CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANELS

THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL MALAYSIA-THAILAND CONFERENCE ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES

Defining Harmony in Southeast Asia:  Competing discourses, challenges and interpretations.

29 NOVEMBER – 1 DECEMBER 2007

Jointly organised by

Mahidol University International College, Thailand

&

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Venue:

Mahidol University International College (MUIC)

Salaya Campus

Nakhon Pathom

Thailand

Narratives on East Asian neo-Confucian thinking place considerable emphasis on ‘harmony’, an ideal condition of equilibrium that prevails when each member of society recognises and respects the existing socio-political hierarchy.  Over the past few decades, this concept has also gained ground in Southeast Asian political and intellectual discourse. 

At the same time ‘harmony’ has come to be deployed in a variety of other contexts.  For example, social harmony is used to refer to ethnic and religious relations, political harmony designates a consensus in the development and application of policies, and economic harmony implies a balanced, prosperous development. All these contextualised modes of interpretation seemingly converge towards a single objective, which is to foster social coherence .

Harmony is also at the centre of discussion and dispute in ASEAN meetings, although what ‘harmony’ truly means in the geo-political context is rarely examined or challenged.   For example, how can state harmony, a seemingly internal condition, be maintained in the face of neo-liberalism, regionalisation and globalization movements?  Southeast Asia is currently going through major transformations; In Malaysia and Vietnam a fast-growing consumer-oriented middle-class is emerging while other countries of the region are experiencing major political restructuring. Thailand’s struggle against an elected Prime Minister has culminated in a military coup d’état.  The long-lasting civil war in Indonesian Aceh province has ended in a cease-fire and an internationally negotiated peace treaty. Newly independent, former Indonesian East Timor has been rocked with internal clashes. Some countries have had less dramatic developments maybe, but the contesting discourses on how state harmony can be achieved are also carried on by the competing elites of Burma/Myanmar, the Philippines and Cambodia.

Thailand celebrated in 2006 the 60^th anniversary of H.M. King Rama IX ascendance to the throne, which in the Thai context represents and symbolizes harmony for the kingdom in the globalizing, changing world.

The Conference invites scholars from various disciplines to contribute to our understanding of harmony as a contested discourse, constructed and negotiated in the Southeast Asian region.

Conference Datelines

Submission of Panel:  1 May 2007

Submission of Abstract:  31 June 2007

Registration: 31 August 2007

Submission of Full Paper: 30 September 2007

Contacts:

Ms. Gingpayom Rodklongtan

Ms. Phatsurang Dechabuddharungsri

Ms. Natanaree Posrithong

e-mail:

icgingpayom@...