History
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Visiting Scholar at APARC, 2022-23
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Gita Wirjawan joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as visiting scholar for the 2022-23 academic year. He is the chairman and founder of Ancora Group and Ancora Foundation, as well as the host of the podcast "Endgame." While at APARC, he will be conducting research with Professor Donald Emmerson regarding the directionality of nation-building in Southeast Asia.

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall
Stanford,  CA  94305-6055

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Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Affiliated Faculty at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
Affiliated Faculty at The Europe Center
Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution
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Stephen Kotkin is a senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Within FSI, Kotkin is based at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) and is affiliated with the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and The Europe Center. He is also the Birkelund Professor in History and International Affairs emeritus at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School), where he taught for 33 years. He earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley and has been conducting research in the Hoover Library & Archives for more than three decades.

Kotkin’s research encompasses geopolitics and authoritarian regimes in history and in the present. His publications include Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 (Penguin, 2017) and Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928 (Penguin, 2014), two parts of a planned three-volume history of Russian power in the world and of Stalin’s power in Russia. He has also written a history of the Stalin system’s rise from a street-level perspective, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization (University of California 1995); and a trilogy analyzing Communism’s demise, of which two volumes have appeared thus far: Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse 1970–2000 (Oxford, 2001; rev. ed. 2008) and Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment, with a contribution by Jan T. Gross (Modern Library, 2009). The third volume will be on the Soviet Union in the third world and Afghanistan. Kotkin’s publications and public lectures also often focus on Communist China.

Kotkin has participated in numerous events of the National Intelligence Council, among other government bodies, and is a consultant in geopolitical risk to Conexus Financial and Mizuho Americas. He served as the lead book reviewer for the New York Times Sunday Business Section for a number of years and continues to write reviews and essays for Foreign Affairsthe Times Literary Supplement, and the Wall Street Journal, among other venues. He has been an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

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Time:  7:30am-8:45am  California, USA 2 March 2022 
9:00pm-10:15pm New Delhi, India 2 March 2022
 

India’s international position has evolved sharply in the first two decades of the 21st century, and it is poised to become only more consequential in coming decades. Its strategic interests and influence have now stretched into the distant reaches of the Indo-Pacific, it has emerged as a central actor in managing global governance challenges like climate change, and it may have the capacity to take a commanding position in some key leading-edge technologies. In this webinar, veteran journalist Indrani Bagchi, who spent nearly two decades covering India’s foreign relations for the Times of India, will reflect on India’s recent trajectory and its prospects. Through the prism of some key episodes and issues of India in the 21st century, the webinar will examine India’s capacity and approach to manage international issues, as well as the constraints and challenges Indian policymakers must face. 

Speaker: 

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Headshot photo of Indrani Bagchi
Indrani Bagchi is CEO-designate at Ananta Aspen Centre, India. She was Associate Editor with the Times of India, where she reported and analyzed foreign policy issues for the newspaper from 2004 until 2022. As Diplomatic Editor, Indrani covered the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on her news beat, and interpreted and analyzed global trends with an Indian perspective. Earlier, Indrani worked with India Today, the Economic Times and The Statesman, and has held fellowships at Oxford University and the Brookings Institution. She is a Fellow of the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship Class 3 of the Ananta Aspen Centre and a member of Aspen Global Leadership Network. She graduated from Loreto College, Calcutta University with English honors. 

Moderator:

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Photo Portrait of Arzan Tarapore
Arzan Tarapore is the South Asia research scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, where he leads the newly-restarted South Asia research initiative. He is also a senior nonresident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research. His research focuses on Indian military strategy and contemporary Indo-Pacific security issues. Prior to his scholarly career, he served as an analyst in the Australian Defense Department. Arzan holds a PhD in war studies from King’s College London. 

 

This event is co-sponsored by Center for South Asia

Via Zoom  Register at:
https://bit.ly/3HXiwTy

Indrani Bagchi, CEO-designate, Ananta Aspen Centre, India<br> Panelist

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

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Research Scholar at APARC
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PhD

Arzan Tarapore is a Research Scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, where he is charged with restarting APARC's research effort on South Asia.

