The latest issue of Asia in Focus, Issue 4, is now out and freely available at http://www.asiainfocus.dk/. In this issue you can read about the influence of Adat culture on the peace process in North Maluku, Indonesia, and the development
Craft, Currencies, and Ritual Orders in a Northern Thai village
Henrik Kloppenborg Møller is an anthropologist and PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology, Lund University. His PhD project examines the organization of the trade in jade between Northern Myanmar and China, and the role of jade in Chinese cosmology. Henrik
Japan’s ideal and less ideal victims
The brutal murders of Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa at the hands of ISIS have understandably captured the interest of the Japanese nation. Opinions on the victims have ranged from the deeply sympathetic to the victim-blaming. Moreover the
Report from the streets of Bangkok
For safety reasons I am omitting my name from this account. My apologies. I was in my house, when I heard. A friend messaged me, urging me to turn on the television, and so I did. All channels showed the
The Creeping Coup
Thailand has an impressive track-record in the department of political coups. There has, in the country’s democratic history (since 1932) been 18 more or less successful coups in Thailand. For this reason, whenever there is political instability, Thai media and
Being a tourist in Myanmar
By Kristina Jönsson, Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Lund University The political changes currently seen in Myanmar (former Burma) were for most observers unthinkable only a few years ago. I am not a specialist on Burmese politics, but have
Farming is Ugly: Reform, Friction and Bishan Commune
From 2014, Anhui Province will pilot a reform of the residential land market in China, thus integrating rural Anhui in the national housing market. On the opposite note, artist and activist Ou Ning has proposed the Bishan time money currency,
The dice that always land on red
About a week ago, Thailand’s capital Bangkok, saw the largest demonstrations since the political turmoil that gripped the country in 2010. Back then, supporters of Thailand’s exiled former Premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, took the streets. That didn’t end well – when
Developing Vietnam with whom?
Restoration 2.0 for the Resurgence of Modern Vietnam By Mia Ji Sørensen ”Wouldn’t you define Vietnam as a middle-income country?” I was asked this rhetorical question last week. Despite its emerging economy status, with a growth rate of approximately
On Testimonial Therapy & the Life Project
INTERVIEW What testimonial therapy does is try & bring private suffering into public & political spheres. Inger Agger (IA) is a psychologist, currently working with the Danish Institution Against Torture,(DIGNITY) and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. She visited