Legacies of Contention in Southeast Asian Transitions: Lessons from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar
.png)
 |
| Evan Shepherd |
This lecture had three interesting goals. The first was to explore how social movements effect the transition of democracy. The most known case is undoubtedly the Arab Spring; however, the prominence of social movements has also played a role in bring democracy to Southeast Asia too. Myanmar, more than the others, is a great example of a social movement for freedom bring change to an entire regime and country.
The second goal of the lecture was to explore the relationship between democratic protest and existing movements within the country. Dr. Vincent Boudreau, the Director of the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at City College of New York, remarked that democratic protest have strengthened existing movements within countries. This could be due to the fact that democratic movements allow people, who otherwise would have remained quiet for fear of reprisal, to join movements they are passionate about.
The last goal was to explore the legacies of democratic transitions and how those legacies effect the regimes that follow. From what's could garner from the lecture, the democratic transitions may not have salaries effect on the following regimes; all three cases were somewhat different from each other. The process of democratic transition is a complex one that is very hard to fully describe and understand; however, I am excited to experience Asia for myself!
Evan Shepherd, of Madisonville, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying political science and business administration.