Theme: 11. ‘Pan-Africanism’, ‘Bandung Spirit’, ‘Global South’ Futures and the New World Order

‘Comparing the Comparables’ II: Africa-Southeast Asia; Identifying the Epistemological and Operational Contours of a Real South-South Field of Study

Roundtable Convenor(s)

• LH

  Lalita Hanwong

  Kasetsart University, Thailand

Roundtable Chair(s)

• SN

  Samuel Aniegye Ntewusu

  University of Ghana, Centre for African Studies, Ghana
• LP

  Lina Puryanti

  Airlangga University, Indonesia
• PP

  Philippe Peycam

  International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Netherlands

Roundtable Participant(s)

• CG

  Carol Gluck

  Columbia University, United States
• KS

  Kornsorn Srikulnath, N/A

  Kasetsart University, Thailand
• RS

  Richard Sambaiga

  University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• MS

  Mathew Senga

  University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• WK

  Webby Kalikiti

  University of Zambia, Zambia
• MF

  Mamadou Fall

  Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal
• YS

  Yuri Sato

  Japan Foundation, Japan
• BL

  Beng Choo Lim

  National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
• NC

  Narut Charoensri

  Chiang Mai University, Thailand
• ST

  Shinichi Takeuchi

  Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, African Studies Center, Japan
• RP

  Rita Padawangi

  Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
• IW

  Irfan Wahyudi

  Airlangga University, Indonesia
• TH

  Tom Hoogervorst

  Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian & Caribbean Studies (KITLV), Netherlands
• FF

  Fabio Figueiredo

  Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil
• OD

  Oumar Diallo

  Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal
• LE

  Laura Erber

  International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Netherlands

Session Two: Operating an Africa-Southeast Asia-(Latin America) South-South-North Research and Education Model

In 1998, Benedict Anderson, known for his groundbreaking book Imagined Communities, published his lesser-known piece Spectre of Comparisons, which explores Southeast Asia in its best theoretically and historically comparative settings by using national history, literature, social memory and the leftist movements as the points of departure. Despite its regional limitation, Anderson’s approach to ‘compare comparables’ is noteworthy. It may well be extended to include Africa and Southeast Asia, as comparable counterparts from the Global South.

What some of us in the South think is most needed, is to ascertain the complementary methodological instruments that constitute the acts of comparison and that of searching for - often forgotten - connections.

Africa and Southeast Asia, but also perhaps Latin America (?), indeed share rich grounds for comparisons and connections – from flora and fauna, climate, environmental characteristics, peoples and diverse cultures. In the past, most countries in Africa and Southeast Asia fell under the spell of the North as ‘colonies’, with the subsequent belief that the West shaped or created knowledge on these two regions, framing them as almost hermetic intellectual constructs.

Maritime trade from the Indian Ocean to India and further down to the Indonesian Archipelago however allowed movements of peoples and goods from the two world regions from times immemorial. Today, the Global South faces many pressing issues such as climate change and environmental justice, democratic backsliding and human rights abuses, among other things. However, the world has often seen the ‘North’ as an anecdote to the South’s problems. It is thus important to bring in people from the South to share their ideas and solutions irrespective of how they are being categorized and hierarchized in the North.

For this event, that constitutes a first attempt to establish a working platform between partners from the two regions of Africa and Southeast Asia, we would like to invite participants from the two regions and beyond, to take part in this institutional roundtable supported by Kasetsart University, a Thailand-based agriculture University, to share, discuss and seek civic and academic partnerships through the methodological exploration of commonalities and challenges between the two regions.

Exploratory Roundtable supported by: Kasetsart University, IIAS and Japan Foundation