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TZID:Asia/Bangkok
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DTSTART:20250101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260619T130000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260619T160000
DTSTAMP:20260605T032138Z
CREATED:20260604T090209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260605T032138Z
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SUMMARY:World Refugee Day 2026 Seminar
DESCRIPTION:World Refugee Day 2026 Seminar \nChanging Global Order\, Aid Retrenchment\, and Refugee Protection: Reframing the Right to Work for Myanmar Refugees in Thailand\n13:00–16:00\, 19 June 2026\nVenue: 4F Meeting Room\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University\, Chiang Mai (or register to join online) \nRegister to participate here. \nHosted by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD)\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University\, in collaboration with the Center on Gender and Forced Displacement\, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and made possible with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC/CDRI) of Canada. \nWorld Refugee Day 2026 provides an important opportunity to examine how changing global political and economic conditions are reshaping refugee protection. As humanitarian funding declines and international support becomes increasingly uncertain\, responsibility for refugee protection is being transferred more heavily to host countries\, while refugees themselves are often expected to achieve self-reliance under challenging and precarious conditions. These developments raise important questions about responsibility-sharing\, refugee rights\, and the future of protection in the Global South. \nThis seminar brings together academics\, practitioners\, policymakers\, and civil society actors to discuss the implications of aid retrenchment\, changing protection regimes\, and regional political uncertainty for refugee-hosting countries and displaced populations. Focusing on the case of Myanmar refugees in Thailand\, the seminar uses the right to work as an entry point for broader discussions on refugee protection\, self-reliance\, encampment\, and regional approaches to displacement in Southeast Asia. \nThe right to work occupies a central place in refugee protection. Beyond its status as a legal entitlement under international refugee law\, access to decent and secure employment is closely linked to income security\, dignity\, psychosocial well-being\, and reduced dependence on humanitarian assistance. At the same time\, access to work is shaped not only by legal frameworks but also by political\, economic\, and administrative factors operating at both national and local levels. \nThese issues are particularly relevant in Thailand\, where refugee governance has long been characterized by legal ambiguity\, camp-based containment policies\, and differentiated treatment of refugees and migrant workers from Myanmar. Experiences from other refugee-hosting contexts also demonstrate that formal access to employment does not necessarily translate into meaningful livelihood opportunities. Refugees may remain confined to informal\, insecure\, or highly restricted forms of work\, especially where regulations are unstable\, employment sectors are limited\, or broader protection concerns remain unresolved. \nAgainst this backdrop\, the seminar asks not only whether work opportunities can be expanded for Myanmar refugees in Thailand\, but also under what legal\, political\, and ethical conditions employment can contribute to meaningful protection and long-term well-being. \nThe discussion will be guided by three key questions: \n* How is global aid retrenchment transforming protection responsibilities in refugee-hosting states?\n* How can the right to work be understood as both a protection issue and a political-economic question?\n* What are the implications for Myanmar refugees in Thailand at a time of protracted displacement\, constrained labor market opportunities\, and uncertain policy futures? \nBy bringing together diverse perspectives\, the seminar aims to foster a grounded and critical dialogue that is academically rigorous\, policy-relevant\, and responsive to the lived realities of displacement. It seeks to contribute to wider discussions on dignity\, autonomy\, state interests\, and regional responsibility-sharing in an era of profound change for refugee protection. \nParticipants will include Dr. Sirada Khemanitthathai\, Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia and Lecturer\, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration\, Chiang Mai University; Dr. Paula Banerjee\, IDRC Chair on Gender and Forced Displacement and Director of the Center on Gender and Forced Displacement\, Faculty of Public Policy\, Asian Institute of Technology; Mr. Zcongklod Khawjang\, Operation Centre for Displaced Persons (OCDP)\, Ministry of Interior; Ms. Sumbul Rizvi\, Advisor on Forced Displacement\, Protection\, & Solutions; and Dr. Hayso Thako\, Karen Refugee Committee (KRC)
URL:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/event/world-refugee-day-2026-seminar/
LOCATION:4th floor meeting room\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai\, Chiang Mai\, 50200\, Thailand
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/world-refugee-day-june-2026-2.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260804T100000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260804T120000
DTSTAMP:20260723T081043Z
CREATED:20260723T081043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260723T081043Z
