Past Seminars
The First ASEAN Inter-University Seminar on Social Development Kota Kinabalu, 13-15 November 1993
The inaugural ASEAN Inter-University Seminar on Social Development was held at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, from 13-15 November 1993. It was jointly organised by the Faculty of Development Science, (UKM) and the Department of Sociology (NUS). The seminar addressed four major themes: Globalization and Modernity: Promises and Problems; Culture, Religion and Ethnicity; State, Society and Development; Family, Gender and Socialization. A total of 77 papers were presented in 15 panels. The topics of the panels were diverse and included the following among others: Issues in Theory and Society; Culture and the State; State and Ethnicity; Education and the Development Process; Ethnicity and History; Technology Issues in Development; Global Capital and the Labour Process; The Socialisation Process; Effects of Economic Transformations; Villages and Ecologies; Language and Micro-Relationships; and Tradition, Religion and Secularisation. As an inaugural event, the seminar also saw a remarkable representation of various countries with the participation of distinguished as well as senior and younger scholars and academics from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam as well as Australia and Germany.
The first Seminar was an unqualified success as witnessed by the number of participants and the representation of scholars and academics from within the region and elsewhere. At the conclusion of the seminar, there was unanimous agreement among participants that the seminar should indeed continue as a series bearing all the hallmarks of the first seminar in its objectives, collaborative organisation, choice of regional locations and in spirit. Selected papers from this Seminar “Asean in the Global System” were published in 1999 by the Universiti Kebangsaan Press.
The Second ASEAN Inter-University Seminar on Social Development Cebu City, 28-30 November 1995
The Second seminar was held in Cebu City from 28-30 November 1995 and was collaboratively organised by the Department of Sociology (NUS), the Faculty of Development Science (UKM), the University of San Carlos, Xavier University and the Philippine Social Science Council with generous financial support from the Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung. As with the first seminar, well over 70 papers were presented in 18 panels. The panel topics included: Transmigration: Experiences, Patterns and Policies; Ethnicities, Institutions and Rural Development; Religion and Ruminations on Modern Society; Democracy, Governance and Human Rights; Magic, Power and Politics; Families, Women and Occupations; Factories and Labour Regimes; Civil Society and Democratic Participation; Indigenous Societies and Intellectual Practices; Urbanization, Poverty and Development; Global Media and the Nation State; Industrial Policies and Corporate Growth; Regionalisation: Past, Present and Future, among others.
The second seminar saw an increased participation of scholars and academics with a greater variety of country backgrounds compared to the first, i.e. all the ASEAN countries as in the first seminar including Vietnam, and for the first time, Thailand, as well as America, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. The increase in regional and international participation as well as the number of panel topics testifies to the rapidly growing significance and importance of the seminar series.
The conclusion of the second seminar produced an overwhelming consensus that the continuity of the ASEAN Inter-University Seminars on Social Development was of vital importance and Universitas Riau (Pekanbaru, Indonesia) offered to host the Third Seminar.
The Third ASEAN Inter-University Seminar on Social Development Pekanbaru, 16-19 June 1997
The Third seminar was held in Pekanbaru in June 16-19, 1997 with the theme: Nation, Region & the Modern World co-organised by Universitas Riau and the Department of Sociology (NUS). Discussion panels included: Family and Work; Housing & Urban Issues; Reforming the Nation: Theatre & People; Aid, Economic Diplomacy and Regional Cooperation; International Relations & Security Issues; Industralization & Worker's Consciousness in East Asia; Anthropology of Tourism in Southeast Asia; Beyond Orientalism and Occidentalism: Towards Alternative Discourses; Information and Development; Gender, Ethnicity and Economy.
This Third seminar had attracted the attention of book and journal publishers who sent their representatives with the result that publishing contracts were signed and sealed with some of our participants.
Fourth ASEAN Inter-University Seminars on Social Development, Pattani, 16-18 June 1999
Hosted by the University of Songkla (Pattani Campus), the Fourth Seminar had the main theme: SE Asia into the 21 st Century: Critical Transitions, Continuity and Change. The Fourth seminar hosted a total of 34 discussion panels. They included: Memory, History and the Reconstruction of the Past; Management of Coastal Resources by the Community; Nation-state & Transborder Connection; New Social Spaces; Indonesia & Globalization; Family Development & Fertility; Higher Education in the 21 st Century.
Fifth Asean Inter-University Seminars on Social Development, Singapore, 23-25 May 2001
The 5th ASEAN Inter-University seminar was held in the Kent Ridge Guild House, Singapore, from 23rd to 25th May 2001. Organised jointly by the National University of Singapore, in partnership with University Kebangsaan Malaysia, the theme for the seminar was Social Development in Post-Crisis Asia. The seminar was well attended; attracting more than 17 participating institutions and their affiliates from Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. A total of 8 sessions of paper presentations, comprising of 36 different panels were held over te course of the 3 day seminar. Topics presented were diverse-- ranging from political and social economic 'Asian Crisis and Globalisation' to issues on gender 'Gender Sexuality and Power in Philippine transnationalism', law 'Issues in Law and domestic violence in Southeast Asia' to health 'Health and Illness in Southeast Asia', religion 'Religion, culture and modernity', as well as a student workshop 'Southeast Asian Soundscapes:Popular Music in Southeast Asia.' We were also privelleged to have different keynote speakers to address participants at the start of the programme for each day. Guest keynote speakers for 2001 were Prof. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti from Chiang Mai University, Prof. Richard Robison, School of Politics and International Studies, Murdoch University and the former governor of the Bank of Indonesia, J Soedradjad Dijwandono.
Sixth Asean Inter-University Seminars on Social Development, Penang, 14-16 May 2004
The Sixth ASEAN Inter-University Seminars was held in Penang. The Seminar was hosted by the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Due to the occurrence of SARS, the Sixth Seminar which was supposed to be held in 2003 was postponed to the year 2004. The main theme of the Sixth Seminar was Decentering S.E. Asia. The Seminar has a total of 14 panels comprising about 65 papers. Among the sub-themes covered were:
1. De-centering Class-State Relationship: Globalization and Post-Crisis Southeast Asia
2. Economy of the Region: Asian/Asean
3. Globalization and Health
4. Education & Development
5. Modernization and “Modernization Projects” in Southeast Asia
6. Civil Society and ASEAN
7. Family & Problems of Reproduction
8. Poverty & Community Development
9. Migration and Displacement
10. Colonial Policy, Ideas & Society
11. Culture, Consumption and Globalization
12. Politics of Local/Global
13. Health and Development: New and Old Issues and Challenges
14. Liberalization and Deregulation in SEA
15. Language, Identity and Memory
16. Civil Society & ASEAN
17. Environment & Community Development
18. Developmental Factors: Religion, Corruption, IT & Work
19. Being an Indonesian: Seeking new meaning in a disoriented world
20. Of Enterprises & Entrepreneurship
21. Islam & Society
Seventh Asean Inter-University Seminars on Social Development, Hanoi, 19-21 July 2006
The Seventh Asean Inter-University Seminars was held on 19-21 July 2006. It was hosted by the Vietnam National Council on Education and the Vietnam National University: Hanoi. The theme was Peace, Human Welfare and Sustainable Development. About 150 papers were presented. Click here for book of abstracts in English.