NEW 🇮🇩 With the destruction of landmark Dutch-era buildings in August's protests, Indonesians have lost sites where they have for generations re-signified colonial remains into something simultaneously inherited and all their own, writes Noandha Dhegaska. www.newmandala.org/indonesias-h...

NEW 🇲🇲 The post-coup conflict has repeatedly confounded bold predictions of both swift regime collapse and decisive opposition victory. For now, the grinding reality points less to liberation than to a bloody stalemate, writes Andrew Selth. www.newmandala.org/myanmar-and-...

NEW 🇲🇲 The post-coup conflict has repeatedly confounded bold predictions of both swift regime collapse and decisive opposition victory. For now, the grinding reality points less to liberation than to a bloody stalemate, writes Andrew Selth. www.newmandala.org/myanmar-and-...

Great piece by Edward Aspinall discussing the ongoing protests in Indonesia (and why they are likely to keep resurfacing). www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

NEW 🇮🇩 @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on how "August’s anti-government protests highlight the growth of a subculture of street protest in Indonesia in ways that that echo the anti-Suharto activism of the 1990s" www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

"The recent protests can thus be understood as product of a clash between two worlds of Indonesian politics: the world of official representative politics and the subculture of youth protest that rejects it." NB @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on #Indonesia protests: www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

My take on the recent protests in Indonesia www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

NEW 🇮🇩 "What [the protesters] really stand for, above all, is rejection of the entire ruling elite. And the entire ruling elite, more or less, stands united against them." @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on last week's protests and the limits of comparisons with 1998 www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

NEW 🇮🇩 "What [the protesters] really stand for, above all, is rejection of the entire ruling elite. And the entire ruling elite, more or less, stands united against them." @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on last week's protests and the limits of comparisons with 1998 www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

NEW 🇮🇩 @edwardaspinall.bsky.social on how "August’s anti-government protests highlight the growth of a subculture of street protest in Indonesia in ways that that echo the anti-Suharto activism of the 1990s" www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...

NEW 🇮🇩 "In Surabaya, the ghosts of the Dutch East Indies have not merely lingered; they have been revived through commodification in tourism...a certain narrative is quietly whispered: the colonial past was not only orderly and elegant, but perhaps even desirable" www.newmandala.org/instagrammin...

REVIEW: Brian Curtin reviews "Iola Lenzi’s Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970". www.newmandala.org/review-power...

Interesting post on @newmandala.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/instagrammin...

NEW 🇮🇩 "In Surabaya, the ghosts of the Dutch East Indies have not merely lingered; they have been revived through commodification in tourism...a certain narrative is quietly whispered: the colonial past was not only orderly and elegant, but perhaps even desirable" www.newmandala.org/instagrammin...

REVIEW: Brian Curtin reviews "Iola Lenzi’s Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970". www.newmandala.org/review-power...

NEW 🇮🇩🇯🇵 Right-wingers are scapegoating foreigners as part of their campaign for Japan's upper house elections, creating new anxieties for the local Indonesian community—and distracting political attention from the need for reforms to protect migrant worker rights. www.newmandala.org/japanese-fir...

NEW 🇮🇩🇯🇵 Right-wingers are scapegoating foreigners as part of their campaign for Japan's upper house elections, creating new anxieties for the local Indonesian community—and distracting political attention from the need for reforms to protect migrant worker rights. www.newmandala.org/japanese-fir...

NEW 🇮🇩🇯🇵 Right-wingers are scapegoating foreigners as part of their campaign for Japan's upper house elections, creating new anxieties for the local Indonesian community—and distracting political attention from the need for reforms to protect migrant worker rights. www.newmandala.org/japanese-fir...

NEW 🇲🇾 Putrayaja is taking Malaysia’s universities down the sorry path tread by many other governments towards commercialisation—and the declining research and teaching quality that come along with that. www.newmandala.org/rescuing-mal...

NEW 🇲🇾 Putrayaja is taking Malaysia’s universities down the sorry path tread by many other governments towards commercialisation—and the declining research and teaching quality that come along with that. www.newmandala.org/rescuing-mal...

NEW 🇮🇩 Ahmad Syarif from @johnshopkinssais.bsky.social takes a look at the rise of bankers and professional investors in government in Indonesia—and how they’ve eclipsed academic economists as a key source of influence over the direction of economic policy www.newmandala.org/beyond-the-b...

NEW 🇮🇩 Ahmad Syarif from @johnshopkinssais.bsky.social takes a look at the rise of bankers and professional investors in government in Indonesia—and how they’ve eclipsed academic economists as a key source of influence over the direction of economic policy www.newmandala.org/beyond-the-b...

Exciting new work on Laos!

NEW: 🇱🇦 Mineral wealth is being enshrined—literally—in a new pagoda in Attapeu, epitomising what Amelie Katczynski sees as a nation-building effort that casts participation in economic development as an essential part of being Lao today. www.newmandala.org/attapeus-new...

NEW 🇱🇦 Scholarship on the impacts of hydroelectricity in Laos often focuses on what it destroys, rather than what it creates—Floramante SJ Ponce has sought to fill that gap in his doctoral research. Part of an essay series supported by @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/from-flicker...

NEW 🇱🇦 We're pleased to share two new essays drawing on ethnographic research in Laos! 👇

NEW 🇵🇭 Is Palawan set to join other places in Southeast Asia and across the Global South in bearing the environmental and social burdens of the world’s shift to green energy and transport? www.newmandala.org/extracting-v...

FROM THE ARCHIVE 🇮🇩 As Gunung Agung rumbled in 2017, we were pleased to publish the late Anthony Reid's essay on the historical impacts of volcanic eruptions in the Indonesian archipelago—and what they suggest about the need for preparedness for disasters to come: www.newmandala.org/fragile-para...

