LSE SEAC Newsletter - March 2018

Tuesday 27th March 2018
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Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list. We are delighted to present the March 2018 issue of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (LSE SEAC) Newsletter.

News

SEAC article on future UK-Southeast Asia relations

SEAC Director Dr Jürgen Haacke and SEAC Researcher John Harley Breen have co-written an article entitled, 'Steering UK–Southeast Asia Relations Post-Brexit'. The article unpacks the UK's longstanding security and economic interests in Southeast Asia, and explores the options available to the UK when its relationship with the region is no longer mediated through the European Union. The article appeared on the East Asia Forum this month, and will be available on the SEAC Blog soon.

Professor Forsyth is conducting research in Myanmar

SEAC Associate, Professor Tim Forsyth, is in Myanmar's Chin province researching livelihoods and resilience to climate change. The project examines sites in Myanmar and Nepal that have been affected by environmental hazards such as floods and landslides, and looks into ways to make transitions in rural livelihoods more inclusive and empowering to poorer people. It is part of the LSE Rockefeller collaboration and involves researchers from the universities of Oxford and East Anglia.

Dr Long's new article on hypnotherapy in Indonesia

SEAC Associate, Dr Nicholas Long (right), recently wrote an article entitled, 'Suggestions of Power: searching for efficacy in Indonesia’s hypnosis boom'. It examines hypnotherapy's surge in popularity in contemporary Indonesia, and the subsequent trajectories of its vernacularization. The article was published in the journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, Ethos, and can be read online here.

Second round of SEAC Research Fund awarded

Dr Ben Groom and Dr Charles Palmer (LSE Department of Geography and Environment) have been awarded a grant from the second round of the SEAC research fund for the project, 'The Palm Oil Concession Moratorium and its Spatial Impact on Deforestation', which will run until July 2019. The LSE SEAC Research Fund is a biennial grant available to LSE faculty and SEAC Associates to support social science research on Southeast Asia. More.

Upcoming events

Overcoming Poverty and the Role of Politics on Economic Growth in the Philippines

Friday 6th April; 5:30 - 7:30pm
LSE Venue TBC

H.E. Leni Robredo, Philippine Vice President

Maria Leonor “Leni” Gerona Robredo was elected as Vice President of the Philippines on May 2016 and has since worked towards fulfilling her commitment to a pro-poor administration founded on good governance, as well as strong social welfare, public infrastructure and national security. Under her office, she has launched a number of anti-poverty initiatives, including the widely successful Angat Buhay programme, which partners local governments with NGOs, the private sector and other actors on funding projects such as housing, education, livelihoods and disaster management. Her Excellency will speak about the ways in which she has devoted her professional life to the service of the most vulnerable sectors of Philippine society.

This free event is open to LSE students and staff, and requires pre-registration. It has been organised collaboratively between LSE SEAC, LSE Destin Society and LSE Department for International Development. More.

LSE Southeast Asia Forum 2018 (SEAF)

Monday 21st May; 9:00 – 5.30pm;
The Lincoln Centre
London

The annual LSE Southeast Asia Forum (SEAF) is a full-day conference that brings together leading Southeast Asia experts to engage with some of the region's most critical and pressing issues, as well as showcases the high-quality research on Southeast Asia conducted at LSE. It offers a unique opportunity to inform and network with policymakers in government, high ranking members of the diplomatic core, and stakeholders in business and civil society.

This year's Forum seeks to address: Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship priorities; the economic engagement of the 'great powers' in the region; economic challenges and risks in Southeast Asia; the leadership and political futures of ASEAN member states who have elections in the coming months; and the current challenges and risks faced by Myanmar. The full programme and details about the speakers will be available soon; tickets are expected to be released in early May. More.

Past events

Industrialisation and Backward Linkages in Global Value Chains: new trade agreements and Vietnam's garments industry
On Tuesday 20th March, SEAC held its penultimate Research Fund Seminar of Lent Term. The speakers were Dr Shamel Azmeh (University of Bath and LSE Middle East Centre) and Dr Rachel Alexander (LSE Department of Management). They spoke about how trade agreements can allow countries to promote backward linkages in value chains, with particular reference to their recent field work in Vietnam. SEAC Associate Dr Hyun Bang Shin chaired the event.

Unlocking Poverty Traps: what could 'Graduation Packages' change for Vietnam's ethnic minorities and Cambodia's ultra-poor?
On Tuesday 27th March, SEAC Research Fund recipient Dr Stephanie Levy (LSE Department of International Development) gave a public lecture on the positive effects that 'Graduation Packages' could have on Vietnam's and Cambodia's most vulnerable groups. The event was chaired by SEAC Associate, Professor James Putzel. The podcast is available here.

The Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC) is a cross-disciplinary, regionally-focused academic centre within the Institute of Global Affairs at LSE.

Building on the School’s deep academic and historical connections with Southeast Asia, SEAC seeks to foster world-leading academic and policy research with a focus on the Southeast Asian social and political landscape.

SEAC is LSE’s gateway to understanding Southeast Asia.

The Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre was established with the generous support of Professor Saw Swee Hock.