Tarapore’s research focuses on security issues in South Asia and the rapidly evolving strategic landscape of the wider Indo-Pacific. Prior to his scholarly career, he served for 13 years in the Australian Defence Department in various analytic, management, and liaison positions, including operational deployments and a diplomatic posting to the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC.

His academic work has been published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, The Washington Quarterly, Asia Policy, and Joint Force Quarterly, among others, and his policy commentary frequently appears on platforms such as the Hindu, the Indian Express, The National Interest, the Lowy Institute's Interpreter, the Brookings Institution’s Lawfare, and War on the Rocks.

Tarapore joined APARC in September 2020. He previously held research positions at Georgetown University, the East-West Center in Washington, the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, and the RAND Corporation.

He earned a PhD in war studies from King's College London, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA (Hons) from the University of New South Wales. Follow his commentary on Twitter @arzandc and his website at arzantarapore.com.

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<br>Arzan Tarapore, South Asia Research Scholar, Shorenstein APARC Moderator South Asia Research Scholar, Shorenstein APARC
Seminars
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an image of a map of the world with a U.S. and China flag with the event text details.

 

How can we understand the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China without fueling anti-Asian hate?

Join REDI's student representatives, Maddy Morlino and Miku Yamada, for an open discussion on how we can avoid contributing to racial discrimination when engaging in academic dialogues on U.S.-China competition.

This in-person event will facilitate an open dialogue with participants and invited speakers, FSI Senior Fellow Thomas Fingar and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dongxian Jiang. Since seating is limited, registration is reserved for current Stanford faculty, students, and staff only with a Stanford.edu email.

Confirmed attendees will be notified by email on February 22.

Speaker bios:

Thomas Fingar is a Shorenstein APARC Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was the inaugural Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow from 2010 through 2015 and the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford in 2009. From 2005 through 2008, he served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and, concurrently, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Fingar served previously as assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2000-01 and 2004-05), principal deputy assistant secretary (2001-03), deputy assistant secretary for analysis (1994-2000), director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989-94), and chief of the China Division (1986-89). Between 1975 and 1986 he held a number of positions at Stanford University, including senior research associate in the Center for International Security and Arms Control.

Dongxian Jiang is a political theorist and intellectual historian. His primary research interests lie in comparative political theory, the history of political thought, and pressing practical questions of democratic and international politics, including Western and non-Western perspectives on human rights, democracy, good governance, and political legitimacy. He is also interested in the transmission and traveling of political ideas across divergent intellectual traditions. He holds a B.A. in International Politics and Philosophy from Peking University, an M.A. in Political Science from Duke University, and a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University (as of September 2020). Dongxian Jiang is currently Civics Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science, Stanford University.

Registration required:

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Thomas Fingar FSI Senior Fellow Speaker Stanford University
Dongxian Jiang Political Science Postdoctoral Fellow Speaker Stanford University
Seminars
Shorenstein APARC Encina Hall E301 Stanford University
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Visiting Scholar at APARC, 2021-2022
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PhD

James A. Millward 米華健 joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as visiting scholar with the China Program for the 2022 winter quarter. He is Professor of Inter-societal History at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, where he teaches Qing, Chinese, Central Asian and world history. He occasionally also teaches in the program of the Máster Oficial en Estudios de Asia Oriental at the University of Granada, Spain.  Millward is the academic editor for the "Silk Roads" book series published by Chicago University Press. 

Millward’s specialties include Qing empire; the silk road; Eurasian lutes and music in history; and historical and contemporary Xinjiang.  He follows and comments publicly on current issues regarding Xinjiang, the Uyghurs and other Xinjiang indigenous peoples and PRC ethnicity policy.  His publications include Eurasian Crossroads: a history of Xinjiang (2021; 2007); The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction (2013); New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde (2004); and Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity and Empire in Qing Central Asia (1998); as well as the album Songs for this Old Heart (recorded with the band By & By).

Jim's general audience articles and op-eds on contemporary China are published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Review of Books,  and other media.  He has appeared on the PBS Newshour, All Things Considered, Al Jazeera, i24 News, the Sinica Podcast and other broadcast programs and networks. 