NEW 🇻🇳: Khánh Linh Lê argues that postwar Vietnam shows how "state-building is not a purely top-down process—rather, its outcome is shaped by the bottom-up dynamics of settler migration, and the resulting interactions between settlers and indigenous minorities." www.newmandala.org/coffee-confl...

NEW 🇮🇩 Open your fridge or your bathroom cabinet and you'll spot something containing carageenan, a seaweed-derived thickener. In Indonesia, a major carageenan exporter, a seaweed boom is transforming coastal communities' ties with each other and the local state. www.newmandala.org/sea-space-co...

VALE: "For Anthony Reid, truth-telling about the past was not a threat to the nation but the foundation of its maturity. In this spirit, he remains a guiding light for scholars committed to writing Southeast Asia from within." www.newmandala.org/remembering-...

NEW 🇮🇩: Indonesian elites increasingly live in fear of the wrath of social media. But social-media driven "reactive democracy" isn't a substitute for functioning democratic institutions, and risks reinforcing the plebiscitarian dynamics of the post-Jokowi politics. www.newmandala.org/indonesias-d...

NEW 🇹🇭 In "Memory Complex", an empty Bangkok shophouse becomes home to artworks that provide a potent reminder of the sacrifices made for the possibility of democracy in Thailand. By Tyrell Haberkorn (@turtelista.bsky.social) www.newmandala.org/art-in-a-tim...

NEW 🇹🇭 In "Memory Complex", an empty Bangkok shophouse becomes home to artworks that provide a potent reminder of the sacrifices made for the possibility of democracy in Thailand. By Tyrell Haberkorn (@turtelista.bsky.social) www.newmandala.org/art-in-a-tim...

NEW 🇮🇩: Indonesian elites increasingly live in fear of the wrath of social media. But social-media driven "reactive democracy" isn't a substitute for functioning democratic institutions, and risks reinforcing the plebiscitarian dynamics of the post-Jokowi politics. www.newmandala.org/indonesias-d...

VALE: "For Anthony Reid, truth-telling about the past was not a threat to the nation but the foundation of its maturity. In this spirit, he remains a guiding light for scholars committed to writing Southeast Asia from within." www.newmandala.org/remembering-...

NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesian officials portray drugs as sapping the productive potential of young people—but Louis Plottel's ethnographic research in Aceh asks: in what ways does drug use work *with* the demands of contemporary labour? Supported by @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/indonesias-n...

NEW: Discussions about transnational influences on Mainland Southeast Asia's autocratisation often focus on China—but @gregoryvraymond.bsky.social argues that a more important factor is how the region’s authoritarian regimes help reinforce each other. www.newmandala.org/making-mainl...

NEW 🇵🇭: The Marcos family remains a powerful dynasty in the wake of the Philippines' 2025 midterms. But the family’s cohesion is faltering, as newly re-elected Senator Imee Marcos plays nice with the Dutertes while laying claim to the family’s political legacy. www.newmandala.org/imee-marcos-...

NEW: 🇵🇭's female members of congress, including those with dynastic ties, are much more likely than male counterparts to advocate for gender equality in legislative processes—supporting the case for quotas to boost women's representation elsewhere in the region. www.newmandala.org/gender-dynas...

FROM THE ARCHIVE 🇮🇩 As Gunung Agung rumbled in 2017, we were pleased to publish the late Anthony Reid's essay on the historical impacts of volcanic eruptions in the Indonesian archipelago—and what they suggest about the need for preparedness for disasters to come: www.newmandala.org/fragile-para...

NEW 🇵🇭 Is Palawan set to join other places in Southeast Asia and across the Global South in bearing the environmental and social burdens of the world’s shift to green energy and transport? www.newmandala.org/extracting-v...

NEW 🇮🇩 Open your fridge or your bathroom cabinet and you'll spot something containing carageenan, a seaweed-derived thickener. In Indonesia, a major carageenan exporter, a seaweed boom is transforming coastal communities' ties with each other and the local state. www.newmandala.org/sea-space-co...

Insightful explanation of the head-scratcher that is Imee Marcos.

NEW 🇵🇭: "The outcome of the 2025 midterm elections confirmed two trends in the Duterte–Marcos period: the emergence of politics as a three-way fight between the Marcos administration, a resilient Duterte camp, and the traditional liberal opposition." www.newmandala.org/amid-the-mid...

NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesian officials portray drugs as sapping the productive potential of young people—but Louis Plottel's ethnographic research in Aceh asks: in what ways does drug use work *with* the demands of contemporary labour? Supported by @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/indonesias-n...

NEW 🇵🇭: "The outcome of the 2025 midterm elections confirmed two trends in the Duterte–Marcos period: the emergence of politics as a three-way fight between the Marcos administration, a resilient Duterte camp, and the traditional liberal opposition." www.newmandala.org/amid-the-mid...

NEW 🇵🇭: The Marcos family remains a powerful dynasty in the wake of the Philippines' 2025 midterms. But the family’s cohesion is faltering, as newly re-elected Senator Imee Marcos plays nice with the Dutertes while laying claim to the family’s political legacy. www.newmandala.org/imee-marcos-...

NEW 🇻🇳: Khánh Linh Lê argues that postwar Vietnam shows how "state-building is not a purely top-down process—rather, its outcome is shaped by the bottom-up dynamics of settler migration, and the resulting interactions between settlers and indigenous minorities." www.newmandala.org/coffee-confl...

NEW: 'On Friday 28 March at 5:40pm in Australia, I received a Telegram message from my mother, back home in Yangon, in our family chat. She said “Hi”, and I responded back, “hello”. The next message was, “Big strong earthquake happening”.' www.newmandala.org/if-you-need-...