RCSD : The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development

Myanmar Human Rights Festival
2023-12-02 14:00 - 2023-12-03 21:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Chiang Mai University Art Center, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
คลิกสำหรับภาษาไทย
In the spirit of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and #16Days of Activism, Asia Justice and Rights will hold the Myanmar Human Rights Festival, an event dedicated to fostering understanding, dialogue, and advocacy for human rights within #Myanmar and beyond.
From 2-30 December 2023 at the Chiang Mai University Art Center we will leverage the power of arts and films to raise awareness about pressing human rights issues of today. This event is open to the public. There will be a series of film screenings, art exhibitions, panel discussions, and interactive art installations. Food and beverages will be available for all participants. Join us in contributing to the movement for positive change in Myanmar. Save the dates and be a part of this experience!
View the full schedule of events and films for 2-3 December here: myanmar human rights film festival dec 2023
The art exhibition will be on display at the Art Center from 2 – 30 December.
ภาษาไทย
ในวันที่ 2-30 ธันวาคม 2566 ณ ศูนย์ศิลปะมหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่ จะมีการจัดงานเทศกาลสิทธิมนุษยชนเมียนมาร์ ซึ่งเป็นงานที่มุ่งเน้นการสร้างความเข้าใจ การสนทนา และการสนับสนุนสิทธิมนุษยชนในเมียนมาร์ และที่อื่น ๆ รวมถึงระลึกถึงความรุนแรงต่อผู้หญิงในระดับนานาชาติ #16Days of Activism
นอกจากนี้เรายังจะใช้ศิลปะและภาพยนตร์เพื่อเสริมสร้างความตระหนักเกี่ยวกับประเด็นสิทธิมนุษยชนที่คุ้มครองตอนนี้ งานนี้เปิดให้ทุกคนมีโอกาสเข้าร่วม จะมีการฉายภาพยนตร์ นิทรรศการศิลปะ เวทีสนทนา พร้อมทั้งมีอาหารและเครื่องดื่มให้บริการสำหรับผู้เข้าร่วมทุกคน เข้าร่วมในการสนับสนุนการเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงที่ดีในเมียนมาร์
ดูตารางกิจกรรมและภาพยนตร์ทั้งหมดสำหรับวันที่ 2-3 ธันวาคมที่นี่: กำหนดการณ์ AJAR Film fes
นิทรรศการศิลปะจะถูกแสดงที่ศูนย์ศิลปะตั้งแต่วันที่ 2 – 30 ธันวาคม

The Social Life of Teak: book launch, exhibition, and workshop
2023-11-22 17:30 - 20:30 | École française d’Extrême-Orient, 131 Charoen Prathet Road, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50100, Thailand
RCSD invites the public to join the launch of the book “The Social Life of Teak,” authored by Tim Webster & Virginia Henderson at the EFEO Chiang Mai on Wednesday, 22 November starting at 5:30 pm. Also on Thursday, 23 November starting at 1:30 pm (the next day) all are invited to join us for a half-day workshop and roundtable discussion with the book authors, historians, academics and researchers for a fuller look at the political, economic, cultural and social context surrounding teak.
In their book, Tim and Virginia have traced human interactions with the world’s most famous tropical timber species and have mapped worlds revolving around teak forests, trees and wood. In this illustrated anthology of oral histories, people connected personally or professionally to teak speak of survival, change and learning, creativity and destruction, growth and demise. Woven together, these experiences bring to light the ways that teak has been sought, crafted, cultivated, traded and valued over time. Exploring teak’s significance highlights processes of consumption and commodification, inviting questions about our relationships with nature and the politics of value. Charting the domestication of wilderness and exposing the era of extinction of a feted natural resource, this book seeks to stimulate conversations about our role as nature’s most troublesome offspring.
The book launch at EFEO will feature short a video presentation and small exhibition from Inson Wongsam, a Thai national artist renowned for his work using teak, as well as a collection of Tim Webster’s images from the book. Beverages and refreshments will be served; please register online here for either or both events on the 22nd or 23rd!

