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Mar 19, 2017

Happy to see these folks on the way out from #AAS2017 in Toronto today.

Siu: We need to redefine China. For me, it has never been a geographically bounded space, it is a process. I've been to Africa and the Middle East studying China. We should be extremely interdisciplinary and inter-regional; look at China as a deterritorialized process.

Helen Siu: As a young scholar I went to China looking enthusiastically for rural revolution. I didn't find it. Meeting peasants led to a profound change in my approach to ethnographic research. I went with Marxist hopes and left with Weber's worst fears.

Link: Should you change what you say to maximise your visa chances? No. Those who are tenured are obligated to tell the truth, as they see it, and do so in a way that can be understood by all (not just in codes that insiders will know).

Link: Collaboration/interaction with Chinese scholars is made difficult by restrictions on access. Relaxed engagement made possible in person is hard to replicate over email/telephone - question of "should I self-censor" looms.

Perry Link: Study of Chinese literature hasn't been hurt so much by recent shifts. Texts are widely available online. Recent boom in sci-fi where authors are able to comments on China politically in an indirect way. "The moral burden of Chinese literature" is still present.

Gold: looks like we are going back to the dark days. HK is not the option is once was. Researching the Chinese diaspora, and students and business people abroad, is though. As is the sophisticated utilisation of social media as a source (WeChat etc.)

Gold: We were criticised for bias that may arise from these methods. But once access to China came, the results of our prior research turned out to be quite accurate. When access did come, it came suddenly - with the key benefit being that it enabled participant observation.

Thomas Gold: In the post-1949 era, we had no acces to mainland China. The University Service Centre in Hong Kong was the main research site - a place that could arrange interviews with people coming in from China, and where translated radio broadcasts were available.

Brook: We should acknowledge geopolitics without letting it drive the story, and resist the political narratives coming out of both Washington and Beijing. Doesn't preclude taking a political stance - personally have undertaken boycotts when warranted.

Brook: Openings of recent decades have been closing, but great work was done in the mid 20th century by scholars who had no access to China. Researching China is not impossible under such circumstances.

Brook: Current round of geopolitical upheaval is different. Is affecting both 'insider' and 'outsider' scholars. And PRC colleagues do appreciate what the outsiders perspective can bring - putting things into context, looking through a comparative lens.

Timothy Brook: looking to the long duree, geopolitics have always conditioned our study of China, from the 16th century onwards. Geopolitical issues cannot be escaped, but they should not be allowed to drive the story. This is a problem inherent to the study of a country.

Problems have always been present, but are now more widespread and unpredictable. Issue for scholars in PRC too - the drop in their numbers at AAS is noticeable. Older generations have studied China under restrictive conditions, what can be gleaned from their experiences?

The impetus for the roundtable, explained by Stephen, was the dramatic change in access that China Studies scholars are facing. Access in terms of visas, human subjects and more is narrowing. ECRs are confronting "anaconda in the chandelier" for first time.

Was a pleasure to attend a lively & packed out roundtable on China Studies in geopolitically challenging times this morning at #AAS2023 chaired by

@stephenrplatt

, feat. Timothy Brook, Thomas Gold,

@perrylink

& Helen Siu. Sharing a few notes here for those who couldn't be there.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe is going to have to be my method for resolving panel clashes at #AAS2023 this morning. Can anyone recommend a better way?

Mar 17

Thanks to Phianphachong Intarat,

@NicoleC_Aboitiz

, Chao Ren, Nurhardy Sirimorok,

@merweissphd

and Jonathan Valdez for a stimulating and thought-provoking #AAS2023 roundtable! It worked wonders on my jet lag.

A plethora of interesting points have been made from the floor - too many to capture! Hegemony of English arises a lot - should SEAS scholars not be looking to publish in other languages? Who is the audience for SEAS?

Weiss: production of a variety of outputs can meet the needs of these differing incentives. Long term networking and morale building needed to build confidence and trust, esp. when seeking engagement from non 'top tier' institutions.

Meredith Weiss: barriers specified in Ariel Heryanto’s paper “Can There Be Southeast Asians in Southeast Asian Studies?” (2022) still largely apply. Different approaches to disciplines across the world are a big barrier. Professional incentives (KPIs) are also often different.

Chao Ren: real value in intra-Asian study (e.g. Filipino's researching Central Asia). Can act to break the binary between an amorphous 'West' and an Asian home country.

Chao Ren: for Chinese Southeast Asianists there is a political issue. Difficulty in addressing the expanding role of China in SEA. Different to US scholars who can openly critique US empire. Our groups might be invite-only as a result - needs to be trust within the circle.

Nicole: this task often falls on scholars themselves and can stymie collaborative outcomes. One way to encourage collaboration is to frame questions in a way that requires involvement of scholars from different regions.

Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz: Collaboration happens all the time informally. But outcomes (I.E. publications) don't always reflect this - language is a big barrier here. Editing the writing of co-authors who do not have English as a first language is burdensome.

Next set of questions: What barriers have you faced to creating meaningful collaboration? What can be done to ovecome these? Nurhardy: government should consider some kind of affirmative action. Accessibility to chances to collaborate are limited for many on the margins.

Weiss: Collaboration needs to go beyond the boundaries of specific projects - want to develop shared research interests. Zoom is a good stop-gap, but meeting in person is ideal. New network to arise since the pandemic: WISEAS (Women in Southeast Asian Studies).

Meredith Weiss: involved in a project on patronage and money-politics initiated by colleagues in US and Australia. Spin-off of project by colleagues in Malaysia. Initiative can come from a certain place, but need not stay that way.

Chao Ren: Yet, most theoretically englightening works have come from Third World scholars. How do we avoid getting caught in the binary of SEA/West? Created our own platform, reading list, reading groups. Focused on asking good questions from our own perspective.

Chao Ren: historians of China (or East Asia) dominate at AAS - I am marginal to this. But I know it has the same problem that SEAS has: History originates from Western scholars, and then Asian scholars have been brought in later.

Nicole: approached to write due to my visibility and where I've studied/worked, but sometimes not the best person for the commissioned piece. Resolve this by pointing editors in direction of scholars who are well suited but less well known.

Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz: generally, I try to include participants from across the world. Convened a journal special issue, vast majority of authors are based in SEA. Diverse in terms of types of scholars (stages of career). Actively pursuing co-authorship with scholars in Asia.

Nurhardy: Melbourne needed a partner that could conduct research in the field, but also to inform the research design and write-up the results. Involved all the way through the process. Both parties listen to each other, there is mutual respect.

First questions for the discussants: what collaborative projects with overseas partners have you been involved in, and who initiated them? Nurhardy Sirimorok : latest was research into youth and agrarian change with Uni of Melbourne. Research finished, now looking to publish.

Phianphachong Intarat introduces the roundtable - organisers doubt that the issues discussed here are only applicable to SEAS, hope they can be helpful for Asian Studies more broadly. Summary will be submitted to AAS for their consideration.

Good morning from #AAS2023 Boston! I'll be live-tweeting from the roundtable 'Challenges for SEAS Faculty and Students' this morning. Key Q: How can the AAS serve to further the collaborative study of SEA by scholars from the region? #AsianStudies #SoutheastAsia

Lovely atmosphere here at #AAS2023. Lots of warm hellos and wide smiles all around as people meet once again for the first time in person since the pandemic. Big turnout for the keynote from Pasuk Phongpaichit too.

Annual meeting of Critical Asian Studies The Critical Asian Studies meeting is open to all scholars who would like to learn more about the journal and have an interest in submitting their research...

Mar 13

For those who are tech savvy, the page for this session in the digital AAS program can be found here:

asianstudies.confex.com

Critical Asian Studies

Critical Asian Studies are hosting a 'Meet the Editors' session on Fri 18 March at #AAS2023. Please do drop by if you have questions about any aspect of the publishing process, or if you'd just like to learn more about the work that CAS does. All are welcome.

@Rout_PoliticsIR