Published 6 October 2021 Paul O'Shea has written a chapter on the topic of Japanese foreign policy under the Democratic Party of Japan. Governing from 2009-2012, the landslide election of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was supposed to usher in a new era in Japanese politics. Within three years, they were out of office, and shortly afterwards the party dissolved. This chapter examines the DPJ'

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-japanese-foreign-policy - 2025-06-29

Published 19 October 2021 Is China beating the US and EU through its pragmatic approach towards cooperation under the “Belt and Road” Initiative (“一带一路”倡议) (BRI)? In this opinion piece, Tabita Rosendal argues that China’s “pragmatic values”, combined with investments, may outcompete the US’ “Build Back Better World” (B3W) and the EU’s “Connecting Europe Globally” (CEG). Read the full text on E-Int

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-pragmatism-over-morals - 2025-06-29

Published 22 November 2021 Our PhD student Gina Song Lopez recently got to discuss her research on veg*n and plant-based food advocacy in East Asia with the Society for the Psychology of Human-Animal Intergroup Relations (PHAIR). In the interview, she elaborates on the spread of ‘new’ approaches to veganism and vegetarianism in the Sino-cultural context as well as what the animal advocacy and vega

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/vegnism-sino-cultural-sphere - 2025-06-29

Published 7 December 2021 Astrid Norén-Nilsson has published an article on regal legitimisations in connection with Cambodia's shift to hegemonic authoritarianism The article, published in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, analyses how Cambodia's transition from competitive to hegemonic authoritarianism has been teeming with references to the monarchy. It investigates the meanings and messages att

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-cambodian-politics - 2025-06-29

Published 10 December 2021 Astrid has received funding from Formas, a government research council for sustainable development, to lead a three-year research project on the intersection between authoritarianism and the pandemic in Cambodia. Nicholas has received funding from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation for a three-year project examining informal Chinese resource extraction globally,

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/congratulations-astrid-and-nicholas-who-have-both-received-research-grants - 2025-06-29

Published 14 December 2021 Photo by Elizabeth Rhoads Elizabeth Rhoads has co-authored a new article with Jayde Lin Roberts on Myanmar’s social infrastructure of nalehmu. This new article examines nalehmu, a set of informal relational practices for negotiating power across scales which have facilitated access and enforced accountability through mutually recognized norms and social sanctions in Myan

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-article-social-infrastructure-myanmar - 2025-06-29

Published 17 January 2022 The Centre announces two PhD positions. East and South-East Asian Studies is an interdisciplinary subject that focuses on contemporary phenomena and processes in the region as a whole as well as in individual countries. The subject integrates theoretical and methodological perspectives from area studies with different humanities and social sciences disciplines. Applicatio

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/two-fully-funded-phd-positions-east-and-south-east-asian-studies-0 - 2025-06-29

Published 21 January 2022 Astrid Norén-Nilsson has assessed Cambodia's political and social trends of the past year for East Asia Forum The article is part of the annual EAF Year in Review series, in which country experts assess the trends of the past year that are likely to affect the year in prospect. Read the article on the East Asia Forum web site

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/year-review-article-cambodia-2021 - 2025-06-29

Published 15 February 2022 Japanese lay Buddhist women preparing food in the temple kitchen in rural Hiroshima, August 2016. Photo by Paulina Kolata. Paulina Kolata has co-authored a journal article with Gwendolyn Gillson on the importance of food literacy and its aesthetics in contemporary Japanese Buddhism. Along with the other articles in the Numen Special Issue ‘The Aesthetics and Emotions of

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-gender-and-food-japanese-buddhism - 2025-06-29

Published 18 February 2022 Family Buddhist altar (butsudan) found in most rural households. Decorated with paper lanterns to guide the spirits of the dead home during the o-bon festival. 14 August 2017. Photo by Paulina Kolata. Paulina Kolata has recently published an article in Allegra Lab on Buddhist material excess in contemporary Japan. The piece contributes to the thematic thread on “Heritage

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-material-religion-excess-and-depopulation-japan - 2025-06-29