Email:  millwarj@georgetown.edu | Twitter: @JimMillward

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The REDI Task Force invites you to the next event in our Critical Conversations: Race in Global Affairs series; an exploration of the life of enslaved women. This panel discussion will feature experts of enslavement across the Atlantic including the U.S., Brazil, West Africa, and the West Indies.

What do we really understand about the lives and legacies of African enslaved women across the Atlantic? Enslavement is often rendered through a genderless lens, one in which the category of "race" trumps all else. However, research tells a very different story and one that requires an intimate analysis - enslaved women across the Atlantic held an experience that was shaped uniquely by their race and gender. This conversation will explore how Black women during the slave period acted and reacted to the material forces that shaped their lives in an attempt to not only survive the harsh conditions but to carve out a future for ancestors. This interdisciplinary discussion will draw from various archival sources ranging from Senegambia to Brasil's sugar plantations to articulating novel understandings of enslaved women's selfhood. 

The panel will feature perspectives from three historians to uncover the intimate lives of African women; their kinship, religious, and resistance practices. Tracing a path through different locales, from free to enslaved status, we will discuss not only the lives of enslaved women, but their legacies.

This event is free and open to the public. There will be time for a Q&A.

Note: This discussion will be recorded. 

Speaker bios:

Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies whose teaching and research explores the intersections of race, religion, and gender in the United States. A historian of African-American religion, she specializes in the religiosity of enslaved people in the South, religion in the African Atlantic, and women’s religious histories.  Her first book The Souls of Womenfolk: The Religious Cultures of Enslaved Women in the Lower South (UNC 2021) offers a gendered history of enslaved people’s religiosity from the colonial period to the onset of the Civil War. She is currently at work on her second project, which traces the gendered, racialized history of phenomena termed “witchcraft” in the United States. Her work has been supported by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and Forum for Theological Education, among others. She received her B.A. in English from Spelman College, and Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from Emory University.

Jessica Marie Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the Johns Hopkins University and a Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is also the Director of LifexCode: Digital Humanities Against Enclosure. Johnson is a historian of Atlantic slavery and the Atlantic African diaspora. She is the author of Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World (University of Pennsylvania Press, August 2020), a winner of numerous awards including the 2021 Wesley-Logan Best Book in African Diaspora History Prize from the Association of American Historians and the 2021 Lora Romero First Book Publication Prize of the American Studies Association. Her work has appeared in Slavery & Abolition, The Black Scholar, Meridians: Feminism, Race and Transnationalism, American Quarterly, Social Text, The Journal of African American History, the William & Mary Quarterly, Debates in the Digital Humanities (2nd edition), Forum Journal, Bitch Magazine, Black Perspectives (AAIHS), Somatosphere and Post-Colonial Digital Humanities (DHPoco) and her book chapters have appeared in multiple edited collections. She is the Founding Curator of #ADPhDProjects which brings social justice and histories of slavery together. She is also Co-Kin Curator at Taller Electric Marronage.  She is also a Digital Alchemist at the Center for Solutions to Online Violence and a co-organizer of the Queering Slavery Working Group with Dr. Vanessa Holden (University of Kentucky). Her past collaborations include organizing with the LatiNegrxs Project. As a historian and Black Studies scholar, Johnson researches black diasporic freedom struggles from slavery to emancipation. As a digital humanist, Johnson explores ways digital and social media disseminate and create historical narratives, in particular, comparative histories of slavery and people of African descent.

Nohora Arrieta Fernández is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA. She received her Ph.D. in Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies from Georgetown University in 2021. Her current research focuses on art history, visual studies, the history of commodities, and the intellectual traditions of the African Diaspora in the Americas. She has published essays and articles on Latin American literature and visual arts, comics, and the Afro-Latin American Diaspora, and is a collaborator of art magazines as Artishock and Contemporyand. She recently co-edited Transition. The Magazine of Africa and the Diaspora, 130. Her first co-translation project, Semantic of the World, the Poetry of Romulo Bustos, will be published by New Mexico Press (2022).