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SUMMARY:Book Talk: The Palimpsest Constitution with Melissa Crouch
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, 4 August 2026 for a book talk with author Mellisa Crouch for her new work “The Palimpsest Constitution: The Social Life of Constitutions in Myanmar.” The talk will be held 10 am to noon in RCSD study room 02-001\, 2F\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University\, moderated by Gustaaf Houtman\, editor of Anthropology Today. \nSince the mid-20th century\, many postcolonial states have engaged in multiple constitution-making exercises\, with the turnover in written constitutions often due to coups or internal conflict. Conversely\, people have resisted authoritarian rule through alternative constitution-making. The reality that most countries have had numerous official and unofficial constitutional texts begs the question: How do past constitutions matter in the present? This volume explores the social life of constitutional legacies\, or how past constitutions matter. \nUsing the case of Myanmar\, Professor Crouch demonstrates that constitutions are a palimpsest of past texts\, ideas\, and practices\, an accumulation of contested legacies. Through constitutional ethnography\, it traces Burma/Myanmar’s modern constitutional history from the late colonial era through its postcolonial\, socialist\, and military regimes. The Palimpsest Constitution captures the idea that contemporary debates about constitutional reform are informed by the contested legacies of the past. In Myanmar\, the military insists on the endurance of its 2008 Constitution while pro-civilian actors resist military rule through alternative constitution-making endeavours. Offering a sociological view of constitutional endurance\, the book demonstrates how the social life of constitutions is central to the struggle for constitutional democracy and civilian rule in Myanmar. \n  \n 
URL:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/event/book-talk-the-palimpsest-constitution-with-melissa-crouch/
LOCATION:RCSD Classroom 02-001\, 2nd floor\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Science\, Chiang Mai University\, A. Muang\, Chiang Mai\, 50200\, Thailand
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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260814T080000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20260816T170000
DTSTAMP:20260722T083540Z
CREATED:20260319T035104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260722T083540Z
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SUMMARY:ICBMS5: Between Crisis & Possibility
DESCRIPTION:The Committee of the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies is pleased to announce that ICBMS 5 will be held at Chiang Mai University from 14 to 16 August 2026. \nMyanmar stands at a critical juncture. The country faces protracted political stalemate\, armed conflict\, economic decline\, and humanitarian crisis. Yet amid fragmentation and violence\, communities continue to build alternative futures. Local organizations\, resistance groups\, and civil society actors across the country are creating new forms of governance\, social movements\, and civic practice that challenge dominant narratives of nation-building. At the same time\, Myanmar’s trajectory is shaped by shifting geopolitical forces across Asia and beyond\, as regional and global powers influence its political economy\, resource frontiers\, and conflict landscape. \nICBMS 5 seeks to foster scholarship and dialogue that advances understanding of these dynamics. The conference will create space for examining how political imagination emerges and takes hold\, how solidarity forms across ethnic\, social\, and cultural divisions\, and how diverse communities articulate shared\, common aspirations while maintaining their distinct voices. We welcome work that engages with both the constraints of the present moment and the possibilities that continue to emerge from below. \nWe invite scholars\, researchers\, activists\, and practitioners working on Myanmar-related issues to join us in Chiang Mai. Guidelines for the submission of abstracts\, panel proposals\, and roundtable proposals will be announced in the coming days. \nConference Themes:\nGeopolitics and Transnational Investment\nVisions of Social Revolution\nElectoral Politics and Political Consequences\nHuman Rights\, Justice\, and Equity\nHealth and Humanitarian Politics\nRefugees\, Migration\, Labour\, and Forced Displacement\nEnvironmental Justice: Transboundary Pollution and Climate Change\nAgrarian Transition and Food Sovereignty\nIllicit Economies and the Scam Industry\nGender\, Class\, and Intersectionality\nArts\, Media\, and Popular Culture\nSocial Reproduction and Care\nEducation and Social Change\nKnowledge Production in Burma/Myanmar Studies \nFor full information\, including online registration for observers and participants\, please follow this link. \n 
URL:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/event/icbms5/
LOCATION:Uniserv\, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road\, Chiang Mai\, Chiang Mai\, 50200\, Thailand
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20261103T090000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Bangkok:20261103T123000
DTSTAMP:20261102T042454Z
CREATED:20261030T111558Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261102T042454Z
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SUMMARY:Seminar: Contesting Knowledge Hegemonies\, Extractivism\, and Environmental Dispossession: Cases from Thailand\, Myanmar\, Indonesia\, South Africa and Norway
