RCSD : The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development

Thesis proposal examination for Sumitra Thidar Soe
2022-04-26 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | RCSD Study Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, 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:
“Myanmar Military Coup Impact on Displaced Women in Mae Sot, Thailand”
Presenter: Sumitra Thidar Soe, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
on Tuesday, 26 April, 13:30 P.M.
Examining committee
Lect. Dr. Shirley Woarland: Chair
Lect. Dr. Rangsima Wiwatwongwana: Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha: Committee
Venue
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/95991658318
Onsite: RCSD study room 02-001, 2nd floor, Operational Building, Faculty of Social Sciences.

Heritage Drinks of Myanmar book launch & author talk
2022-04-21 15:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
You are invited to attend a book launch + party + author talk for “Heritage Drinks of Myanmar” by Luke James Corbin on Thursday, 21 April at the 4th Fl meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Published by Silkworm Books, this book is an anthropological journey throughout Myanmar, showcasing fourteen of the wide variety of local alcoholic drinks made in this unique and fascinating country. In Myanmar, freshly brewed and distilled beers, wines and spirits are integral parts of village economies, providing health, communal and financial benefits. Rice whiskeys infused with insects and fresh beers made from a cornucopia of grains are brewed as they have been for generations by village residents with their own individual unique customs and traditions.
Afterwards, from 6pm, a cocktail party and book launch celebration will be held at the Bibliothèque De L’ Ècole Française D’ Extrême-Orient Centre De Chiangmai in conjunction with the “Tranc/figuration” tatoo exhibition, attended by the French ambassador to Thailand. Please dress “smart casual” for the celebration party.

Thesis Proposal Defense for Aung Nyi Lwin & Thesis Examination for Hanna Nur Afifah Yogar
2022-04-07 09:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | RCSD Study Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD is pleased to invite you to participate in a thesis examination:
Objectifying the More-Than-Human: Bornean Orangutans and Indonesian Oil Palm Plantations in the Ecocidal Capitalism
Thursday 7 April 2022 at 9.00 A.M.
Presenter: Hanna Nur Afifah Yogar, (MA in Social Science, specializing in Development Studies)
Examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton, (Chulalongkorn University)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mukdawan Sakboon, (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)
Lect. Dr. Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, (Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University)
Onsite: RCSD study room 02-001, 2Fl, Operational building, Faculty of Social Science
Online: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/93125569053
Abstract:
For Indonesia, Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the economic development project of oil palm plantations in Kalimantan Island are two sides of the same coin. The one that is valued as a “free gift,” and another serves as an economic good as manifested through ecocidal capitalism respectively. It signifies the distinct way in conceiving and treating more-than-human, or the process of embracing the other beings other than human’s existence. Therefore, it leads to the process of objectification of degrading Bornean Orangutans’ values—while this ape plays a great role in maintaining the balanced ecosystem. This study calls attention to the process of how causal chains of intersection between Bornean Orangutans, capitalism, and oil palm plantations alter the socio-ecological condition in Kalimantan island; and scrutinizes how eco-governance in the context of Bornean Orangutans and Indonesian oil palm plantation be managed to achieve ecology-economy sustainability and knowledge integration. Three theories underpin this study: the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), eco-governmentality and knowledge integration, as well as social (ecological) embeddedness through theory of doughnut economics. This study employs a qualitative approach by
conducting online interviews and case study in Kalimantan. In addition to that, secondary data is obtained through extensive literature review to support the primary information. The key findings show that each actor conceives more-than-human according to their interest and knowledge-based abilities that navigate to the given priority treatment. The Indonesian government tends to comprehend the oil palm agro-industry as a source of material gain—while protecting Bornean Orangutans on the basis of its icon or flagship species for the country, and its critically endangered (CR) status linked to the ecological niche. In a different sense, Kalimantan Dayak ethnic see the oil palm plantations as the battlefield in defending their lives and customary rights—including their cognizance of Bornean Orangutans as a sentient being that co-existing based on their indigenous ethics. For the conservation organization and environmental organization, they appear as actors that bridge the government’s scientific rationale and Kalimantan Dayak’s indigenous worldview and produce the so-called situated knowledge. Importantly, the findings testify that the constant expansion of the oil palm mega-agro industry brings ecocidal capitalism as an activity to multiply capital—and therefore yield unintended and detrimental effects, e.g., climate crisis, transboundary conflict, socio-economic inequality, and other demerits. Ecocidal capitalism is exacerbated by the oil palm global demand that forces global land rush within the globalization epoch. These findings provide alternatives in dealing with this particular problem of addressing the economic-ecology to not merely rely on technocentric methods such as technical and technological-based conservation—but also the approach from indigenous and situated knowledge as alternatives in addressing and solving the problem to balance the system of
economy and ecology. These all can be embodied in written codified regulations as a formal guideline, and an uncodified practice that involves multi actors in different levels, rationale, and implementation in dealing with a similar issue—the objectification of Bornean Orangutans within the oil palm plantations’ context.