Infrastructure and Circulations in Southeast Asia (and Beyond)
2023-10-24 16:00 - 17:30 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join us in person or online for presentations and discussion on an ongoing research project:
Infrastructure and Circulations in Southeast Asia (and Beyond)
24 October 2023, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Subaltern Room, RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
Participants can join online via this Zoom link:
This collective presentation aims to share and discuss some of the ongoing research carried out as part of the project “Environing Infrastructure: Communities, Ecologies, and China’s “Green” Development in Contemporary Southeast Asia”, based at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society (Munich, Germany). The four members of the project will each introduce their work, and open up a few questions for broader conversation. The goal is to stimulate discussion and exchange, spur connections and possible collaborations. Alessandro will start off with a brief description of the overall aims of the Environing Infrastructure project (for more info, see www.environing.asia), and how it shifted from an initial focus on infrastructure to one centred on heterogeneous connections.
Alessandro will then introduce his current project on amber, with a particular focus on the China – Myanmar borderlands. Huiying will share her doctoral research on agroecology in Thailand, addressing the material and social infrastructures that have enabled a range of practices, including community – based organic agriculture, highland coffee agroforestry, and governmental research and extension work on soil improvement, and how these local and internal dynamics interact with interests within the Mekong – Lancang countries, and global commercialisation of forests and soil. Roger will follow with a general framing overview of his ongoing project on the experiences of privilege and precarity among highly skilled Global South – South migrants. He will then focus on one of the core case studies of the project: Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Jessica’s talk, based on her ongoing work in Flores, Indonesia, will discuss what has been happening to rural families and young people amidst Indonesia’s widespread development growth and COVID’s more recent economic downturn. Her research asks what are the consequences of being contemporarily remote from household and individual perspectives?
Presenters
Alessandro Rippa
Alessandro is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo; and Project Director at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munic h. He is the author of “Borderland Infrastructures: Trade, Development and Control in Western China” (Amsterdam University Press, 2020).
Huiying Ng
Huiying’s doctoral research project at the Rachel Carson Center focuses on agroecological futures in Thaila
nd and the learning assemblages that form to support them, with a long-term view towards supporting the growth of regional food systems through participatory action research.
Roger Norum
Roger is a researcher at the Rachel Carson Center and the University of Oulu (Finland). His research concerns connections between mobility, media and the environment, particularly among transient communities in South and Southeast Asia, and the Arctic.
Jessica Clendenning
Jessica is a research fellow at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich. Her research interests include agrarian change and young people, social reproduction and (non)migration, and aspirations and the future, in Indonesia and wider Asia

Book Launch & Discussion: Rights Refused with Elliott Prasse-Freeman
2023-09-15 10:30 - 12:30 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join us for a book launch and discussion with the author of “Rights Refused: Grassroots activism and state violence in Myanmar,” Elliott Prasse-Freeman on Friday, 15 September from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the 4F meeting room, operations building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
“For decades, the outside world mostly knew Myanmar as the site of a valiant human rights struggle against an oppressive military regime, predominantly through the figure of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. And yet, a closer look at Burmese grassroots sentiments reveals a significant schism between elite human rights cosmopolitans and subaltern Burmese subjects maneuvering under brutal and negligent governance. While elites have endorsed human rights logics, subalterns are ambivalent, often going so far as to refuse rights themselves, seeing in them no more than empty promises. Such alternative perspectives became apparent during Burma’s much-lauded decade-long “transition” from military rule that began in 2011, a period of massive change that saw an explosion of political and social activism.”
Rights Refused is released by Stanford University Press

Thesis Proposal Examination: Multidimensional community-level impacts of development projects - the case of cement production in Mon State, Myanmar
2023-09-08 16:00 - 18:30 | RCSD Classroom 02-001, 2nd floor, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
“Multidimensional community-level impacts of development projects: the case of cement production in Mon State, Myanmar”
Event: Friday, 08 September 2023, 16:10 P.M.
Presenter
Mr. Myint Than (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Examining Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Marco Haenssgen: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ta-Wei Chu: Committee
Lect. Dr. Maya Kóvakaya: Committee
Venue
Onsite: RCSD Classroom 02-001, 2nd floor, operational building, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Online: Zoom: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/98718241911
Meeting ID: 98718241911

Thesis Proposal Examination: Ecological Eating - Paths to Degrowth in Industrial Animal Agriculture
2023-08-30 14:00 - 17:00 | RCSD Classroom 02-001, 2nd floor, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis proposal examination:
“Ecological Eating: Paths to Degrowth in Industrial Animal Agriculture”
Event: Wednesday, 30 August 2023, 2:00 P.M.
Presenter: Mr. Blake Palmer, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Examining Committee
Lect. Dr. Maya Kóvakaya: Chair
Lect. Dr. Chaya Vaddhanaphuti: Committee
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kengkij Kitirianglarp: Committee
Venue
Onsite: RCSD Classroom 02-001, 2nd floor, operational building, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Online: Zoom: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/92913128397
Meeting ID: 929 1312 8397

