New Mandala
@newmandala.bsky.social
A forum for anecdote, analysis and new perspectives on Southeast Asia since 2006. Want to contribute? See: https://www.newmandala.org/contributing-to-nm/
NEW 🇻🇳 Nguyễn Thị Thu Huyền and Chen Yi Ting's ethnography of the relocation of Hmong graves for a tourist site near the Vietnam–China frontier explores how ethnic minorities internalise the state's developmentalist logic via spiritual practices—challenging usual narratives that emphasise resistance.
Disturbed spirits: tourism and socialist mobilisation in Hmong country - New Mandala
Questioning the primacy of the ‘resistance’ narrative
www.newmandala.org
December 24, 2025 at 7:20 AM
NEW 🇻🇳 Nguyễn Thị Thu Huyền and Chen Yi Ting's ethnography of the relocation of Hmong graves for a tourist site near the Vietnam–China frontier explores how ethnic minorities internalise the state's developmentalist logic via spiritual practices—challenging usual narratives that emphasise resistance.
NEW 🇲🇾 "Reform of recruitment and work permit systems that reproduce de facto debt bondage and isolate workers from their families have costs for migrant workers and Malaysian society more broadly. But entrenched political economy factors give too many political actors a stake in the current system."
Malaysia’s migrant labour regime is unfair and unsustainable - New Mandala
A system built on de facto debt bondage
www.newmandala.org
December 24, 2025 at 7:11 AM
NEW 🇲🇾 "Reform of recruitment and work permit systems that reproduce de facto debt bondage and isolate workers from their families have costs for migrant workers and Malaysian society more broadly. But entrenched political economy factors give too many political actors a stake in the current system."
NEW 🇹🇭 For decades, governments have sought to dam and divert rivers in the Salween River Basin—and for decades, communities have resisted under often deeply repressive political conditions. @zalifung.bsky.social explores their repertoire of "slow resistance" in this essay drawing on her PhD research
“Slow resistance” in the Salween River Basin - New Mandala
Grassroots activism gums up the wheels of hydro-development
www.newmandala.org
December 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
NEW 🇹🇭 For decades, governments have sought to dam and divert rivers in the Salween River Basin—and for decades, communities have resisted under often deeply repressive political conditions. @zalifung.bsky.social explores their repertoire of "slow resistance" in this essay drawing on her PhD research
Reposted by New Mandala
My essay on “slow resistance” to long-proposed hydropower dams & diversions in the Salween River Basin is out with @newmandala.bsky.social ! It’s based on my PhD research & an article co-authored with @drvanessalamb.bsky.social in Antipode. www.newmandala.org/slow-resista...
“Slow resistance” in the Salween River Basin - New Mandala
Grassroots activism gums up the wheels of hydro-development
www.newmandala.org
December 24, 2025 at 6:42 AM
My essay on “slow resistance” to long-proposed hydropower dams & diversions in the Salween River Basin is out with @newmandala.bsky.social ! It’s based on my PhD research & an article co-authored with @drvanessalamb.bsky.social in Antipode. www.newmandala.org/slow-resista...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇮🇩 Using early-modern Javanese manuscripts, we can read new insights into the cultural significance of ancient temples in Islamic Indonesia—and go beyond colonial-era narratives of their “abandonment” and “discovery”.
Javanese candhi beyond abandonment and discovery - New Mandala
Decolonising the heritage of Indonesia
www.newmandala.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Using early-modern Javanese manuscripts, we can read new insights into the cultural significance of ancient temples in Islamic Indonesia—and go beyond colonial-era narratives of their “abandonment” and “discovery”.
Reposted by New Mandala
Excited to see some of my early findings from my research on policing in Thailand published in the @newmandala.bsky.social
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Fracturing citizenship: street-level policing and discretion in Thailand - New Mandala
Police as street-level bureaucrats
can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Excited to see some of my early findings from my research on policing in Thailand published in the @newmandala.bsky.social
can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
NEW 🇹🇭 Police are in many ways the ultimate “street-level bureaucrats”—those who do the difficult on-the-ground work of connecting policy with ordinary people. As such, they play a key role in shaping the real-world nature of citizenship in contemporary Thailand, as Bavo Stevens' research explores.
Fracturing citizenship: street-level policing and discretion in Thailand - New Mandala
Police as street-level bureaucrats
www.newmandala.org
December 11, 2025 at 11:08 PM
NEW 🇹🇭 Police are in many ways the ultimate “street-level bureaucrats”—those who do the difficult on-the-ground work of connecting policy with ordinary people. As such, they play a key role in shaping the real-world nature of citizenship in contemporary Thailand, as Bavo Stevens' research explores.
NEW 🇮🇩 Using early-modern Javanese manuscripts, we can read new insights into the cultural significance of ancient temples in Islamic Indonesia—and go beyond colonial-era narratives of their “abandonment” and “discovery”.
Javanese candhi beyond abandonment and discovery - New Mandala
Decolonising the heritage of Indonesia
www.newmandala.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Using early-modern Javanese manuscripts, we can read new insights into the cultural significance of ancient temples in Islamic Indonesia—and go beyond colonial-era narratives of their “abandonment” and “discovery”.
