book of abstracts 8th EuroSEAS Conference Vienna, 11–14 August 2015 http://www.euroseas2015.org contents keynotes 3 round tables 4 film programme 5 panels I. Southeast Asian Studies Past and Present 9 II. Early And (Post)Colonial Histories 11 III. (Trans)Regional Politics 27 IV. Democratization, Local Politics and Ethnicity 38 V. Mobilities, Migration and Translocal Networking 51 VI. (New) Media and Modernities 65 VII. Gender, Youth and the Body 76 VIII. Societal Challenges, Inequality and Conflicts 87 IX. Urban, Rural and Border Dynamics 102 X. Religions in Focus 123 XI. Art, Literature and Music 138 XII. Cultural Heritage and Museum Representations 149 XIII. Natural Resources, the Environment and Costumary Governance 167 XIV. Mixed Panels 189 euroseas 2015 . book of abstracts 3 keynotes Alarms of an Old Alarmist Benedict Anderson Have students of SE Asia become too timid? For example, do young researchers avoid studying the power of the Catholic Hierarchy in the Philippines, the military in Indonesia, and in Bangkok monarchy? Do sociologists and anthropologists fail to write studies of the rising ‘middle classes’ out of boredom or disgust? Who is eager to research the very dangerous drug mafias all over the place? How many track the spread of Western European, Russian, and American arms of all types into SE Asia and the consequences thereof? On the other side, is timidity a part of the decay of European and American universities? Bureaucratic intervention to bind students to work on what their state think is central (Terrorism/Islam)? Commercialism in the form of Business- men taking over university leadership? Senior professors force students to stay inside the walls of the Disciplines, and learn the unreadable (to citizens) argot of each? And what about the rising hegemony of ‘English’ around the world? Isn’t the consequence that the SE Asian scholars are pushed to write in this ugly prose not their own language, while at least in lazy UK and America competence in SEA languages gets worse? The Spirit of Indonesia: Rasa, Reason, Religion Ayu Utami History has shown that for centuries people of the now Indonesia’s archipelago lived in harmony despite their het- erogeneity. An “ethic of harmony” has been described by many scholars. Temples and old scripts prove syncretism between Hinduism, Buddhism and other beliefs. Their classical literatures and traditional daily life show a somehow contradicting mixture of monotheism and local spirituality. The Republik Indonesia’s state foundation and emblem confirm its spirit of unity in diversity. However, after the Reformasi we have seen an increasing trend of religious intolerance and violence in the name of God, parallel with global terrorism. The ethic of harmony is being contested by the modernist need for clarity, and ancient syncretism is being challenged by “modern dogmas”. Religion is no longer a traditional phenomena. The dog- matic strain of it survives very well in the digital era. In my opinion, Indonesia can no longer keep its harmony through syncretism and the ethic of harmony. Modern edu- cation have taught Indonesia’s new generation to demand “a sense of clarity”. Both old mechanism could not satisfy it due to their inherent lack of logical consistency. On the other hand, unfortunatelly, this desire for clarity can be fulfilled in a superficial level by dogmas and short texts of the now prevailing social and mass media. Indonesia still has spiritual assets to resist dogmatic views. It has proved a relatively smooth transition to democracy, especially if compared to the Arab Spring. The danger keeps lurking. As the ancient ethic of harmony is failing, the future resistance against dogmatism is not secularism per se, but critical thinking that opens itself to the yet unknown. I’d like to call it “critical spirituality”. I will narrate my opinion using also ghost stories, myths, personal history, lan- guage cases and social or mass media content. euroseas 2015 . book of abstracts 4 round tables Nikkei Round Table I: Towards Greater Regionalism in Southeast Asia Chair: Takehiko Koyanagi (Nikkei Asian Review) discussants: Maria Strasakova (Metropolitan University Prague), Sebastian Bobowski (Wroclaw University of Eco- nomics), Jeremy Grant (Financial Times), further discussants TBA Nikkei Round Table II: Myanmar’s Election Year: Challenges and Trajectories Chair: Gwen Robinson (Chulalongkorn University) discussants: Ardeth Thawnghmung (UMass Lowell), Kyaw Yin Hlaing (Center for Diversity and National Harmony), Marcus Brand (University of Vienna), Wolfram Schaffar (University of Vienna) Nikkei Round Table III: Political Trends in Southeast Asia Chair: Gwen Robinson (Chulalongkorn University) discussants: Duncan McCargo (University of Leeds), Nathan Quimpo (University of Tsukuba), Ardeth Thawngh- mung (UMass Lowell), Tuong Vu (University of Oregon), Gerry van Klinken (KITLV) Round Table: Southeast Asian Studies Is an Area-Oriented Endeavor or It Is Nothing Chair: Christoph Antweiler (University of Bonn) Participants: Henk Schulte Nordholt (KITLV), Rommel Curaming (Universiti Brunei Darussalam), Dayana Parvanova (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Vincent Houben (Humboldt University Berlin), Helmut Lukas (Austrian Academy of Sciences) euroseas 2015 . book of abstracts 5 euroseas film programme . southeast asia on screen 12. – 14.08.2015 | 14:00 | Auditorium Maximum Accompanying the EuroSEAS conference a daily film program of documentaries from and about Southeast Asia will take place in the Auditorium Maximum of the University of Vienna. The screenings focus on Indonesia (Wednesday), Thailand (Thursday), and Myanmar/Burma (Friday). The program will also provide a forum for the presentation of recent initiatives from and in these countries, like the “Yangon Film School” (Myanmar) and the “International People’s Tribunal 1965” (Indonesia). The EuroSEAS Film Programme is curated by Ascan Breuer (documentary film-maker and lecturer in film studies) and Rainer Einzenberger (University of Vienna). Wednesday, 12.08.2015 INDONESIA on Screen Last summer Indonesia elected its first president who is not a part of the military nomenclature of the overthrown regime. This is but one of many steps in the slow transition process to overcome the heritage of the dictatorship (1966- 1998). To discuss the societal changes on multiple levels, the films of “Trilogi Jawa” (Javanese Trilogy) by Vienna- based filmmaker Ascan Breuer will be presented and discussed: Over several years “Jakarta Disorder” (Trilogi Jawa II, 2013) observes the development of a grassroots movement of slum-dwellers that try to engage in the presidential election process. In “Riding My Tiger” (Trilogi Jawa III, 2014) the filmmaker makes the migration history of his own family of Chinese-Indonesian origin, a subject of discussion: Main topic of this film is the mass murder of 1965. Fifty years later Indonesia still isn’t coming to terms with that dark side of its past. But the survivors don’t want to keep quiet, and they plan to constitute a so-called people’s tribunal in The Hague. Two representatives of the IPT1965, Sri Tunruang and Artien Utrecht, are invited to discuss their efforts. — Mass Grave (2002), 26 min, by Lexy Rambadeta >>> AUSTRIAN PREMIERE <<< This sad and sensitive account records the unearthing of an actual mass grave in Indonesia, which contained the corpses of alleged political activists, namely communists, who were murdered during Suharto’s regime. The film fol- lows the course of the victims’ relatives’ plea to exhume the remains with dignity in a forest in Wonosobo, Central Java in 2000, only to be faced with harsh resistance from the locals. >>> BEST DOCUMENTARY <<< – Festival Film Video Independen Indonesia 2002 — Riding My Tiger – Trilogi Jawa III (2014), 42 min, by Ascan Breuer >>> VIENNA PREMIERE <<< The filmmaker searches for the spirit of a tiger said to have haunted the house of his ancestors on Java. Locating this spirit is no easy matter, as it must be summoned in a respectful manner. A number of stories have grown around it, personified as the family´s grandfather, as the ghost of an old man who resides in the garden and finishes off thieves and poor craftsmen. It also recalls the resistance against Dutch colonialism and the conflicts that played out during the Cold War. By using the old art of Javanese shadow puppetry, Wayang Kulit, Breuer creates a new genre of docu- mentary: a “magical documentary”. >>> BEST FILM / MOST INNOVATIVE FILM <<< (nominee) – Visions Du Réel 2014 euroseas 2015 . book of abstracts 6 — Presentation of International People’s Tribunal 1965, with Sri Tunruang and Artien Utrecht (IPT1965), Alex Flor (Watch Indonesia!) “As a people’s tribunal, the ‘IPT 1965’ derives its power from the voices of victims, and of national and international civil societies. The IPT 1965 has the format of a formal human rights court. It is not a criminal court in the sense that individual persons are indicted. The prosecutors will indict the state of Indonesia, based on the proofs presented of responsibility for the widespread and systematic crimes against humanity committed after the ‘events of 1965’ in Indonesia. The proof presented consists of documents, audiovisual materials, statements of witnesses and other recognized legale means. The power of this Tribunal is to examine the evidence, develop an accurate historical and scientific record and apply principles of International law to the facts as found. The judges produce a verdict based on the material presented and call upon the Government