Press Conference & Film Screening: "Social Impact of the Coup in the Innlay Region"
2023-07-26 09:00 - 12:00 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Wednesday 26 July from 9 am – noon you are invited to join a press conference and film screening from Justice Movement For Community -Innlay for a short documentary film screening and press conference on the situation on the ground today in Myanmar’s Innlay region. The event will be held in the 4th floor meeting room of the Operations Building, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University.
Following the Myanmar military coup of 1 February 2021, democracy and human rights conditions have deteriorated in various regions throughout the country, including the Innlay region in southern Shan State. There has been a notable lack of documentation on the deteriorating human rights situation there, and the voice of Inlay’s local communities has been largely unheard by the international community. The Justice Movement For Community -Innlay (JMC-Innlay) team has surveyed various social impacts since the coup on the Inlay community, has documented victims’ voices, and gathered data on human rights violations.
You are cordially invited to this event share the stories of the Innlay people and information on the situation in the Innlay area.
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပိုက်ပြီးနောက် ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအခြေအနေများသည် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်တောင်ပိုင်းရှိ အင်လေးဒေသအပါအဝင် ဒေသအသီးသီးတွင် ယိုယွင်းပျက်စီးခဲ့သည်။ ယင်းသို့လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအခြေအနေ ဆုတ်ယုတ်လာခြင်းနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ အထူးသဖြင့် ဒေသခံအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းများ၏အသံကို မြှင့်တင်ရန် သုတေသန နှင့် အထောက်အထားမှတ်တမ်းများ မရှိပါ။ ဤအခြေအနေများကို အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများက သိရှိနားလည်ရန်လိုအပ်ပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ JMC-Inlay အဖွဲ့သည် အင်လေးအသိုင်းအဝိုင်း၏ လူမှုရေးအကျိုးသက်ရောက်မှုများကို စစ်တမ်းကောက်ယူခဲ့ပြီး လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ နှင့် ဒေသခံများ၏ အသံများကို သုတေသနစာတမ်းနှင့် ဗီဒီယိုမှတ်တမ်းတင်ခဲ့သည်။
ဤ အခမ်းအနားတွင် ၎င်းမှတ်တမ်းနှင့် တွေ့ ရှိချက်များကို ဖြန့်ဝေမည်ဖြစ်ပါ၍ တက်ရောက်ပေးကြပါရန် လေးစားစွာဖိတ်ကြားအပ်ပါသည်။

Infrastructure aid and the making of “real” countries: Upland geopolitics in Laos’s land and energy sectors
2023-07-24 09:00 - 11:00 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD welcomes all to attend a public lecture & book talk, “Infrastructure aid and the making of ‘real’ countries: Upland geopolitics in Laos’s land and energy sectors,” with Dr. Michael B. Dwyer, Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington. The talk will be held Monday, July 24 at the Subaltern Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

Moderator: Dr. Chusak Wittayapak, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

About the talk:
This talk will introduce two related but distinct research projects on agrarian change in upland Laos. In the first part, Dr. Dwyer will present his new book, “Upland Geopolitics: Postwar Laos and the Global Land Rush (U. Washington Press, 2022), which examines the way that legacies of cold war conflict, together with newly built road infrastructure and the uneven geography of land titling have created an uneven geography of land grabbing in Laos’s northwestern uplands.

The second part of the talk will pivot to presenting Dr. Dwyer’s new and current research on rural electrification in upland Laos, examining electrification’s impacts on forest change (via agrarian livelihoods) using, in part, a historical comparison with Thailand. Together, the two parts of the talk bridge a shared history of international collaboration, as well as related questions of social, environmental and economic justice as they manifest at moments of grave political and environmental uncertainty.

