Professor Chang-Yau Hoon of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam has recently co-authored a book together with Ying-kit Chan of the National University of Singapore entitled Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (Lexington Books, 2023).This volume examines various interactions and connections between Southeast Asia and China, both historical and contemporary, and it is innovative in that it attempts to do so from a Southeast Asian perspective.Professor David Shambaugh from George Washington University, who is also the author of Where Great Powers Meet: American & China in Southeast Asia commented that: “This unique volume is…

Senior Assistant Professor Sin Yee Koh of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) has co-edited a journal special issue entitled “The Urbanising Dynamics of Global China: Speculation, Articulation, and Translation in Global Capitalism” with Professor Hyun Bang Shin (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Dr Yimin Zhao (Renmin University of China).Published in the journal, Urban Geography, the special issue contains four research articles and a commentary by Professor Tim Bunnell (National University of Singapore).Here is the full abstract of the special issue introduction:The assembled papers in this special issue jointly explore the…

Assistant Professor Angela Tritto of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) has recently published a new paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace entitled “How Indonesia Used Chinese Industrial Investments to Turn Nickel into the New Gold.”The paper is a study of the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi, one of the largest Chinese investments in Indonesia, and more specifically, of the cross-currents that both Chinese and Indonesian players in this project have had to navigate.The paper is available online on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website.

Assistant Professor Sanjeev Routray of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) has recently published an article entitled “Paper Struggles: Documents, Inscriptions, and Citizenship Negotiations in Delhi.”Published in the journal, City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action, the article examines how certain documents, such as ration cards and voter IDs, play a role in establishing and validating claims of urban citizenship in DelhiHere is the full abstract:The paper analyses how documents, particularly ration cards and voter IDs, mediate and constitute urban citizenship claims, especially on the part of the poor to gain access to welfare…

Assistant Professor Sanjeev Routray of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) has recently published an article on aspects of the informal economy in Delhi, India.Entitled “Timepass’ and ‘Setting’: The Meanings, Relationships, and Politics of Urban Informal Work in Delhi” and published in Urban Studies, the abstract of the article is as follows:The engagement of people in extremely low-wage work in major cities of the Global South and their withdrawal from labour-organising activities arise from several factors. Among these is the hegemonic meaning construction of work as ‘timepass’ or leisure and as an opportunity for…

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam is pleased to announce the publication of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei.Edited by Ooi Keat Gin (Professor, Academy of Brunei Studies, UBD and Honorary Professor, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia) and Victor T. King (Distinguished Professor of Borneo Studies, Institute of Asian Studies), this volume presents an overview of significant themes, issues, and challenges pertinent to Brunei Darussalam in the twenty-first century.Multidisciplinary in coverage, the contributions cover topics relating to philology, history, religion, language and literature, geography, international relations, economics, politics and sociocultural traditions. The back-cover description of the…

Victor T. King, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD), has recently contributed to a special section in the journal, Suvannabhumi, on COVID-19 and Southeast Asia.In addition to writing an introduction to the special section, Dr. King also has an article entitled “Covid-19 and Transitions: Case Material from Southeast Asia,” in which he examines the question of whether the pandemic has created a “new normal” or if the availability of vaccines is leading to a return to the old normal with some modest adjustments.This special section also includes an article by…

Assistant Professor F. Merlin Franco of the Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam has co-authored an article with Nurzahidah Bakar on “The Fading Popularity of a Local Ecological Calendar from Brunei Darussalam, Borneo.”Published in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, the article describes how the ecological calendar of the Kedayan people of Brunei Darussalam links skyscape and biodiversity with sociocultural aspirations to foster adaptive management of landscape, and provide an understanding of the transmission of calendric knowledge in the community.Click here to view the full article.Bakar, N., Franco, F. The fading popularity of a local ecological calendar from…

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam is pleased to announce that Assistant Professor Lisa Arensen has recently published a paper entitled “Living with Landmines: Inhabiting a War-Altered Landscape.”Published in Material Culture, this article examines the efforts of the inhabitants of Reakshmei Songha village in western Cambodia to live in an environment that is littered with the material remains of war.To view the article, please visit the Material Culture website.To learn more about Dr. Arensen’s scholarship, please visit her IAS staff web page.Arensen, L. (2021). “Living with Landmines: Inhabiting a War-Altered Landscape.” Material Culture (online first): 1-16. Doi:…

The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (IAS @ UBD) is pleased to share information about a new journal article on human security in Southeast Asia. The article is entitled “Human Security, Marginality and Precariousness in Southeast Asia,” and is authored by IAS staff members Professor Victor T. King, Associate Professor Paul J. Carnegie, and IAS Research Associate Assistant Professor Magne Knudsen. Appearing in the International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, the abstract of the article is as follows: ″Besides the more obvious threats and impediments to human security posed by conflict or natural disaster, a central problem…