Published 1 March 2022 Astrid Norén-Nilsson has published an article on strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics The article, published in Asian Studies Review, seeks to recover strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics from the period leading up to Independence onwards. It is part of the Special Issue 'Locating Liberalisms in Southeast Asia'. Read the full article on Taylor&Francis Online we

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-liberalism-cambodia - 2025-06-29

Published 4 March 2022 Axel Towers, Copenhagen. Credits: Maria Eklind (CC) Tabita Rosendal, PhD student at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, has written an article on the Sino-Danish relationship for the People’s Map of Global China. In the article she argues that while Denmark retains its pragmatic approach to China and largely frames the Sino-Danish relationship in terms of econo

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/denmark-peoples-map-global-china - 2025-06-29

Published 9 March 2022 Photo by Marina Svensson Workshop 21-22 April at the Centre This workshop will discuss ethical, methodological, and practical issues and choices when using visual methods. Five keynote speakers from different disciplines will share and discuss their work using images, multimedia and film as part of their research. The workshop invites a limited number of participants at Lund

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/visual-methods-and-practices-research-new-work-ideas-and-approaches - 2025-06-29

Published 25 March 2022 Paul O'Shea has co-authored an article on the communication of food safety risk in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster (2011-2020). Tine Walravens, Nicolai Ahrenkiel, and Paul O'Shea published '‘Let's eat Fukushima’: communicating risk and restoring ‘safe food’ after the Fukushima disaster (2011-2020)' in Japan Forum this month. The article draws on three case studies,

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-food-safety-after-fukushima-nuclear-disaster - 2025-06-29

Published 28 April 2022 Screenshot from Kvartal website. Paul O'Shea has written an article on how international relations theory is being misused to explain the war in Ukraine. The article is in Swedish, but Google Translate provides a very good translation or you can read this translated version (PDF, 90kB, new window).  The article examines the question: who is to blame for Russia's invasion of

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-article-misusing-and-international-relations-theory-explain-war-ukraine - 2025-06-29

Published 23 May 2022 Paul O'Shea has written a new article on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine for disputed territories around the world. The article examines the history of territorial annexation and shows how, post-1945, a norm against conquest emerged. A successful annexation of Ukrainian territory would seriously erode this norm, however, setting a major precedent. This could have i

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/how-invasion-ukraine-could-change-global-map - 2025-06-29

Published 4 August 2022 China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Challenges, uncertainties, and resilience Tabita Rosendal, PhD student at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, has written a Danish article for the Denmark-China magazine (Danmark-Kina magasinet). In it, she provides an overview of the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) current progress, as well as the challenges and uncertaintie

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/kinas-silkevejsinitiativ-udfordringer-uvished-og-udholdenhed - 2025-06-29

Published 8 August 2022 Nicholas Loubere has co-authored a short book titled Global China as Method, published by Cambridge University Press’s Elements in Global China series. Ivan Franceschini and Nicholas Loubere have co-authored a short book titled Global China as Method. The book argues that even after four decades of integration into the global socioeconomic system, discussions of China conti

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/new-publication-global-china - 2025-06-29

Published 26 August 2022 After several years of expert management at the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, Copenhagen University, the journal has moved across the Öresund to Sweden. Asia in Focus is a peer-reviewed journal published online twice a year. The focal point of the journal is modern Asian societies viewed from the standpoints of social sciences and humanities. The geographical focus i

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/asia-focus-has-found-new-home-centre-east-and-south-east-asian-studies - 2025-06-29

Published 8 September 2022 Tabita Rosendal has published an article on China’s use of Buddhist strategic narratives in Sri Lanka The article, published in The Pacific Review, analyzes how China’s Buddhist strategic narratives have been used to further the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) progress in Sri Lanka, and argues that under the BRI’s ‘people-to-people’ bonds, Chinese and Sri Lankan officia

https://www.ace.lu.se/article/chinas-buddhist-strategic-narratives-sri-lanka-benefits-and-buddhism - 2025-06-29