Thesis Examination: Impact of COVID-19 and Myanmar’s Political Crisis on Internally Displaced Migrants in Kachin - China Borderlands
2023-06-08 13:30 - 16:30 | Meeting room, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis examination, “The Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic and Myanmar’s Political Crisis on the Lives and Livelihood of Internally Displaced Migrants in Kachin- China Borderlands” presented by Labang Roi San, M.A in Social Science, specializing in Development Studies, on Thursday, 8 June 2023 at the Department of Social Science and Development meeting room, 1st floor, starting 1:30 pm, or join online via zoom here
Examining Committee
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon (Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)
Lect. Dr. Shirley Worland (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Chusak Wittayapak (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)
Abstract
The migratory and livelihood practices of Myanmar’s Kachin Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have changed significantly since the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 and the subsequent February 2021 military coup d’état in Myanmar. Notably, since the civil war resumed in 2011, the Kachin displaced people have been experiencing the mental trauma of losing their possessions, livelihood uncertainty, a lack of access to healthcare and education, and a low quality of life. Firstly, the pandemic further worsened the economy, health, education, traditional, cultural practices and livelihood activities of these displaced peoples. Then the military coup in 2021 further affected their lives and livelihoods as well as their security. Thus, this research examines the challenges Kachin IDPs and displaced migrants have faced along the Kachin-China border since the pandemic and the coup. To understand this, this qualitative study refers to Henri Lefebvre’s conceptualization of perceived space, conceived space, and lived space through the Kachin displaced people’s livelihood activities, cross-border migration, kinship networks, cultural and traditional activities, and the rules and regulations of the border governors in the conflict-affected areas along the Kachin State in Myanmar and its border with China.
Fieldwork was carried out via online and with the assistance of a research assistant on site in Pa Kahtawng Displaced Persons Camp near Mai Ja Yang Township, Kachin State and online in Zhangfeng, Yunnan State, China. The findings show that the disruption of the pandemic and the political crisis have driven the displaced people to a poor quality of life, and no human security. During the pandemic, the economic situation of the displaced people in the border areas dramatically changed as they lost their jobs, and all the companies and workplaces were closed due to the COVID restrictions. Health is also the main issue during the pandemic and the coup. Not only physical health but also mental health affected the displaced people. Lack of healthcare caused illness among the elderly and children in IDP camps. The displaced migrants face insecure lives and prolonged mental depression and fatigue due to the unpredictable situation they find themselves in with no way to plan. In education, the disruption of lockdown, social distancing, and COVID-19 restrictions affected the meaningful learning and well-being of the students. The Kachin ethnic education department and teachers, and staff are under pressure to provide quality education to all students during the pandemic and the coup. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the Kachin cultural and traditional practices have also changed, and it impacted kinship networks as well.
In addition, a few displaced people who remained to find jobs on the China side also face increased exploitation, discrimination, and depression because of their illegal status and are confined to specific areas. Some displaced migrants with documents can get jobs after lockdown restrictions were lifted, but with reduced income. The displaced migrants without documents are stuck in their relatives’ houses or one particular workplace without a proper job.
Additionally, the Myanmar military coup worsened their lives in many ways, including severe inflation, increased risks of returning to their villages, and personal insecurity. During this emergency, community-based and non-government organizations provide emergency responses and possible solutions for the displaced people. However, it does not cover livelihoods for all.
The study concludes with the recommendation that local and international NGOs cooperate with responsible leaders of the community-based organizations to respond more effectively to long-term lives and livelihood security by creating livelihood opportunities, providing vocational training, and sharing common land for agriculture to secure a sustainable future.

Thesis Examination: Play the Eviction and Livelihoods of the Akuarium Neighborhood in Jakarta's Transformation
2023-05-30 08:00 - 11:00 | online, Thailand
RCSD is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis examination, “Play the Eviction and Livelihoods of the Akuarium Neighborhood in Jakarta’s Transformation” presented by Achmad Firas Khudi, M.A in Social Science, specializing in Development Studies, on Tuesday, 30 May 2023, starting 8 am, online through the following link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/99361216637 (Zoom Meeting ID: 993 6121 6637)

Examining Committee:
Prof. Dr. Ian Baird (University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Chusak Wittayapak (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)

