===================================== MONASH ASIA INSTITUTE BULLETIN 6/2004 10 June 2004 ===================================== In this bulletin 1. Workshop: Hindu Fundamentalism and Militancy in India Today 2. 11th Annual Workshop on Southeast Asian Women 3. Asia Foreign Policy Update 4. Second Herb Feith Memorial Lecture 5. Book Launch: Asian Cyberactivism 6. Pit women and others: Women miners in the Asia Pacific region 7. Beyond the Palms: Pacific at the Crossroads -------------------- Item 1. Half Day Workshop by the Monash Asia Institute Friday 11 June 2004, 12.30 pm - 5.00 pm Room S822, Level 8 South, Menzies Building (11) Monash University Clayton Campus "Hindu Fundamentalism and Militancy in India Today" Keynote address by Prof Sujata Patel, Department of Sociology, University of Pune, India. For full details, see: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/events.html#fundamentalism Enquiries and RSVP (essential): Prof Marika Vicziany, Director, Monash Asia Institute -------------------- Item 2. 11th Annual Workshop on Southeast Asian Women Monash Asia Institute/Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Monash University has a number of academic staff and graduate students conducting research relating to women in Southeast Asia. The first Women in Southeast Asia Workshop was organised by the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies in 1994, and since then such workshops have been held annually to promote research in the area and to facilitate exchange of ideas among scholars. Contact for more information: Dr Susan Blackburn: tel. (03)9905 2384, email sue.blackburn@arts.monash.edu.au Monash University ELEVENTH ANNUAL WORKSHOP ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN WOMEN Friday 25 June 2004, 9.30 am - 4.30 pm Place: The Workshop is held in the Guy Manton rooms (SG01 and SG02) on the ground floor of the Menzies Building, Monash University Clayton campus. All sessions will be held in SG01 except for the small discussion group session just before lunch: groups will meet in both rooms. 9.30 - 10.00 am Registration (Foyer outside Manton Rooms) N.B. THE WORKSHOP IS FREE OF CHARGE but a donation of $5.00 is requested for refreshments. 10.00 - 11.00 a.m. WOMEN AND RELIGION Siti Syamsiyatun (Monash): The origin of Nasyiatul Aisyiyah: Early development of religious- based womanhood in pre-independent Indonesia Bianca Smith (Monash): Interpreting women’s kejawen religiosities and gender in village Java 11.00- 11.30 a.m. Morning tea (foyer) 11.30- 12.30 p.m. Small discussion groups Groups will be formed of no more than 8 people, according to country or discipline: networking on research on Southeast Asian women. 12.30 – 2.00 p.m. Lunch (can be bought in Union Building) 2.00 – 3.00 p.m. PRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTION Annemarie Reerink (ANU): Institutionalisation of women workers’ demands: possibilities and limitations in Thailand and Indonesia Lenore Lyons (Wollongong): Making babies for PAP: Reproductive policy debates in Singapore 3.00 – 3.30 p.m. Afternoon tea (in foyer) 3.30 – 4.30 p.m. REPRESENTATION Chris Hudson (RMIT): The Butterfly in Singapore: images of women past and present Soe Tjen Marching (Melbourne): Analysis of Ayu Utami’s Saman: Does Shakuntala break all the patriarchal rules in Indonesia? After drinks at the University Club, a dinner will be held in a nearby Asian restaurant. Please inform the registration desk in the morning if you wish to come. -------------------- Item 3. Asia Foreign Policy Update The Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, Centre for Malaysian Studies and the Monash Asia Institute have pleasure in inviting you to a lecture by the distinguished Malaysian scholar and political commentator Professor Shamsul A. B. Director of ATMA and IKON at the National University of Malaysia "Separating Substance from Rhetoric: Malaysia's new Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi - early days in office." Monday 28th June 2004 12.00 for 12.30 to 2.00pm 12.00-12.30 Buffet lunch before the lecture Monash Conference Centre, Level 7, 30 Collins St, Melbourne Abdullah Badawi became Malaysia's fifth Prime Minister on 31 October 2003. After only 140 days in power, he declared a general election on 21 March 2004. Abdullah Badawi led the Barisan Nasional (National Front) Coalition to its biggest win in history, capturing around 90% of the 200 odd parliamentary seats. Many still wonder what made it possible for him to achieve this level of success, especially as he had been perceived as someone meek, ineffective and even weak compared to his predecessor, when he took over from Mahathir. Is it his rhetoric or the substance of his policies and national agendas that have made him such an overwhelming winner? Is it the Islamic factor? Can he really fulfil all his promises? This presentation is an attempt to answer some of these questions, hardly 14 weeks after his resounding victory. Professor SHAMSUL A.B. is Professor of Social Anthropology at the National University of Malaysia (UKM). He was formerly the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and is now the Director of the Institute of the Malay World and Civilization (ATMA) and the recently established Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON) at UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. (http://www.malaycivilization.com). He is frequently invited to comment on Malaysian current affairs for the international mass media, including The Economist, Asiaweek, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Straits Times (Singapore), Asian Wall Street Journal and The Australian. Professor Shamsul writes extensively on politics, religion, culture and economic development in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. He recently delivered a series of lectures on the theme "Islam in Southeast Asia and Europe Compared" in Paris, Leeds, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf and Brussels sponsored by the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF). This event is a Free Public Lecture. RSVPs are essential for catering. A buffet lunch of sandwiches and beverages will be served at the venue from 12 noon and the lecture will begin at 12.30. ****************************************** I wish to attend the Asia Foreign Policy Update Free Public Lecture organized by the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, Centre for Malaysian Studies and the Monash Asia Institute: Please fax, mail or e-mail your reply to reserve a seat by Wednesday 23rd June 2004. Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, PO Box 18133 Collins Street East, MELBOURNE VIC 8003 A.B.N. 62 079 890 814 FAX: (03) 9654 6680 TEL: (03) 9650 0998 EMAIL: naomis@asiasoc.org.au Name: Position: Organisation: Address: Telephone: Fax: Email: -------------------- Item 4. Second Herb Feith Memorial Lecture The Centre of Southeast Asian Studies and Faculty of Arts, Monash University in association with ABC Radio Australia and the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages & Societies of the University of Melbourne present ... Second Herb Feith Memorial Lecture Honouring the memory of Herb Feith - teacher, scholar, activist and humanitarian Monday 28 June 2004 Join us for refreshments from 6.30 pm, Lecture starts at 7.30pm sharp Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre, corner Sturt Street and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank, Melbourne. "Divisive Modernity: Thoughts on Southeast Asian History" Prof Wang Gungwu, Director, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. MC: Graeme Dobell, Radio Australia's Foreign Affairs & Defence Correspondent This event will also be the formal launch of the Herb Feith Foundation. For full details and brochure, see: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/cseas/hfeith04.html Enquiries: Dr Penny Graham, Director, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash Asia Institute. Email: penny.graham@arts.monash.edu.au RSVP (essential for catering purposes): guibin.zhang@adm.monash.edu.au (Please use "Herb Feith Memorial Lecture 2004" as subject of your email). -------------------- Item 5. Book Launch hosted by Australian Institute of International Affairs and Monash Asia Institute Thursday 29 July 2004 - time and venue to be confirmed "Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship" by Steven Gan, James Gomez and Uwe Johannen Unlike most publications that focus on the technology, this book focuses on the human actors. Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship records political activism and failures of cyberactivists as they try to beat the various censorship regimes in Asia. The book is an insightful look into online political organising in Asia even as the technology and the rules change. Activists provide their perspectives on how new media relates to democracy, and showcase examples that could be emulated to further the cause of democracy. It is also an insight into the political, societal and legal challenges that cyberactivists have to face, and what this means for democratic development in the region. Asian Cyberactivism is the first book of its kind, featuring Asian case studies on political activism via new communication technologies like the Internet. Enquiries: James Gomez -------------------- Item 6. Pit women and others: Women miners in the Asia Pacific region A one day free workshop on gender and labour in the mining sector A light lunch and refreshments will be served Venue: Old Canberra House Date Friday, 2nd July, 2004 Registrations from 9 am General perceptions of mining as a ‘masculine’ industry hide the fact that women are, and have always been, a very important part of its workforce. Women’s work in the mines in Asian and Pacific countries offer a problematic in ways gender is constructed, lived, inscribed and contested in the mines. This workshop draws attention to the gendered nature of mining work through an examination of the lives of ‘pit women’ and other female mineworkers, their resistances, representations of them, and the impacts of globalisation and new technology on women mineworkers. The workshop together an interdisciplinary group of academics with consultants to deliberate upon the various productive roles Asian and Pacific women play (and have played) in mining. Speakers will include Dr Sachiko Sone, Dr Gill Burke, Mr Geoff Crispin, Dr Martha Macintyre, Dr Christine Boulan-Smit, Dr Donald Smith, Dr Amarjit Kaur, Ms Ingrid Macdonald, Dr Evelyn Caballero, Dr Mrinal K. Ghose, Ms Bhanumathi Kalluri and Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. The sessions will be chaired by Dr Kathy Robinson and Dr Colin Filer. The workshop is supported by the National Institute of Social Sciences and Law (NISSL), National Institute for Asia and the Pacific (NIAP), and Resource Management in Asia Pacific (RMAP) Program, The Australian National University. For more information contact: Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt (tel: (+61) 2 6125 4343; mobile: (+61) 0490 915 8145; email: kuntala@coombs.anu.edu.au) -------------------- Item 7. Beyond the Palms: Pacific at the Crossroads Our Pacific neighbours are facing difficult and changing times. The Australian response has both alleviated and exacerbated the situation. Christian World Service, a commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia, has great pleasure in inviting you to a forum with four influential speakers in touch with the people and the issues facing the Pacific Island nations. Rev Dr Adrian Smith, Archbishop of the Solomon Islands, Mr Fe’iloakitau Kaho, Executive Secretary of the World Council of Churches for the Pacific Ms Koila Costello-Olsson, Ecumenical Centre for Research Education and Advocacy (ECREA) in Suva, Fiji as the Gender and Peace Programme Coordinator Mr Tom Anayabere, General Secretary of the PNG Council of Churches. Chaired by Professor Brian Howe Date: Thursday, 8th July 2004 Time: 10.00 for 10.30am, followed by buffet lunch. Venue: Trinity College, Parkville RSVP: 30th June 2004 to Kaylea Fearn, Tel. 03 9650 6811, kfearn@ncca.org.au ======================================================================== The Monash Asia Institute Newsletter incorporates news items from the six research centres of the Monash Asia Institute, partner organisations and other groups working to promote Asian Studies in Australia. For further information about the Monash Asia Institute and this newsletter: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/ email: monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au ========================================================================