The global trend of democratic backsliding has reshaped politics around the world, from the United States to Indonesia. Throughout Southeast Asia, a region long marked by contestation between authoritarian and democratic politics, contemporary authoritarian practices interact with local histories to generate distinctly new forms of politics—from penal populism in the Philippines to Burma’s most recent military coup. This virtual roundtable on authoritarianism brings together four experts on the politics of Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines to understand contemporary authoritarianism and democratic backsliding in the Southeast Asian context.

Introduction: Rebecca Slayton, Director of the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (Associate Professor, Dept of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell)

Moderator: Tom Pepinsky (Tisch University Professor, Dept of Government, Cornell)

Panelists:

Pavin Chachavalpongpun (Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)Mark R. Thompson (Professor of Politics and Head, Department of Asian & International Studies; Director of Southeast Asia Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong)Ardeth Thawnghmung (Chair of Political Science, Professor, Interim Director, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell)Eve Warburton (Postdoctoral Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore)

Co-organized by the Southeast Asia Program and the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies