political parties

Bangladesh flood
6. Jul 2023

The Final Straw: How a cyclone created a revolution in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, catastrophes, conflict studies, Elections, India, InFocus, Nation-building, Pakistan, political parties

The birth of Bangladesh as an independent nation-state in 1971 was a remarkable moment in modern history. It was remarkable not only for its people’s lengthy fight for freedom but also because of the role history. It was remarkable not only for its people’s lengthy fight for freedom but also because of the role of the Bhola cyclone, an unforeseen natural disaster that accelerated Bangladesh’s separation from the rest of Pakistan. Yet the cyclone – and how it affected local, regional and global politics – has only received limited attention by the historians.

Read more
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 more
27. 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 more
8. 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 more
24. 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 more
29. 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 more
16. 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 […]

Read more