 

 

Online via Zoom

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Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Stanford University
Jessica Marie Johnson Assistant Professor History Johns Hopkins University
Sonita Moss Research Associate Discussant REDI
Nohora Arrieta Fernandez Postdoctoral Fellow UCLA
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Michael Breger
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For Kate Imy, APARC’s 2021-22 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia, writing feminist military history means not only “finding” or “adding” women to the stories of war, even though that is, in itself, a necessary intervention. It also means recognizing how gender shapes almost everything we know, understand, praise, or condemn about wars and militaries more broadly. Writing military history with a feminist-lens shapes Imy's understanding of how militaries are formed, who serves in them, and why they matter.

Dr. Imy joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as Visiting Scholar and 2021-22 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia. Hosted jointly by APARC’s Southeast Asia Program and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore, the fellowship advances the visibility and quality of scholarship on contemporary Southeast Asia. Imy, who is currently an Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Texas, is using her residency at APARC during fall 2021 to research the colonial roots of winning "hearts and minds" in war, specifically focusing on Singapore and Malaya. 

On December 2 at 5 p.m. PT, Dr. Imy will present a public talk, Pregnant in the Jungle: Gendering Resistance in the Malayan Emergency, where she will discuss the reconfiguration of gender expectations in the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), a period of unrest following the creation of the Federation of Malaya that is perhaps most famous for Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer’s phrase about the need to win the “hearts and minds” of civilians to defeat a communist insurgency. Register now to join the webcast.

We caught up with Dr. Imy to discuss her work and experience at Stanford this quarter.


What has shaped your interest and research into questions of identity in British Imperial history?

I grew up in California and currently live in Texas — two influential, diverse border states where military service is prevalent. I also briefly attended the United States Air Force Academy, where I learned a lot about how race, gender, and faith shape the experience of military service. These animated my interest in the history of empires, war, race, and gender. While working on a PhD at Rutgers, I came across not one but two British officers who had an equal love for yoga and fascism — two things that I had previously considered to be rooted in opposing cultural impulses. Learning about how and why these linkages made sense have encouraged me to continue thinking critically about how war and empire shape culture.

In your current book project on the colonial origins of the "winning hearts and minds" idea of war, what is something surprising you’ve come to realize about that term?

My research in some ways is less interested in the novelty of the term than how reactionary it was to existing colonial policies. British leaders articulated the desire to “win hearts and minds” because previous generations of military and colonial leaders had failed to do so. The traumatic experiences of colonialism and war inspired civilian resistance to military occupation. In many ways, the idea of winning hearts and minds through militaries is an oxymoron because for civilians, “winning” would be an end to military occupation and violence. Most exciting to me is that many soldiers serving in the region during the colonial era — who were diverse subjects with roots in India, Nepal, East Africa, China, Australia, and New Zealand — tended to agree.

How has your time at APARC as the Lee Kong Chian Stanford-NUS Fellow aided your research project?

I have benefitted tremendously from my time at Stanford. I researched materials at the Hoover Institution related to communism in Singapore and Malaya, providing me with additional opportunities to reflect on a plurality of voices shaped by communism and anti-communism. I have had generative meetings with students and scholars that push me to think about these dynamics in new ways. My focus is currently consolidating my archival research and drafting new chapters, so having access to Stanford’s library has assisted greatly in this process. Finally, I met with a representative of an academic press in the area and am preparing a book proposal for submission by the end of my fellowship period.

Which connections made during your time at APARC have been particularly beneficial to you?

COVID has prevented some meetings but facilitated others, including through virtual events. I attended the talk by Sugata Bose on “Young Asia,” moderated by Stanford History faculty Partha Pratim Shil. I also attended the event on “Home, Land, Security” by Carla Power and moderated by Stanford anthropologist Sharika Thiranagama. I met with Stanford undergraduate student Chern Xun Gan to discuss my archival research, as he has an interest in the Malayan Emergency. At APARC, I’ve enjoyed meeting South Asia Research Scholar Arzan Tarapore, whose work on the military in South Asia overlaps with my own interest. I had a fantastic conversation with Stanford History Department Professor Priya Satia, whose expertise in British colonial histories of war has had a great impact on my research and writing. I have also benefitted from several conversations with Southeast Asia Program Director Donald Emmerson. Overall, Stanford and APARC have been welcoming and insightful places to work.

