Organizer: Association for Thai Democracy
It is normally assumed that monarchy belonged to the feudal past. Hindering the development of capitalism and incompatible to the modern ethic and revolutionary force of the rising bourgeoisie, monarchies were supposed to be abolished once the transition to capitalism had come to an end. If it is allowed to exist in today’s capitalist state, the crown is supposed to merely serve as a ceremonial institution, representing the nation’s historical continuity and cultural heritage.
This talk introduces the surprising case study of the Thai monarchy. Due to its active role in national politics, the market economy, and popular culture, the Thai crown is more than a ritual body of the newly industrialized kingdom. In fact, it remains the country’s dominant institution around which business magnates, leading politicians, general officers, and the urban middle class revolve. Accumulating its massive wealth from land development, financial and industrial ventures, and public donation, the Thai monarchy is one of the world’s wealthiest. Consequently, a study of the relationship between capital and the crown in Thailand is important not only to the understanding of enduring problems such as social inequality and political conflict in the country. It is also crucial for a timely discussion about possible kinds of oppositional politics in the kingdom, the royal realm where the massive amount of the king’s subjects recently show that they have had enough and take their grievances to the streets.
Speaker:
Puangchon Unchanam teaches political theory, political economy, and modern Thai politics at Naresuan University. He earned his B.A. in political science from Chulalongkorn University, two M.A. degrees in politics from University of Hawaii-Manoa and from the New School, and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York, the Graduate Center. His research interests include Marxist theory, animal liberation, and social inequality and class conflict in Thailand. He is the author of Royal Capitalism: Wealth, Class, and Monarchy in Thailand (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020).
Moderator:
Dr. Andrew Alan Johnson, Center for Southeast Asia Studies Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley
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