Thesis proposal examination
Thursday, 7 April, 1:30 P.M.
“The Role of Chinese Investment in Banana Plantation, Lamyang village, Kachin State”
Presenter: Mr. Aung Nyi Lwin, (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Venue
Online: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/92281648546
Onsite: RCSD study room 02-001, 2 Fl, Operational Building, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Examining committee
Lect. Dr. Ta-Wei Chu (David): Chair
Lect. Dr. Siya Uthai: Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mukdawan Sakboon: Committee

Seminar: Myanmar's Digital Coup
2022-03-31 14:00 - 16:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Seminar: Myanmar’s Digital Coup
Date and time: 31 March 2022, 14.00-16.00
Venue: 4th floor meeting room, Operational Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

To attend in person, please register here
To attend via zoom meeting, please register here

Thesis Proposal Defense for Nazmul Islam and Nan Mya Oo
2022-03-31 11:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Chiang Mai
RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in two thesis proposal examinations on Tuesday, 31 March
at 11:00
“Women’s Representation in Higher Education of Engineering Studies in Bangladesh”
Presenter: Nazmul Islam (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/93625163127
Thesis proposal examining committee
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amporn Jirattikorn: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha: Committee
Assoc. Prof. Dr. James Taylor: Committee
>>Your attendance is highly appreciated<<

at 14:30
“Tai migrants’ access to land and their livelihood security in Loi Khur Village, Chiang Mai, Thailand”
Presenter: Nan Mya Oo (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/97616841828
Thesis proposal examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mukdawan Sakboon: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha: Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Arratee Ayuttacorn: Committee

Thesis Proposal Defense for Achmad Firas Khudi and Sai Phyoe Zin Aung
2022-03-22 10:00 - 16:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Chiang Mai
RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University is pleased to invite you to participate in two thesis proposal examinations on Tuesday, 22 March
at 10:00 am
“Neighborhood from Below: Livelihoods and Dwelling of Akuarium People in Urban Transformation of Jakarta”
Presenter: Achmad Firas Khudi (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/92927040710
Onsite: Subaltern Meeting Room CMU., basement floor, Operational building, Faculty of Social Sciences, CMU
*All Students, please note: The seats in the room are limited, if you wish to attend the defense onsite, please register by email*
Thesis proposal examining committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prasit Leepreecha: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Chusak Wittayapak: Committee
Asst. Prof. Komson Teeraparbwong: Committee
>>Your attendance is highly appreciated<<
at 13:30 pm
“Pregnant Shan Migrants’ Access to and Utilization of Care in Chiang Mai, Thailand”
Presenter: Sai Phyoe Zin Aung (Master of Arts in Social Science, Specialization in Development Studies)
Zoom link: https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/96858596030
Onsite : Meeting room at the Department of Social Science and Development, 1st floor.
*All Students, please note: The seats in the room are limited, if you wish to attend the defense onsite, please register by email*
Thesis proposal examining committee
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amporn Jirattikorn: Chair
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mukdawan Sakboon: Committee
Asst. Prof. Dr. Bo Kyeong Seo: Committee
>>Your attendance is highly appreciated<<

Seminar: Everyday Justice and State Evasion in Myanmar
2022-03-15 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Chiang Mai
15 March 2022 – 1.30 to 3:30PM
Venue: RCSD Meeting Room (In person and online)

In Myanmar people’s access to justice has been severely hampered by decades of authoritarian military rule, identity politics and ongoing conflicts. The violent reimposition of military rule in February 2021 has drastically undermined people’s fragile sense of security and hope that the country might change, including prospects for reform in the justice sector. However, even prior to the coup, the central state justice system has not been associated with the provision of justice, but with discrimination, corruption, and injustices. Drawing on ethnographies of everyday justice across Myanmar (Naga, Karen, Mon, Pa-O, Rakhine, Yangon) in the pre-coup period, this seminar illuminates how ordinary people use alternative pathways to justice and deliberately evade the state. This is shaped by a strong preference for customary, ethnic-based, and village-level dispute resolution systems, and by a deep mistrust in centralized authority and official state law. Ethno-religious forms of belonging and cultural and religious norms, also shape justice preferences and ethnic justice systems have formed part of ongoing struggles for recognition, federalism, and self-determination by different ethnic organisations. The seminar will reflect on how research on everyday justice continues to be relevant in understanding and moving beyond the current crisis following the 1 February 2021 coup in Myanmar.