Abstract:
In 2016, the Jakarta government evicted the urban community of Kampung Akuarium in North Jakarta for urban transformation. The urban transformation created a new urban life in Jakarta with progression but marginalized a particular Akuarium people. The current condition shows that urban transformation has simultaneously modernized the city’s spaces and the existence of people with access to wealth but neglected people experiencing poverty. In contrast, urban development has displaced the homes and spaces, the material existence, and the livelihoods of the Akuarium people. Akuarium, whose homes and lives are disrupted by development, has no choice but to navigate the new physical landscapes. The disruption of living areas and homes further responded to resistance and identity despite the material loss. Urban transformation through eviction and gentrification recreated the Akuarium people into an oppressed state and enunciated actions to defend their rights
The Jakarta urban heritage program caused the eviction of Kampung Akuarium, an urban settler moved forcibly in 2016 by mobilizing many Indonesian apparatuses. Governor of Jakarta Basuki T.P./Ahok executed heritage programs that evicted the space of Akuarium people. The meaning of kampung is associated with a living area or neighborhood in the Indonesian context. The heritage program concerns the old town of Jakarta and represents the force of urban policy in changing the urban landscape.
Given its significant role in their vicinity, the Jakarta government and the general public could not simply mention the Akuarium community as an illegal occupant. The history of the Akuarium community started in the 1970s when their elders stayed in the fish laboratory of the Indonesia Institute of Science/LIPI. Akuarium neighborhood was formerly known as the Laboratorium of National Oceanography of LIPI, where there were big aquariums for conserving and examining fish. In light of the background, the research realized how urban eviction led to precarious urban life and could enact intelligence and survival in the Akuarium people. The study examines the Akuarium community with two research objectives. First, the study examines how the Akuarium people respond to the urban transformation. Second, it aims to identify what kind of urban transformation changes the economy and identity of the community.
The research results include an analysis of the response, economy, and identity of the Akuarium people against the Jakarta urban transformation. Such results, in theory, cover an examination of livelihoods and urban play in urban transformation. There are socio-economic and immaterial difficulties arising upon eviction. Such problems appear from destroyed livelihoods. Yet, violent eviction instigated a kind of play in the community. A theory of urban play envisages how the community responds and utilizes failed development projects drawing from the practices of graffiti, car jockeys, and navigation of traffic jams. The research method includes field and internet ethnography for around one year. Field ethnography has been conducted for approximately one month and a quarter, while internet ethnography for approximately eleven months.
The research uncovers worsening precarious life, plunging the Akuarium community from poverty to severity. The severity includes massive loss of occupations, and houses, unexpected mitigation costs, the loss of markets and crowdedness for market support, and the multi-source of income as in small shops and housing rental. Their poverty informs a structural problem of low income worsened due to eviction. The eviction exacerbates the condition with the erasure of the economy, housing, and cultural life, leading to a repressed mental state among them. In identity, the struggle against eviction revived the community and a wide range of urban activists to remake the destroyed neighborhood, demanding rights in both formal and informal ways. Akuarium people also show a category of irregular workers and businesses in the urban economy of Jakarta. Most people work temporarily and have small businesses such as shops, food stalls, or street vendors to fulfill their daily needs.
The Akuarium people enact an urban play as a small tactic for survival, responding to various kinds of violence and the difficulty of eviction. The urban play includes mothers who brought appliances and mobilized small mobs. Mothers also opened their clothes with only underwear covering the breasts and sexual organs to seek the empathy of apparatuses for stopping the eviction. Akuarium people showed urban play as a claim of space without aggression and worked as a last-resort weapon to sustain community life. The play has been an archetype of resistance through spatial practice.
>>Your attendance is highly appreciated<<

แนวคิดเกษตรเชิงนิเวศและแนวทางการเกษตรที่ยั่งยืนในภาคเหนือและภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือของประเทศไทย
2023-04-07 09:00 - 2023-04-09 17:00 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
ประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการนิเวศเชิงเกษตรของเกษตรกร: แนวคิดเกษตรเชิงนิเวศและแนวทางการเกษตรที่ยั่งยืนในภาคเหนือและภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือของประเทศไทย

สรุปบทเรียนการขับเคลื่อนของภาคประชาชนด้านการจัดการที่ดินและทรัพยากรกรธรรมชาติ แนวคิดการพัฒนาที่ยั่งยืน ภายใต้หลักคิด “สิทธิชุมชน” และการสร้างมั่นคงหรืออธิปไตยทางอาหาร รวมทั้งยกระดับข้อเสนอด้านเกษตรนิเวศเพื่อขับเคลื่อนรณรงค์สาธารณะต่อไป

7-9 เมษายน 2566 ณ ห้องประชุม ชั้น 4 คณะสังคมศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่ โดยจะมีการถ่ายทอดสดผ่าน Facebook Live บนเพจ RCSD ด้วย

Peasant Agroecology to Address the Multiple Crises Facing Humanity
2023-04-07 09:00 - 15:00 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join Peter Rosset from ECOSUR Advanced Studies Institute, Mexico for a full-day presentation on Peasant Agroecology starting at 9 am at the 4th Floor meeting room of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University as part of the 3-day workshop (held in Thai) on “Agroecology Concepts and Sustainable Practices in the Northern and Northeastern Regions of Thailand” held 7-9 April at RCSD. The entire workshop, including Peter Rosset’s presentation will also be available on a live broadcast on the RCSD Facebook page (with live Thai language interpretation)

Work in Progress: Multispecies Masterclass in Thailand
2023-04-05 09:30 - 11:00 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to a public seminar: Work in Progress: Multispecies Masterclass in Thailand on Wednesday, 5 April 2023 from 9:30-10:45 in the Subaltern Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University or join through the Zoom link here
Speakers will include Alice Hughes from the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong 香港大學 and Eben Kirksey from the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford

Myanmar Women's Symposium & Summit
2023-03-08 09:00 - 16:00 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
On International Women’s Day, Wednesday March 8, join the “Myanmar Women’s Symposium and Summit” held from 9 am to 4 pm at the 4th floor meeting room of the Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. Organized by the Thanaka Gender Tekkatho, this symposium will bring together a wide variety of speakers who will discuss the challenges faced by and potentialities for women in the context of Myanmar’s current situation of political conflict and economic and social disruption.