DESCRIPTION:Unequal power relations shape whose knowledge is produced\, circulated\, and recognised as legitimate. These hierarchies influence research agendas\, standards of evidence\, funding\, and policy priorities\, often marginalising alternative epistemologies and undermining communities’ authority over their knowledge and practices. Research can consequently treat communities as objects of inquiry rather than knowledge producers\, while policymaking overlooks their lived experiences\, situated knowledge\, and aspirations. \n\n\n\nAbout the Seminar  \n\n\n\nThe Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD)\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University\, convenes this seminar to connect academics\, students\, research fellows\, policymakers\, community leaders\, and practitioners across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and beyond. This event examines how knowledge hierarchies are reproduced and contested\, and how research can advance epistemic justice and support communities’ struggle by recognising them as knowledge producers with the authority to shape research and its uses. \n\n\n\nThe panel brings diverse perspectives into dialogue\, exploring the suppression of Indigenous fire practices in Thailand\, territorial conflicts surrounding rare earth mining in Myanmar\, struggles for Indigenous land rights in West Papua\, Indonesia\, and environmental atmospheres and moods across South Africa\, Norway\, and Myanmar. \n\n\n\nThe event is organised by SPACE project under RCSD in partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA); CRB\, an American/Southeast Asian organisation working on LGBTQ rights; the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH); and the Centre for Sexualities\, AIDS and Gender (CSA&G)\, University of Pretoria. \n\n\n\nEvent Details \n\n\n\n\nDate: Tuesday\, 3 November 2026\n\n\n\nTime: 09:00–12:30\n\n\n\nVenue: Subaltern Meeting Room\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University\n\n\n\n\nPlease confirm your attendance by registering through this form. \n\n\n\nDraft Agenda \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTime\nSession\nFocus\nSpeakers/Panalists\n\n\n09:00–09:30\nOpening and Introductions\nWelcome\, participant introductions\, and dialogue objectives\nDr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti; Dr. Kyaw\n\n\n09:30–10:30\nPanel Discussion\nRegional experiences of knowledge hierarchies\, exclusion\, and community resistance. How do power relations shape knowledge production\, and what enables or constrains community agency?\nMs. Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang\, PhD Candidate\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University;  “Extinguishing Indigenous Fire?: Governing Smoke\, the Clean Air Act\, and Thailand’s Pyrocene”Mr. Seng Li\, Kachin Researcher and Research fellow\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai University; “Rare Earth Mining: Conflict\, Territorial Control\, and Its Impacts\,”Mr. Sam W\, Human rights defender\, Papua Solidarity Network\, Indonesia “West Papua Is Not an Empty Land\,” challenging narratives that erase Indigenous presence and highlighting struggles over land and Indigenous rights. Ms. Zinzile Nontokozo Sibanda\, Environmental Law Researcher\, University of Pretoria A comparative exploration of the environmental atmosphere and moods across South Africa\, Norway and Myanmar”\n\n\n10:30–10:45\nCoffee Break\n\n\n10:45–11:45\nInteractive Dialogue: Advancing Epistemic Justice\nExamine approaches to challenging knowledge hierarchies and strengthening community authority in research.\nDiscussants\, panellists\, and participants\n\n\n11:45–12:30\nFrom Dialogue to Action\nSynthesise key insights\, identify priorities and potential collaborations\, and agree on feasible next steps.\nOpen circle with all participants\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMeet our panellists:  \n\n\n\nMs. Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang\, PhD candidate at Chiang Mai University\, presents “Extinguishing Indigenous Fire?: Governing Smoke\, the Clean Air Act\, and Thailand’s Pyrocene” examines how top-down policymaking and environmental governance\, which exclude the co-creation of knowledge with Indigenous communities\, marginalise and suppress Indigenous fire practices in Thailand. \n\n\n\nMr. Seng Li\, Kachin researcher\, research fellow and doctoral student at Chiang Mai University\, presents “Rare Earth Mining: Conflict\, Territorial Control\, and Its Impacts\,” examining resource extraction\, territorial struggles\, and their consequences for local communities. \n\n\n\nMr. Sam W of Papua Solidarity Network presents “West Papua Is Not an Empty Land\,” challenging narratives that erase Indigenous presence and highlighting struggles over land and Indigenous rights. \n\n\n\nMs. Zinzile Nontokozo Sibanda of the University of Pretoria presents “A comparative exploration of the environmental atmosphere and moods across South Africa\, Norway and Myanmar”\, examining how it manifests in the communities as well as community perceptions and responses\, mobilisation efforts\, resilience mechanisms\, and also the idea of “sacrifice zones”.
URL:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/event/seminar-contesting-knowledge-hegemonies-extractivism-and-environmental-dispossession-cases-from-thailand-myanmar-indonesia-africa-and-norway/
LOCATION:Subaltern Meeting Room\, Operations Building\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, Chiang Mai\, Chiang Mai\, 50200\, Thailand
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/space-seminar-thailand-south-afr-oct-2026.jpg
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