Speakers:
Helene Maria Kyed, Danish Institute for International Studies
Myat Thet Thitsar, Nyan Corridor and Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation
Thang Sorn Poine, Nyan Corridor and Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation
Justine Chambers, Danish Institute for International Studies

Discussant(s):
Kim Jolliffe
May Oo Muttraw (မေဦးမုတြော်)

To attend the Zoom meeting, please register to get the zoom link at https://cmu-th.zoom.us/…/tJEucumurzkvE9NxSJnndFM8AVf7…

For people attending on site, please register via this link https://forms.gle/BeTag1vK8MFVisHXA

Book Launch: Migration and Women’s Land Tenure Security in the Greater Mekong Sub-region
2021-05-19 13:30 - 14:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | Chiang Mai
The new book Migration and Women’s Land Tenure Security in the Greater Mekong Sub-region draws on country-level and ethnographic research, based on a collaboration between FAO and Chiang Mai University. The book explores how migration affects women’s land tenure security, and in turn the ways in which women’s control over land shapes patterns of migration, through case studies in a Hmong community in northern Lao PDR, a Karenni community in eastern Myanmar and a village in north-eastern Thailand.
The online book launch takes places on Wednesday 19th May from 13.30-14.30 (Thai time). Please join us by Zoom (https://cmu-th.zoom.us/j/95564482931) or live-stream on Facebook

ICBMS3
2021-03-05 08:00 - 2021-03-07 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Uniserv, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies will be co-organized from 5-7 March 2021 at Chiang Mai University. It aims to be a platform for regional/international scholars and practitioners interested in Burma/Myanmar society as it undergoes economic, political and social transformation to exchange ideas and research experiences on critical issues, as well as strengthen and expand their networks. The ICBMS3 committee invites individual abstracts as well as panel proposals from interested academics, researchers, graduate students, and professionals, as well as practitioners engaged in the field of Burma/Myanmar studies.
Conference themes

Economic Development in Myanmar
Resource Management (Forest, Land, Water, Fishes) & Governance
Agrarian Transformation & Environmental/Climate Change
Urban Space & Urban Livelihood
Migration, Migrants, Refugees and the Displaced
Transnationalism, Transboundary Investment (BRI), SEZs
Peace Process & Governance
Ethnic Inclusion/Exclusion
History and Social Memory
Language, Mother-tongue Language Education
Changing Media Landscape (Hate Speech)
Popular Religion, Religion and Harmony
Health Equality/Inequality
Education and Development, Non-state Education
Gender & Development
Myanmar and East Asian Powers
Art and Society
Food Security and Food Sovereignty
Social and Environmental Movements

Objectives

To deepen our understanding of the social and political transformations occurring in Burma/Myanmar and their impact on the environment, as well as on the economic and social lives of local/ethnic communities;
To examine Burma/Myanmar’s nexus and connectivity within the regional and global context, as well as the internal interplay taking place among state actors, society and culture;
To provide a platform for the exchange of academic ideas and dialogue among Burma/Myanmar scholars from around the world.

Book Launch & Seminar: State of Land in the Mekong Region
2019-08-28 10:00 - 16:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
“State of Land in the Mekong Region” book launch + seminar on 28 August 2019, organized by RCSD The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, starting 10 am at the 4th floor meeting room, operations building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University. (there are morning and afternoon sessions).
The State of Land in the Mekong Region brings together data and information on current status and trajectories of change with regard to land resources, their social distribution, and the conditions of their governance that shape them. The book results from a long process of research and consultation involving more than 100 land experts in the region and across the world. It has been coordinated by the CDE – Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern and the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG), funded by Swiss Cooperation Mekong, LuxDev – Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency, implemented by Land Equity International and Gret, with support from GIZ Laos.
This book event aims to raise awareness and discuss key issues documented in the book such as dramatic transformation of agricultural and land tenure systems, the acceleration of land-based investments and trade of land-intensive commodities, and the growing inequality between smallholder farmers and other agricultural producers. The morning session will present both the regional overview from the book, and details from the chapter concerning Thailand. The afternoon session involves a seminar on the topic of ‘land and inequality in Thailand’ with presentations and a panel of government, academic, NGO and CSO stakeholders. Participants are welcome to attend either or both of these sessions.

Knots “Lessons Learned” Workshop
2018-10-01 09:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all participants of the KNOTS Transdisciplinary Research and Teaching Summer School from CMU to join us for a reflection/training workshop “Lessons Learned?” Students, translators, instructors, please join us at 9 am Monday 1 Oct at the Subaltern Meeting Room!

Seminar: Diversity in Communal Land Titling: Thailand Myanmar Laos and Cambodia
2017-02-08 13:00 - 16:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join the Mekong Land Research Forum and RCSD from 13.00-16.30 on Wednesday 8 February 2017 at the 4th Floor Meeting room, Operational Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, for “Diversity in Communal Land Titling: Thailand Myanmar Laos and Cambodia”
In recent years, considerable interest has been shown amongst communities, non-government organizations and government agencies in what is commonly known as “Communal Land Titling”. The development of legal frameworks have taken on various forms in different countries due to a wide range of socio-cultural, legal and political factors. This seminar offers an overview of Communal Land Titling in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Different approaches will be compared and contrasted to assist practitioners and academics thinking about different ways to support Communal Land Titling in mainland Southeast Asia. See less
