Social Activism in Southeast Asia examines the ways in which social movements operate in a region characterized by a history of authoritarian regimes and relatively weak civil society. It situates cutting-edge accounts of activism around civil and political rights, globalization, peace, the environment, migrant and factory labour, the rights of middle- and working-class women, and sexual identity in an overarching framework of analysis that forefronts the importance of human rights and the state as a focus for social activism. Drawing on contemporary evidence from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste, the book explores the ways in which social movement actors engage with their international allies, the community and the state in order to promote social change. As well as providing detailed and nuanced analyses of particular movements in specific areas of Southeast Asia, the book addresses difficult questions about the politics, strategies and authenticity of social movements.

Contents

1. Social Activism in Southeast Asia: An Introduction Michele Ford 2. Southeast Asian Activism and the Limits to Independent Political Space Garry Rodan 3. Separatism in Aceh: From Social Rebellion to Political Movement Edward Aspinall 4. Philippine Contention in the Democratic ‘Transitions’ Vince Boudreau 5. Values and the Institutionalization of Indonesia’s Organic Agriculture Movement Nicola Edwards 6. Burmese Social Movements in Exile: Labour, Migration and Democracy Dennis Arnold 7. Labour Activism in Thailand Andrew Brown and Sakdina Chatrakul Na Ayudhya 8. The Anti-Globalization Movement in the Philippines Dominique Caouette and Teresa Tadem 9. Activism and Aid: Shaping the Peace Movement in Timor-Leste Thushara Dibley 10. International Agendas and Sex Worker Rights in Cambodia Larissa Sandy 11. Sexuality Rights Activism in Malaysia: The Case of Seksualiti Merdeka Julian C. H. Lee 12. The Christian Right and the Sin Feminist Movement Lenore Lyons

Author Bio

Michele Ford is Director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the Indonesian labour movement and organized labour’s responses to temporary labour migration in East and Southeast Asia. She is the author of Workers and Intellectuals: NGOs, Trade Unions and the Indonesian Labour Movement (NUS/Hawaii/KITLV 2009) and co-editor of Women and Work in Indonesia (Routledge 2008); Women and Labour Organizing in Asia: Diversity, Autonomy and Activism (Routledge 2008); Indonesia Beyond the Water’s Edge: Managing an Archipelagic State (ISEAS 2009); Men and Masculinities in Southeast Asia (Routledge 2012) and Labour Migration and Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Critical Perspectives (Routledge 2012).