NEW 🇮🇩 Prabowo Subianto says Indonesia was drained of US$31 trillion worth of its national wealth by Dutch colonisers. But conceptualising the nature of wealth transfer from colony to metropole—let alone accurately measuring it—isn’t such a straightforward business, argues Pierre van der Eng.
Colonial rekening: what does the Netherlands owe Indonesia? - New Mandala
Measuring "colonial drain" isn't a straightforward business
www.newmandala.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Prabowo Subianto says Indonesia was drained of US$31 trillion worth of its national wealth by Dutch colonisers. But conceptualising the nature of wealth transfer from colony to metropole—let alone accurately measuring it—isn’t such a straightforward business, argues Pierre van der Eng.
NEW 🇮🇩 What can we learn about the distribution and grassroots political influence of Indonesia's pesantren from government data?
The pesantren archipelago - New Mandala
Introducing a new dataset on Indonesia’s Islamic boarding schools
www.newmandala.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:32 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 What can we learn about the distribution and grassroots political influence of Indonesia's pesantren from government data?
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NEW 🇮🇩 Too big to fail, and too big to succeed, Jokowi’s new capital city eventually came to be pushed forward by little more than the former president’s need to justify its existence, writes Anders Kirstein Moeller. www.newmandala.org/nusantara-th...
Nusantara: the city that never was - New Mandala
What political project did Jokowi’s new capital embody?
www.newmandala.org
October 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
NEW 🇮🇩 Too big to fail, and too big to succeed, Jokowi’s new capital city eventually came to be pushed forward by little more than the former president’s need to justify its existence, writes Anders Kirstein Moeller. www.newmandala.org/nusantara-th...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW: 🇹🇭 The battle over a historic Chinese temple slated to be lost to commercial development is putting property logic against moral geography in central Bangkok, writes Ying-kit Chan.
In Bangkok, whose heritage counts? - New Mandala
The battle over Chao Mae Thapthim Shrine
www.newmandala.org
November 16, 2025 at 11:57 PM
NEW: 🇹🇭 The battle over a historic Chinese temple slated to be lost to commercial development is putting property logic against moral geography in central Bangkok, writes Ying-kit Chan.
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇵🇭 The political economy of kickbacks is central to why the Philippine government's strategy for coping with climate change is still too fixated on physical infrastructure, write Joseph Alegado and Cleo Calimbahin. www.newmandala.org/corruption-c...
Corruption compromises climate resilience in the Philippines - New Mandala
The allure of kickbacks limits policy
www.newmandala.org
November 16, 2025 at 11:59 PM
NEW 🇵🇭 The political economy of kickbacks is central to why the Philippine government's strategy for coping with climate change is still too fixated on physical infrastructure, write Joseph Alegado and Cleo Calimbahin. www.newmandala.org/corruption-c...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇮🇩 The legacies of Jokowi’s demobilisation of Islamist civil society, combined with Prabowo’s own credibility with hardliners, have given the president extensive leeway to embrace a more even-handed approach to the Israel–Palestine conflict. www.newmandala.org/why-islamist...
Why Islamists let Prabowo shift on Israel - New Mandala
Islamists have ceded influence over Indonesia’s Palestine policy
www.newmandala.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 The legacies of Jokowi’s demobilisation of Islamist civil society, combined with Prabowo’s own credibility with hardliners, have given the president extensive leeway to embrace a more even-handed approach to the Israel–Palestine conflict. www.newmandala.org/why-islamist...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇱🇦 The Lao state treats its public health workforce as a driver of socialist modernisation—but do those workers feel the same way? www.newmandala.org/laos-nurses-...
Laos’ nurses as vanguards of public health care? - New Mandala
Reflections on public health as a modernising project
www.newmandala.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
NEW 🇱🇦 The Lao state treats its public health workforce as a driver of socialist modernisation—but do those workers feel the same way? www.newmandala.org/laos-nurses-...
NEW 🇱🇦 The Lao state treats its public health workforce as a driver of socialist modernisation—but do those workers feel the same way? www.newmandala.org/laos-nurses-...
Laos’ nurses as vanguards of public health care? - New Mandala
Reflections on public health as a modernising project
www.newmandala.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
NEW 🇱🇦 The Lao state treats its public health workforce as a driver of socialist modernisation—but do those workers feel the same way? www.newmandala.org/laos-nurses-...
NEW 🇮🇩 The legacies of Jokowi’s demobilisation of Islamist civil society, combined with Prabowo’s own credibility with hardliners, have given the president extensive leeway to embrace a more even-handed approach to the Israel–Palestine conflict. www.newmandala.org/why-islamist...
Why Islamists let Prabowo shift on Israel - New Mandala
Islamists have ceded influence over Indonesia’s Palestine policy
www.newmandala.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 The legacies of Jokowi’s demobilisation of Islamist civil society, combined with Prabowo’s own credibility with hardliners, have given the president extensive leeway to embrace a more even-handed approach to the Israel–Palestine conflict. www.newmandala.org/why-islamist...
