> Focus on Southeast Asia's frontier environments
Focus on Southeast Asia's frontier environments
Contact:
Robert Anderson, 778.782.4265; robert_anderson@sfu.ca
Mig Alphonso, 778.782.5772, malphons@sfu.ca
(Interviews can be arranged; also in French and/or Mandarin)
Robert Anderson, 778.782.4265; robert_anderson@sfu.ca
Mig Alphonso, 778.782.5772, malphons@sfu.ca
(Interviews can be arranged; also in French and/or Mandarin)
May 26, 2008
Southeast Asia’s frontier environments – and the roles of its many and often complex borders - will be the focus of discussion among international experts at a conference at SFU Vancouver May 30-31.
Organizer Robert Anderson says Mainland Southeast Asia provides a rich context to understand and theorize the connections between frontiers, borders, governance, ethnicity and development.
“Central governments often conceive of frontiers as emptiable spaces, ripe for colonization, development and resource extraction,” notes the SFU communication professor, who specializes in international relations.
“In this region, borders often constrict or impinge on the everyday movements of people, goods, and ideas. Yet, in other ways, these borders are more porous and flexible than commonly understood, and to some people they offer a potential, not just a limit; they offer cooperation as well as conflict.”
Two keynote speakers will look at developments in southwest China and Burma.
Ts’ ui-ping Ho is an associate research fellow at the Institute of Ethnology in the Academica SinicaTaiwan, whose research has largely been devoted to ethnic groups in southwest China and northeastern Burma. Her major studies include looking at opium and Jingpo history along the Yunnan-Burma border, and rethinking Kachin wealth ownership.
François Robinne is director of the Institute of Research on Southeast Asia (IRSEA-CNRS), in Marseille, France. Since the 1980s, Robinne has completed a number of research projects, including studies of ethnicity, architecture, religion, and cuisine in Myanmar (Burma). His most recent work examines the Kachin and nationalism, the issue of inter-ethnic and trans-ethnic dynamics in the Shan State region of upland Myanmar, and role of space and frontiers in contemporary social life.
Organizer Robert Anderson says Mainland Southeast Asia provides a rich context to understand and theorize the connections between frontiers, borders, governance, ethnicity and development.
“Central governments often conceive of frontiers as emptiable spaces, ripe for colonization, development and resource extraction,” notes the SFU communication professor, who specializes in international relations.
“In this region, borders often constrict or impinge on the everyday movements of people, goods, and ideas. Yet, in other ways, these borders are more porous and flexible than commonly understood, and to some people they offer a potential, not just a limit; they offer cooperation as well as conflict.”
Two keynote speakers will look at developments in southwest China and Burma.
Ts’ ui-ping Ho is an associate research fellow at the Institute of Ethnology in the Academica SinicaTaiwan, whose research has largely been devoted to ethnic groups in southwest China and northeastern Burma. Her major studies include looking at opium and Jingpo history along the Yunnan-Burma border, and rethinking Kachin wealth ownership.
François Robinne is director of the Institute of Research on Southeast Asia (IRSEA-CNRS), in Marseille, France. Since the 1980s, Robinne has completed a number of research projects, including studies of ethnicity, architecture, religion, and cuisine in Myanmar (Burma). His most recent work examines the Kachin and nationalism, the issue of inter-ethnic and trans-ethnic dynamics in the Shan State region of upland Myanmar, and role of space and frontiers in contemporary social life.