You traveled to Singapore for part of your fellowship. What did you accomplish there? Were there any special collections at NUS that you accessed?

I completed the first part of my fellowship in Singapore from March to June 2021. I spent some time in the NUS archives and meeting (remotely) with various scholars at NUS, including Maitrii Aung-Thwin and Seng Guo Quan. I also met several NTU faculty, including Jessica Hinchy, Tapsi Mathur, and Faizah Zakaria. However, the bulk of my time was spent in the National Archives. There I found immense resources related to each section of my book, including the Singapore Mutiny (1915), the Japanese occupation (1942-1945), and the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). COVID limitations to library hours meant that I had to photograph a massive quantity of materials, which I am currently working through now. These have been especially valuable for strengthening Indian and Chinese perspectives of war in Singapore and Malaya, and I look forward to foregrounding these perspectives in my book.

What is on the horizon for you? What's next?

After leaving Stanford, I will look forward to revising my book manuscript and submitting it to a university press. This will occupy much of my focus throughout 2022, with a view to publishing the manuscript in 2023. Beyond that, I will look forward to continuing my research on war and empire in the Asia-Pacific — possibly even incorporating further research on my home state of California!

Kate Imy

Kate Imy

Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia, 2021-2022
Full Biography.

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In this interview, Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Southeast Asia Kate Imy discusses her research into identity in the twentieth-century British imperial world and her current book project on the colonial roots of winning "hearts and minds" in war, specifically focusing on Malaya and Singapore.

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Visiting Scholar at APARC
Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia, 2021-2022
Fall 2021
kate_imy_2.jpg
PhD

Kate Imy joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as Visiting Scholar and 2021-2022 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia for the fall quarter of 2021. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Texas. While at APARC, Imy will be conducting research on the colonial roots of winning "hearts and minds" in war, specifically focusing on Singapore and Malaya.

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The American Institute for Indonesian Studies and Michigan State University Asian Studies Center are holding the inaugural Conference on Indonesian Studies this week, June 23-26, 2021. The conference's theme is "Indonesian Studies — Paradigms and New Frontiers." On June 24, APARC's Southeast Asia Program Director Donald K. Emmerson delivered a keynote address, "Scholarship, Autonomy, and Purpose: Issues in Indonesian Studies." Watch the session below:

The Conference on Indonesian Studies seeks to expand research dissemination, activities, and collaboration on the academic study of Indonesia to better understand the archipelago's historical, cultural, linguistic, literary, artistic, economic, environmental, and political dimensions, as well as its role in the Indo-Pacific and the world. The conference connects scholars and academic communities from multiple disciplines based in Indonesia, the United States, the Asia-Pacific, and other global contexts.

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Southeast Asia Program Director Donald K. Emmerson delivers a keynote address at the American Institute for Indonesian Studies–Michigan State University Conference on Indonesian Studies.

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Vietnam and China are frequently referred to as 'authoritarian regimes,' but in history, political practice, and social governance these two countries are starkly different. This is particularly true of how each government responds to social pressure and civil unrest. Nhu Truong, one of APARC's 2020-21 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellows, is researching the root causes of these differences, what they reveal about the specific contexts of each nation's political trajectory, and how they can inform academic discussions of authoritarianism.

Nhu Truong’s dissertation explains how and why the two most similar communist, authoritarian regimes of China and Vietnam differ in their responsiveness to mounting unrest caused by government land seizures. Despite their many similarities, Vietnam has exhibited greater institutionalized responsiveness, whereas China has been relatively more reactive. While at APARC, Nhu has been refining 16 months of fieldwork into a book manuscript. Following her tenure as a Shorenstein Fellow at APARC, she will join the Council for Southeast Asian Studies and the Council for East Asian Studies at Yale University as a postdoctoral associate and has accepted a position as an assistant professor at Denison University starting in 2022.

Nhu sat down to talk more about her research and how the ongoing pandemic has heightened the need to better understand the ways in which different governments implement policy and address social issues. She also shares how she's stayed grounded and positive during an unusual year of change and being a long-distance fellow.

1. Can you give us an overview of your research and the topics you’re investigating?

My research addresses the following question: Why are some authoritarian regimes more responsive to social unrest than others? While it might seem counterintuitive to think of authoritarian regimes in this light, repression and responsiveness often occur in tandem under authoritarian rule. Centered on a comparison between Vietnam and China, I document the steps that each has taken to address social discontent fueled by pervasive government seizures of rural land. In response to societal input between 2003 and 2017, Vietnam enacted comprehensive and programmatic reforms to reduce the permissible scope for government land expropriation whereas those enacted by China were relatively marginal and piecemeal. At the subnational level, this difference has had important implications for land rights and the security of villagers in both countries. In summary, despite their many similarities, the manner and degree of their responsiveness have varied. My research then traces the historical origins that undergird the political development and institutional character of Vietnam and China’s divergent responsiveness to social unrest. 

2. How did you first become interested in these topics?

My interest in the repressive-responsive character of authoritarian regimes stems from my preoccupation with questions of political legitimacy, societal resistance, and institutional dynamics in authoritarian contexts. One particular experience that stoked my interest was my visit to Wukan, Guangdong in 2016. Wukan was once hailed as an emblematic case of grassroots democracy and accommodation by the Chinese state, when villagers’ outcries against the local government’s seizure of their land resulted in the re-election of the village committee in 2012. Yet, when I visited in 2016, villagers expressed that nothing had changed, and that “everything that could be done has already been done.” This experience led me to question what responsiveness means in authoritarian contexts.

3. During the last year, the world has changed significantly because of the pandemic and fluctuating politics in many nations. Have these changing global situations given you any new insights into your research?

The pandemic has underscored the need for a nuanced and contextual understanding of democracies and non-democracies. For instance, the variation in state responses to COVID-19 suggests that there is no clear correlation between responsiveness or the effectiveness of government responses to COVID-19 and regime types. Consider Vietnam’s proactive approach and success at containing the pandemic as opposed to the US. Other recent developments such as the crackdowns on pro-democracy protests in Thailand and mass protests against the recent military coup in Myanmar showcase how quickly state responsiveness to social demands can erode, even in multi-party states.

4. What has your experience as one of our Shorenstein Fellows been like during this unusual period of time when we haven’t physically been together at APARC?

My fellowship has been remote, and I have therefore needed to be much more proactive to stay as engaged as possible. I have consulted with my mentor often over Zoom, and reached out to other scholars for their feedback and advice on my research. I have also especially appreciated the chance to participate in the China Social Science Workshop, where I've shared my work and learned from other presenters. Other postdoctoral fellows at APARC and I have also gotten together virtually to exchange stories and to share our experiences from this unusual year.  

5. What are some of the things you've done during this past year to give yourself a break from work and have some fun?

Due to the pandemic, I have been living back home to Austin, Texas, since March of last year. The last time that I was home for this long must have been after I graduated from college. So, for the first time in a long time, I've planted tomatoes, eggplants, and sunflowers in our garden, and I've really enjoyed watching them bloom and ripen. With everything growing, it feels like I've spent most of my break in our backyard defending our flowers, fruits, and vegetables from squirrels and bunnies! But luckily I also have our two dogs, Wishie and Sushi, to help me!

6. As the state of the pandemic changes and things in academia and our communities, what are some things you are looking forward to both professionally and personally?

I'm certainly looking forward to having conferences in person again! I'm also still not sure when it will be possible and safe for me to visit Asia again, especially Vietnam and China, but I have missed these places. I'm also learning Khmer this summer, and I'm excited to eventually visit Cambodia to pursue my research there.

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2020-21 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow Nhu Truong, who studies how authoritarian regimes like China and Vietnam respond to social pressure, explains why understanding differences in governance is crucial in an era of fluctuating politics and pandemic.

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