Abstracts and author bios (pdf)
Thursday 21. October
8.30 – 9.00: Arrival and coffee
9.00 – 9.10: Opening speech by Arve Hansen, leader, Network for Asian Studies - Centre for Development and the Environment, UiO.
9.10 – 9.15: Greetings from rector Vidar L. Haanes - MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society.
9.15 – 9.30: Welcome & practical information from conference organizers Henrik Nykvist and Iselin Frydenlund.
9.30 – 10.30: Keynote speech by Duncan McCargo. Professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, and Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies.
Paper: Digital Natives and Political Participation: From Thai Protests to the Milk Tea Alliance
40 min presentation, 20 min Q&A.
Chair: Iselin Frydenlund
10.30 – 10.45: Coffee break
10.45 – 11.45: The 1 February 2021 military coup: What now for Myanmar?
Panel organizer: Iselin Frydenlund, MF
Chair: Marte Nilsen, The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Nyi Nyi Kyaw, Fellow Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI)/Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities. University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. - Myanmar Spring? From Protest to Civil Disobedience to Armed Revolution.
Nitha Bor Siangpum, - (International Research Consultant at NINU -Women in Action Group) - Facebook, the De-Facto Government of Myanmar: The role of social media in the Myanmar´s Spring Revolution 2021.
Terese Virginia Gagnon (University of Copenhagen/NIAS) – The Role of Ethnic Organizations in Resisting Authoritarianism and Nation-Building in Post-Coup Myanmar
11.45 – 12.30: Lunch break at MF canteen
12.30 – 14.00: Round Table Book Discussion - Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in South Asia.
Panel organizer: Kenneth Bo Nielsen, (UiO/IKOS)
Chair: Kenneth Bo Nielsen
Sten Widmalm, (Uppsala University)
Øivind Fuglerud, (Museum of Cultural History/UiO)
Maren Aase, (SUM/UiO)
Marc Lanteigne, (The Arctic University of Norway)
Farah Mihlar, (University of Exeter)
14.00 – 14.15: Coffee break
14.15 – 15.15: Strongmen of Asia
Authoritarian leadership is an increasingly dominant style in South and Southeast Asian democracies. Why is that?
Panel Organizer: Arild Engelsen Ruud, (UiO/IKOS)
Chair: Sten Widmalm, (Uppsala University)
Nicole Curato, (University of Canberra) - The Spectacle of the Strongman: The case of Rodrigo Duterte (Nicole will give her presentation on Zoom).
Arild Engelsen Ruud, (UiO/IKOS) - On the possible usefulness of the term strongman.
Øivind Fuglerud, (UiO/Museum of Cultural History) - The King and the Demon: oligarchic politics in post-war Sri Lanka.
15.15 – 15.30: Coffee break
15.30 – 17.00: Round Table Discussion - Local Traditions, Heritage-Making, and the Nation-State: Whales of Power.
Panel organizer: Aike Rots, (UiO/IKOS)
Chair: Aike Rots, (UiO/IKOS)
Lindsey DeWitt, (Ghent University)
Florence Durney, (UiO/IKOS)
Tuan Anh Nguyen, (UiO/IKOS)
Marius Palz, (UiO/IKOS)
Sonja Åman, (UiO/IKOS)
18.00: Dinner
Friday 22. October
8.30 – 9.00: Arrival and coffee
9.00 – 10.30: Mythopolitics in the age of Asian authoritarianism
Panel organizer: Guro Warhuus Samuelsen
Chair: Esther S. Tenberg
Silje Lyngar Einarsen, (MF) - New life to ancient lore: The mythopolitics of Sanskrit myths.
Moumita Sen, (MF) - The Mahishasur Movement: An Authoritative Narrative against Authoritarianism?
The’ang Theron, (MF) - A case study on Lokhimon: Myth-Making, Construction of a New Karbi Religious Identity and Recent Developments.
Guro Warhuus Samuelsen, (MF) - Hagiography and myth in the authoritarian populism of Narendra Modi.
Marte Nilsen, (PRIO) - Pop Culture, Art, and Indigenous Ideas of Legitimacy in Struggles over Democratization and Peace in Thailand and Myanmar.
10.30 – 10.45: Coffee break
10.45 – 12.00: Resisting or supporting military rule? Religion, art and culture during and after the 1 February 2021 military coup in Myanmar
Panel organizer: Iselin Frydenlund, MF
Chair: Nyi Nyi Kyaw, University of Duisburg-Essen
Esther S. Tenberg: Autocratic Micro-Publics on Facebook: Negotiating Reality after the Myanmar Military Coup.
Trude Stapnes (PRIO/UiO): Artistic Resistance in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.
Marte Nilsen (PRIO): Kings, queens and little princes: the culture of politics in Myanmar.
Iselin Frydenlund (MF): Buddhist responses to the 2021 military coup.
12.00 – 12.45: Lunch break
12.45 – 14.15: State Politics and Institutions
Panel organizer: Olivia Yijian Liu (UiO/IKOS)
Chair: Rebekka Åsnes Sagild (UiO/IKOS)
Siv Helland Oftedal, (UiO/IKOS) - The Centralised Politics behind Local Development in Xi Era China: The Case of the Greater Bay Area Initiative.
Yichi Zhang, (UiO/IKOS) - How does adaption to climate construct regional identity? Guangzhou, China.
Zhou Yunyun (IKOS/UiO) – Coalition-Based Gender Lobbying: Revisiting Women’s Substantive Representation in China’s Authoritarian Governance.
Kristin Dalen, (Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research) - Return of the Local – Social Cohesion and Trust 10 years after the Wenchuan Earthquake.
Hedda Flatø, (Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research) - Feedback mechanisms under ‘Top-level Design’: What about the silent voices?
14.15 – 14.30: Coffee break
14.30 – 15.45: Nation-building and citizenship
Panel organizer: Henrik Nykvist
Chair: Marielle Stigum Gleiss
Petra Desatova, (NIAS, University of Copenhagen) Authoritarian Electoral Management: Lessons from the 2019 Thai election.
Kari Telle, (Chr. Michelsen Institute) – Policing Religion: Online Prophesies and Godly Nationalism in Indonesia.
Henrik Nykvist, (MF) & Zhou Yunyun, (IKOS/UiO) - Cultivating the 'Successors of Socialism': Communist Youth Leagues Ideological and Political Education Program in China's Middle School.
Myunghee Lee (University of Copenhagen/NIAS) – Authoritarian Legacies, Collective Identity, and Far-right Protest: Lessons from the Taegeukgi Rallies in South Korea