NEW 🇵🇭 The political economy of kickbacks is central to why the Philippine government's strategy for coping with climate change is still too fixated on physical infrastructure, write Joseph Alegado and Cleo Calimbahin. www.newmandala.org/corruption-c...
Corruption compromises climate resilience in the Philippines - New Mandala
The allure of kickbacks limits policy
www.newmandala.org
November 16, 2025 at 11:59 PM
NEW 🇵🇭 The political economy of kickbacks is central to why the Philippine government's strategy for coping with climate change is still too fixated on physical infrastructure, write Joseph Alegado and Cleo Calimbahin. www.newmandala.org/corruption-c...
NEW: 🇹🇭 The battle over a historic Chinese temple slated to be lost to commercial development is putting property logic against moral geography in central Bangkok, writes Ying-kit Chan.
In Bangkok, whose heritage counts? - New Mandala
The battle over Chao Mae Thapthim Shrine
www.newmandala.org
November 16, 2025 at 11:57 PM
NEW: 🇹🇭 The battle over a historic Chinese temple slated to be lost to commercial development is putting property logic against moral geography in central Bangkok, writes Ying-kit Chan.
NEW 🇮🇩 Too big to fail, and too big to succeed, Jokowi’s new capital city eventually came to be pushed forward by little more than the former president’s need to justify its existence, writes Anders Kirstein Moeller. www.newmandala.org/nusantara-th...
Nusantara: the city that never was - New Mandala
What political project did Jokowi’s new capital embody?
www.newmandala.org
October 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
NEW 🇮🇩 Too big to fail, and too big to succeed, Jokowi’s new capital city eventually came to be pushed forward by little more than the former president’s need to justify its existence, writes Anders Kirstein Moeller. www.newmandala.org/nusantara-th...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇵🇭 The delay to the BARMM's landmark parliamentary elections set for October 2025 is the latest in a long line of mishaps and missed opportunities that undermine local confidence in Manila’s commitment to Bangsamoro autonomy. www.newmandala.org/how-bangsamo...
How Bangsamoro’s political transition got stuck - New Mandala
Bad luck and bad judgement are undermining progress in ending the Mindanao conflict for good
www.newmandala.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
NEW 🇵🇭 The delay to the BARMM's landmark parliamentary elections set for October 2025 is the latest in a long line of mishaps and missed opportunities that undermine local confidence in Manila’s commitment to Bangsamoro autonomy. www.newmandala.org/how-bangsamo...
NEW 🇵🇭 The delay to the BARMM's landmark parliamentary elections set for October 2025 is the latest in a long line of mishaps and missed opportunities that undermine local confidence in Manila’s commitment to Bangsamoro autonomy. www.newmandala.org/how-bangsamo...
How Bangsamoro’s political transition got stuck - New Mandala
Bad luck and bad judgement are undermining progress in ending the Mindanao conflict for good
www.newmandala.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
NEW 🇵🇭 The delay to the BARMM's landmark parliamentary elections set for October 2025 is the latest in a long line of mishaps and missed opportunities that undermine local confidence in Manila’s commitment to Bangsamoro autonomy. www.newmandala.org/how-bangsamo...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇮🇩 Caught between eviction and embrace, residents of Jakarta’s informal settlements are finding new ways to assert their rights and reshape their city from the ground up. Part of a series supported by @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/insurgent-pl...
Insurgent planning versus discretionary urbanism in Jakarta - New Mandala
Jakarta’s informal settlements are finding new ways to assert their rights and reshape their city
www.newmandala.org
September 23, 2025 at 7:01 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Caught between eviction and embrace, residents of Jakarta’s informal settlements are finding new ways to assert their rights and reshape their city from the ground up. Part of a series supported by @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/insurgent-pl...
Reposted by New Mandala
NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s small but active anarchist community has become the go-to bogeyman for governments seeking to justify crackdowns. The scapegoating of anarchists has meanwhile undermined the unity and political impact of anti-oligarchic protest movements. www.newmandala.org/whos-afraid-...
Who’s afraid of a little anarchy? - New Mandala
On the makings of Indonesia’s new protest scapegoat
www.newmandala.org
September 26, 2025 at 5:42 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s small but active anarchist community has become the go-to bogeyman for governments seeking to justify crackdowns. The scapegoating of anarchists has meanwhile undermined the unity and political impact of anti-oligarchic protest movements. www.newmandala.org/whos-afraid-...
NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s small but active anarchist community has become the go-to bogeyman for governments seeking to justify crackdowns. The scapegoating of anarchists has meanwhile undermined the unity and political impact of anti-oligarchic protest movements. www.newmandala.org/whos-afraid-...
Who’s afraid of a little anarchy? - New Mandala
On the makings of Indonesia’s new protest scapegoat
www.newmandala.org
September 26, 2025 at 5:42 AM
NEW 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s small but active anarchist community has become the go-to bogeyman for governments seeking to justify crackdowns. The scapegoating of anarchists has meanwhile undermined the unity and political impact of anti-oligarchic protest movements. www.newmandala.org/whos-afraid-...