

Few books on Southeast Asia cover as much geographic, historical and theoretical ground as Dan Slater’s Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Working across seven case studies, the book argues that existing theories of institutionalization don’t account for regional variation in regime type. Tracing causal processes from the colonial period to the present day, it shows how internal conflicts occurring at critical moments of state building encouraged the formation of elite “protection pacts” with a high degree of durability. Along the way, it engages with an expansive and diverse array of literature on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. Ordering Power is an ambitious and demanding study, but also a highly accessible one that appeals to a range of audiences. Above all, it is a book that demands the attention of anyone interested in Southeast Asian politics. As John Sidel puts it, “Slater has single-handedly raised the standards–and the stakes–of cross-national comparative analysis” of the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few books on Southeast Asia cover as much geographic, historical and theoretical ground as Dan Slater’s Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Working across seven case studies, the book argues that existing theories of institutionalization don’t account for regional variation in regime type. Tracing causal processes from the colonial period to the present day, it shows how internal conflicts occurring at critical moments of state building encouraged the formation of elite “protection pacts” with a high degree of durability. Along the way, it engages with an expansive and diverse array of literature on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. Ordering Power is an ambitious and demanding study, but also a highly accessible one that appeals to a range of audiences. Above all, it is a book that demands the attention of anyone interested in Southeast Asian politics. As John Sidel puts it, “Slater has single-handedly raised the standards–and the stakes–of cross-national comparative analysis” of the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few books on Southeast Asia cover as much geographic, historical and theoretical ground as Dan Slater’s Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Working across seven case studies, the book argues that existing theories of institutionalization don’t account for regional variation in regime type. Tracing causal processes from the colonial period to the present day, it shows how internal conflicts occurring at critical moments of state building encouraged the formation of elite “protection pacts” with a high degree of durability. Along the way, it engages with an expansive and diverse array of literature on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. Ordering Power is an ambitious and demanding study, but also a highly accessible one that appeals to a range of audiences. Above all, it is a book that demands the attention of anyone interested in Southeast Asian politics. As John Sidel puts it, “Slater has single-handedly raised the standards–and the stakes–of cross-national comparative analysis” of the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few books on Southeast Asia cover as much geographic, historical and theoretical ground as Dan Slater’s Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Working across seven case studies, the book argues that existing theories of institutionalization don’t account for regional variation in regime type. Tracing causal processes from the colonial period to the present day, it shows how internal conflicts occurring at critical moments of state building encouraged the formation of elite “protection pacts” with a high degree of durability. Along the way, it engages with an expansive and diverse array of literature on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. Ordering Power is an ambitious and demanding study, but also a highly accessible one that appeals to a range of audiences. Above all, it is a book that demands the attention of anyone interested in Southeast Asian politics. As John Sidel puts it, “Slater has single-handedly raised the standards–and the stakes–of cross-national comparative analysis” of the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices