Power and Politics in Southeast Asia

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course highlights Southeast Asia as an important region for the study of politics and power from an anthropological perspective. It sheds light on how notions of “power” stemming from the unique political histories of Southeast Asia might help us rethink its role in governmentality, knowledge-producing practices, and in creating the conditions for political legitimacy. We will examine how various forces shaped what power came to be in time and place. We will examine how this legacy continues in terms of patron-client networks, the meaning of political legitimacy, and ways of seeing sex and gender.