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18. Oct 2021
Competitive Hindutva
Hinduism, InFocus, political parties, religion
Moumita Sen, Associate Professor of Culture Studies at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society Kenneth Bo Nielsen, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo The run-up to next year’s state assembly elections in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh vividly shows us the extent to which political parties across the […]
Read more27. May 2014
Report from the streets of Bangkok
democracy, Elections, government, InFocus, political crisis, political parties, social activism, Thailand
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 same thing: Thailand’s General Prayuth Chan-ocha declared a total takeover of the country, Thailand was […]
Read more8. May 2014
The Creeping Coup
democracy, government, InFocus, political crisis, political parties, Thailand
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 followers of Thai politics very quickly start using the word “coup”. Will there be a […]
Read more24. May 2013
Of Lions and Men: Pakistani Elections and Feline Symbolism
Elections, InFocus, Pakistan, political parties, Symbolism
This spring six museums in Copenhagen exhibit collections of art and handicraft depicting flowers. As a visitor to the museum called Davids Samling – which houses the most exquisite collection of Islamic art in Denmark – one learns that in the Indian subcontinent prior to 1707 flowers were often depicted naturalistically. However, when in that […]
Read more29. Apr 2013
Japanese politics at the crossroads
government, InFocus, Japan, political parties, politics
At the time of writing, there is every sign that Japanese politics is at an historical crossroads. In December 2012 the Japanese electorate voted the conservative Liberal Democratic Party back to power after a three-year break from 2009. Before then, the LDP had governed the country almost uninterruptedly since the onset of the Cold War. […]
Read more16. Apr 2013
Who can meet the expectations of the majority?
Elections, government, InFocus, Malaysia, political parties, politics
Malaysia’s thirteenth general elections (GE13) will be a battle of the coalitions, pitting the world’s most successful ruling coalition – the 13 party Barisan Nasional (BN/National Front) against the 4 year old, three party Pakatan Rakyat (PR/People’s Pact/People’s Alliance). It is not easy to categorise the two opposing coalitions and its members as they […]
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