Pushed Out: Forced Migration & Displacement from and within Myanmar
2023-02-24 14:00 - 17:00 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join us on Friday, 24 February at 2 pm (Indochina/Western Indonesia time) for a special talk: “PUSHED OUT: Forced migration and displacement from and within Myanmar.”
This panel will discuss the situation of forced displacement of Myanmar people, both internally within the country and moving outward to Thailand, Indonesia, and India. Each speaker will help give a localized view from multiple countries along with some of the different historical, political, and social contexts of forced migration.
Speakers:
– Yuyun Wahyuringnum, Indonesia representative on the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights; Senior Advisor on ASEAN and Human Rights.
– Dr. Muhammad Riza Nurdin, affiliated researcher with ICAIOS (International Center for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies)
– Adisorn Kerdmongkol, research officer for the Migrant Working Group
– Thiri, researcher, fixer and documentary producer from Myanmar.
– Mai Lucy Mawi, Institute of Chin Affairs
The event will be both onsite and online, with many of our speakers joining via zoom. The onsite portion will be held in the Subaltern Meeting Room, basement floor, Faculty of Social Sciences, CMU
To receive the zoom link for the event please register here
There will be Thai-English translation available on zoom ผู้ร่วมงานที่ต้องการการแปลไทย-อังกฤษสามารถฟังผ่าน zoom ได้เลยครับ
This event has been coordinated by RCSD in partnership with the support of IDRC / CRDI with the cooperation of Student Solidarity Indonesia-Myanmar (SINMAR) and Burma Concern Forum.

Book Launch: Waves of Upheaval
2023-02-15 13:00 - 15:00 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Wednesday, February 15, join RCSD for the launch and discussion of new book “Waves of Upheaval: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions” from NIAS Press, edited by Jenny Hedström and Elisabeth Olivius. Both editors will be participating in person along with a panel of Myanmar discussants including Naw K’Nyaw Paw, Justine Chambers, Hsa Moo, Maggi Quadrini, and Henri Myrtinnen.

Exhibition: Never Give Up
2023-02-01 16:00 - 17:00 | Chiang Mai University Food Center, Chiang Mai University Food Center, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
February 1 marks two years since the coup d’état in Myanmar which has led to over 700,000 people fleeing their homes.
But, where are they now? What are their thoughts and feelings about what’s happened in Myanmar?
If these questions interest you, we invite you to find some answers in the exhibition “Never Give Up” in which the people of Myanmar tell their own stories. Since the coup d’état in Myanmar of 2 years ago, news about the situation in Burma has been reported in Thailand and throughout the world. It has been two years of politicians opposing the coup in the capital of Yangon, urban middle class people refusing to work under the junta, or villagers on the border who fleeing into Thailand to escape aerial bombing of their homes.
Many stories that Thai people have heard are scattered narratives from an outsider’s point of view, leaving much of the story out. This exhibition is a space that allows artists from Myanmar to show their experiences and feelings having lived through the coup.
🗓️ Exhibition 1 to 21 February 2023
🛎️ Launch event February 1, 2023 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
⏰ Free admission!
📍 1st floor,Chiang Mai University Food Court
https://goo.gl/maps/deL9TNPemMmw9s2U9

"My life is linked with the river:" The Yuam River water diversion project
2023-01-27 13:30 - 15:00 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
On 27 Jan 2023 at 13.30 pm join RCSD for “‘My life is linked with the river’: The Yuam River water diversion project as contested hydrosocial territory” a presentation of research conducted by Antonia Mohr on the impacts and situation of an indigenous community in Mae Hong Son as it faces the approach of a large-scale government infrastructure project.

Join on-site at the Subaltern Meeting Room, basement floor of the Operations Building, Faculty of Social Science, or join online through zoom here:

https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/95242210751
Meeting ID: 952 4221 0751

Memories of Leaving the Myanmar Military
2023-01-26 16:00 - 17:30 | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join the launch of the 2022 issue of the Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship, ‘Memories of Leaving the Myanmar Military’, being held at the 4Fl meeting room of the Operations Building, in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. Copies of the journal will be available and food and drink will be served.

Htet Naing Aung, Helene Maria Kyed, Thinzar Shunlei Yi and Michael Charney will discuss the journal issue and the phenomenon of soldiers joining the Civil Disobedience Movement following the 2021 coup in Myanmar.

