Book Reviews
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Review of Ideal Man
24 May 2013 9:12 AM | No CommentsNew Mandala book review editor Michael Montesano reviews this new work on a key figure in Southeast Asian history.
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Review of Misalliance
17 May 2013 1:00 PM | 1 CommentKeith Weller Taylor argues that this new book is thoughtful, lucid, original, analytical, and readable
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Review of Thailand’s Hidden Workforce
05 April 2013 9:15 AM | 1 CommentInga Gruß reviews a book about the work conditions of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand at this time of immense change.
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Review of Gender, Emotions and Labour Markets
21 February 2013 9:10 AM | 1 CommentSri Ranjani Mei Hua reviews a book dealing with experiences of women in Southeast Asia.
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Review of Authority of Influence
06 January 2013 5:31 AM | 3 CommentsScholarly treatments of gender in Myanmar, past or present, remain scarce. Jessica Harriden’s book thus fills a gap in our understanding of an important and controversial topic.
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Review of The King in Exile
04 December 2012 8:35 AM | 4 CommentsDonald M. Seekins argues that this book is the story of a dynasty that belongs truly to Burma’s past.
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Review of Buddhist Fury
13 November 2012 7:57 AM | 21 CommentsThis book explores the relationship between religion and violence in far southern Thailand, where Buddhist monks are a marginalized local minority.
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Review of Revisiting Rural Places
30 October 2012 7:54 AM | 2 CommentsRevisiting Rural Places should become an essential reference text for researchers who work on social, cultural, political and economic change in Asia.
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Review of The Institutional Imperative
16 October 2012 7:00 AM | 9 CommentsDe-agrarianisation often isn’t very pretty, but economic disparity may well be the price to be paid for pursuing it as slowly as Thailand has over the past 50 years.
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Review of Imagining Gay Paradise
09 October 2012 6:55 AM | 2 CommentsThe creation of make-shift, idiosyncratic queer paradises provides shelter, community, and belonging for many who have refused to fit into standard narratives of Southeast Asia.
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Review of The Fate of Rural Hell
12 September 2012 7:56 AM | 6 CommentsThe models of eroticism and faith in the Hell Garden have been left behind by the robust urban bourgeois consumerist culture increasingly prominent across contemporary Thai society.
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Review of Revolution Interrupted
24 July 2012 11:46 AM | 6 CommentsQuestioning received notions of revolution, this book offers a passionate and rigorous reconsideration of the period in Thailand between October 1973 and October 1976.
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Review of Land and Loyalty
17 July 2012 9:18 AM | 9 Comments
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Review of The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk
11 July 2012 3:44 PM | 9 Comments
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Review of Saying the Unsayable
19 June 2012 6:27 AM | 19 Comments
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New Mandala book review editor Michael Montesano reviews this new work on a key figure in Southeast Asian history.
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Fiscal folly or essential infrastructure
Tristan Knowles, the Director of Economists at Large, examines the financial and economic implications of the Vientiane to Yunnan rail link.
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Desiring a pure people’s politics
Ryan Lane asks “must the poor learn to keep the right company before they are granted a seat at the table?”
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Malaysian women parliamentarians: why the different numbers?
The lack of concern on these numbers is indicative of how ingrained our belief that women’s issues are trivial.
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Review of Misalliance
Keith Weller Taylor argues that this new book is thoughtful, lucid, original, analytical, and readable
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Ways of seeing Malaysia – deconstructing demographic violence
The Malaysian people are finally to a certain extent constructing their own paradigm and finding their own voices.
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Revisiting “democracy in plural societies” in transforming Malaysia
Regime change in itself will not automatically bring the powerful state down, writes Kikue Hamayotsu
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Foreign money, foreign values?
The more important question is to define what constitutes funding, and whether they are used to promote the welfare of Malaysians.
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The people rise again?
Aim Sinpeng discusses the implications of a recent re-mobilisation of Thailand’s people’s sector
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Bersih’s impact on GE13
Posted on 15 May 2013 | 3 CommentsThe critical question remains whether Bersih’s concerted efforts will actually bring some, if any institutional reform to Malaysia’s electoral system and process. -
GE13 and the politics of urban chauvinism
Posted on 14 May 2013 | 2 CommentsPoliticians everywhere would be wise to examine their own shortcomings in addressing the needs and aspirations of rural constituents -
Whither UMNO’s neo-feudalism
Posted on 14 May 2013 | No CommentsYounger Malays, in general, both in rural and urban areas, are no longer emotionally attached to UMNO. -
Triumph of the machine
Posted on 13 May 2013 | 1 CommentRural dynamics explain the government’s victory in the Malaysian election, argues Edward Aspinall -
Najib’s tightrope act
Posted on 13 May 2013 | 1 CommentThe dilemma for BN is abundantly clear with a risk of further alienating the already disgruntled moderate Malays and non-Malays. -
GE13 Malaysia – Kikue Hamayotsu
Posted on 12 May 2013 | 1 CommentBN’s greatest strength is their ability to sustain massive party machines and patronage networks in order to generate loyalty. -
Pakatan Rakyat must rethink strategies
Posted on 11 May 2013 | No CommentsBarisan Nasional has managed to pocket 60 percent or 133 out of the total 222 seats by winning only 48 percent of the popular votes. -
The “Rakyat Tsunami” in Sabah
Posted on 11 May 2013 | No CommentsThe results in Sabah showed the changing political ground even as the influence of the politics of development remained strong. -
Al-Qardawi’s ‘vote’ in GE13: Does it matter?
Posted on 10 May 2013 | No CommentsIf there is one impact of Islam on the Muslim electorate is that leaders who have neglected Islamic ideals of good governance will be removed. -
How Malays voted at GE13
Posted on 9 May 2013 | 2 CommentsThe new breed of Malays have their eyes now set on cosmopolitan leaders, regardless of which party they are from. -
Observations from Malaysia’s 2013 elections
Posted on 8 May 2013 | No CommentsProfessor Ed Aspinall shares his views on Malaysia's general elections. -
Ghosts to citizens
Posted on 8 May 2013 | No CommentsThe excrement that we dispose of quietly and in private is the very same substance that nurtures our national body. -
Middle Malaysia has arrived?
Posted on 7 May 2013 | 4 CommentsHas Pakatan Rakyat moved the majority of Malaysians to the centre of the political spectrum? -
It was never about the election …
Posted on 6 May 2013 | 1 CommentNo electoral system is perfect and Malaysia's still has a long way to go. The role of the opposition is to keep pressure on the government.