Religious and Culture Drivers and Responses to Political Dynamics in Southeast Asia Conference

A full day conference on “Religious and Cultural Drivers and Responses to Political Dynamics in Southeast Asia” was held at Pace University on November 8, 2019. There were three panels of presentations relating to the conference theme, and a screening of the film Exiled about the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.

The conference brought together scholars from around the US and from Southeast Asia to present their work. The presenters were historians, political scientists, religious studies scholars, and NGO or public administrators. They examined the role of religious communities and leaders in civic life in Southeast Asia today as well as looking at: the populist and anti-democratic rule that has taken hold in the Philippines; the electoral authoritarianism that replaced overt military rule in Thailand; the forceful activism from conservative Muslim groups in Indonesia where leaders are using Islam for political purposes, and the victory for opposition parties in Malaysia among other political dynamics in Southeast Asia. By including perspectives from different fields of study and practice the conference organizer was able to encourage cross-disciplinary thinking on a common topic. A total of 45 people attended the conference that included Pace University students and faculty, scholars and professionals from around the NY area, interested Pace alumni, and those participating in the conference.

An edited volume which will be forthcoming with Pace University Press.

Click here for the conference program.

See below videos for some of the presentations.

“Remembering to Counter Islamism: Indonesia’s Modernists and the Struggle for Moderate Islam”

Verena Meyer, Islamic Studies, Department of Religion, Columbia University

“Power and Piety from Makkah to Multan and Medan: transnational Islamic Linkages and Islamic Revivalism in Pakistan and Indonesia (1947-2019)"

Bilal Shakir, McGill University.

“Culture in Action: The Case of Contemporary Thai Politics”

Christopher Ankersen, NYU Center for Global Affairs

“Bonds of Loyalty and Bonds of Royalty: The Positions and Responses of Cham Muslim Communities in the Case of Cambodian Elections”

William B. Noseworthy, Department of History, McNeese State University