The event will also be streamed online, with a Zoom link to be made available here closer to the event date. To make sure you don’t miss out, click ‘Going’ on the facebook event page here:

Memories of Leaving the Myanmar Military

Addressing Multiple Marginalities Conference: 8-10 December 2022
2022-12-08 08:00 - 2022-12-10 13:00 | Uniserv, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The “Multiple Marginalities” conference is the first event being held by the Association for Asian Studies under the “Cultivating the Humanities and Social Sciences and Supporting Under-Represented Scholars of Asia” project, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). This symposium will bring together research and institutional partners from Thailand, India, Pakistan, and Cambodia in a unique opportunity for these partners from the Global South to meet and learn from each other and create new “networks of networks” that emphasize lateral connectivity, exchange, and partnerships going into the future.
The event will be filled with three days of panel presentations, roundtable discussions, photo, cultural, and textile exhibitions and a museum field trip with artist discussion for a range of participants from throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia. Register now here (free!) for the limited spaces still available for participants to join the symposium.

"Anthroposcenes:" Historicizing Colonial Landscapes and Seascapes
2022-12-01 11:00 - 13:00 | online, Thailand
AMOR MUNDI Multispecies Ecological Worldmaking Lab presents: “anthroposcenes: Historicizing Colonial Landscapes and Seascapes in the Pacific World”—A Talk by Environmental Historian Gregory T. Cushman, and Roundtable Speaker Discussion with CHamuro Poet & Scholar Craig Santos Perez & Multispecies Anthropocene Scholar Maya Kóvskaya, moderated by Mon Researcher Myint Than, with Audience Q&A.
Thursday, 1 December 2022
11 AM-1 PM (ICT) INDOCHINA Time / GMT+7/ UTC+7
REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK here
TALK ABSTRACT
From the time that humans first set foot on its shores, the Pacific World has had colonial landscapes and seascapes. Pictorial maps have been central to the modern history of representation and conception of this vast region, and they provide a vivid chronicle of colonialist ideologies in action and their contributions to environmental change, aspects of which long predate as well as critique Euro-American penetration of the region. From a decolonial perspective, Pacific landscapes and seascapes are as notable for that which is missing, erased, or out-of-sight as that which is easily visible to the colonial gaze. This article uses pictorial maps as a guide to three key epochs of environmental history in the region: the Homogenocene, Plantationocene, and Anthropocene. If earth scientists must insist on demarcating a starting point for the ‘human epoch’ of planetary history, they should look to dramatic absences—to anti-sedimentary formations—at the heart of the Pacific World to place their golden spike, which are symbolic of the extractivism and ruthless quest for power that drives industrial capitalist civilization.
ABOUT SPEAKER
GREGORY T. CUSHMAN (He/Him)
Gregory T. Cushman joined the history faculty at the University of Arizona, USA, this past August after years at the University of Kansas. He specializes in global environmental history, Latin American history, Pacific history, and the history of science, technology, and engineering. His award-winning book Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History (Cambridge University Press, 2013) is one of the first studies to examine the environmental and cultural history of the modern world from the perspective of the whole Pacific Basin and demonstrates how humble bird excrement changed the course of modern history. Climate change and variability are central issues in Cushman’s work, as well as the environmental engagements of Indigenous peoples in the Andean and Pacific Worlds. In 2015-17, he was the recipient of an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.

Book Launch & Discussion: "Winning by Process"
2022-11-28 13:00 - 15:00 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join us on Monday, 28 November for the book launch of “Winning by Process: The State and Neutralization of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar” (Cornell University Press) co-authored by Jacques Bertrand, Alexandre Pelletier, and Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung. The book launch and discussion will be held in the Subaltern Room with author Jacques Bertrand attending in-person along with discussants Ashley South and Tony Neil.
Winning by Process asks why the peace process stalled in the decade from 2011 to 2021 despite a liberalizing regime, a national ceasefire agreement, and a multilateral peace dialogue between the state and ethnic minorities. The book argues that stalled conflicts are more than pauses or stalemates. “Winning by process,” as opposed to winning by war or agreement, represents the state’s ability to gain advantage by manipulating the rules of negotiation, bargaining process, and sites of power and resources. During the last decade, the Myanmar state and military controlled the process, neutralized ethnic minority groups, and continued to impose their vision of a centralized state even as they appeared to support federalism.

Thesis proposal examination for Stephen Zau Zin Myat
2022-11-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Meeting room, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis proposal examination:
“Ethnic Formation: The Role of Wunpawng Christian Church among Diasporic Kachin in Urban Chiang Mai”
Presenter:
Stephen Zau Zin Myat, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
on Thursday, 17 November, 10:00 am
Examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mukdawan Sakboon: Committee
Lect. Dr. Putthida Kijdumnern: Committee
Venue
Onsite: Meeting room 1, 1st floor, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences
Online: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/96138122749
Meeting ID: 961 3812 2749
Your attendance is highly appreciated!

Thesis proposal examination for Minitta Taosouvanh
2022-11-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Meeting room, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis proposal examination:
“Community-Based Wetland Management and Sustainable Livelihood Practices in Neoliberal Development Conditions, Si Phan Don, the Lower Mekong River Basin, Lao PDR”
Presenter:
Minitta Taosouvanh, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
on Monday, 7 November, 10:00 am
Examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Chusak Wittayapak: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Arratee Ayuttacorn: Committee
Lect. Dr. Siya Uthai: Committee
Venue
Onsite: Meeting room 1, 1st floor, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences
Online: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/95157943845
Meeting ID: 951 5794 3845
Your attendance is highly appreciated!

A Pocketful of Seeds: circulation of plants as a tool of resilience
2022-10-07 13:30 - 15:30 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join us for a public seminar: “A Pocketful of Seeds: The Circulation of Plants as a Tool of Resilience among the Hmong Global Diaspora” presented by Alex Greene, PhD Student, French Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of French Guiana on Friday, October 7th, 2022 from 1.30 – 3.30 pm at the Subaltern Meeting Room, Ground Floor, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Alex Greene is a PhD student with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), based at the University of French Guiana. His interdisciplinary approach uses ethnobotany as a lens to examine an array of issues around human-environmental relations, such as spiritual environmental beliefs and practices, multispecies relations, and food systems. His background is in environmental education, field ornithology and botany, and he has completed research projects on sacred and community forests in Nepal, human-elephant relations among the Karen in Thailand, and plant knowledge among the Raglai of Vietnam. His ongoing PhD project looks at how the circulation of plants has helped Hmong communities adapt to life in the global diaspora.

Thesis Proposal Examination for Bintar Mupiza
2022-09-29 13:30 - 15:30 | Meeting room, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis proposal examination:
“Nexus of Social Differentiations and Conflicts in Oil Palm Plantation Zones, South Sumatera Province, Indonesia”
Presenter:
Bintar Mupiza, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
on Thursday, 29 September, 1:30 pm
Examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Chusak Wittayapak: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ta-Wei Chu: Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leeprecha: Committee
Venue
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/97789177387
Onsite: 1st Floor Meeting Room, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences.

Indigenous & More-Than-Human Ecological Justice Workshop
2022-09-15 08:00 - 2022-09-19 17:00 | Chiang Mai
This site-specific five-day workshop will introduce emerging scholars in the Global South to transformative and transdisciplinary concepts and research methods in environmental humanities and social science research. Struggles for justice under Anthropocene conditions in the Global South will be contextualized in relation to the “feral effects” of dams and water diversion megaprojects on indigenous, marginalized and more-than-human communities, and their entangled socio-ecological lives and livelihoods, along rivers, and areas subject to development-driven deforestation and human disturbance.
Apply before August 5; read more details on how to apply here

A critical juncture: crises, disruption and the struggle for climate justice in Myanmar
2022-08-23 09:30 - 11:30 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
“A critical juncture: crises, disruption and the struggle for climate justice in Myanmar” with Dr. Ashley South on Tues, 23 August from 9.30 am to 11.30 am in the Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

7th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) at CMU
2022-07-22 - 2022-07-23 | Chiang Mai
The 7th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD):
“Disruption, Challenges and Resilience in Contemporary Southeast Asia” will be held virtual and onsite 22-23 July 2022 in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The 7th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD 7) invites scholars, researchers, graduate students across disciplines to submit the papers and being engaged in dialogues on the social and political dimensions of the unprecedented crisis, changes, challenges and opportunities faced by Southeast Asian societies in recent years, with a particularly emphasis on several key themes, including the Covid 19 pandemic; resource governance and conflict; climate change and environmental degradation; social and political conflict and crisis; and geopolitics and security in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo Pacific region.

Conference Themes

* COVID-19, Gender & Resilience
* Climate Change, Conflicts & Livelihood Security
* Human Rights, Conflict Transformation and Peace
* Migration, Forced Displacement & Refugees
* Agrarian Transformation, Resource Governance & Food Security
* Human Security & Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
* Media, Digital Rights & Governance
* Gender and Sexual Representation
* Urban Space & Urban Livelihood
* Transnationalism, Transboundary Investment (BRI), SEZs

Cross-Cultural Encounters with Buddhist Monks in Chiang Mai
2022-07-06 13:30 - 15:30 | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join RCSD on July 6, 13.30-15.00 for a talk with Brooke Schedneck, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College on her new book “Religious Tourism in Northern Thailand: Encounters with Buddhist Monks” published by University of Washington Press.
