Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 47/2 (August 2025)

Contents

• Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 47/2 (August 2025)
  [Whole Publication, ISSN: 1793284X]

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• Preliminary pages

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• ROUNDTABLE
• 1. Roundtable: Backlash, Bailiwicks, and Beacons: Unpacking the 2025 Philippine Midterm Elections, by Aries A. Arugay, Ruth R Lusterio-Rico, Maria Ela L Atienza, Jan Robert R. Go, Emmanuel L. Alba, Rogelio Alicor L. Panao, Aaron Abel Mallari, Maria Elize H. Mendoza, Danilo A. Reyes, authors

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• 2. Politics Over Prejudice? Explaining the Surprising Decline of Anti-Chinese Sentiment in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Dirk Tomsa, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, Charlotte Setijadi, authors see abstract

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  The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a wave of anti-Chinese discrimination and hate crimes around the world. However, somewhat surprisingly, no major incidents were reported from Indonesia, a country with a long history of anti-Chinese discrimination and violence. Perhaps even more remarkably, general anti-Chinese sentiment declined during the pandemic. This article explains the reasons for this trajectory in negative attitudes towards Chinese Indonesians. Building on insights from resource mobilization theory and utilizing original data from public opinion surveys before and during the pandemic, it argues that the absence of anti-Chinese violence and the decline in publicly expressed prejudice against the Chinese in Indonesia are closely linked to elite choices to deprive Islamists of crucial resources for mobilization. Therefore, the article provides further evidence that anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia does not simply escalate spontaneously during times of crisis. Instead, our data highlights the importance of political manipulation and resource mobilization in forming public attitudes towards a minority group.
• 3. Local Actions, Global Impact: Women’s Agency in Timor-Leste and Pragmatic Indonesia-Timor-Leste Relations Through a Decolonial Lens, by Irine Hiraswari Gayatri, Mario Surya Ramadhan, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, authors see abstract

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  This article examines the often-overlooked agency of East Timorese women in domestic peacebuilding and international diplomacy, particularly in the evolving Indonesia-Timor-Leste relationship. Applying a decolonial feminist lens, it explores how intersecting legacies of colonialism, patriarchy and post-conflict reconstruction have shaped women’s roles in Timor-Leste’s political and social transformation. Drawing on qualitative methods and interviews with civil society leaders, veteran activists, officials and policymakers, this article highlights how local women’s organizations have been central to shaping transitional justice, institutional reform and regional engagement. It argues that grassroots mobilization and indigenous knowledge systems, when integrated into national and foreign policy processes, provide more inclusive and sustainable frameworks for peacebuilding. In linking women’s activism from the resistance era to contemporary diplomacy, this study demonstrates how decolonial feminist praxis can advance more equitable post-conflict development and pragmatic international relations in Southeast Asia.
• 4. Clientelism Rewired: Interim Leadership and Electoral Manipulation in Indonesia’s 2024 Presidential Elections, by Rizqi Bachtiar, author see abstract

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  Debates surrounding electoral challenges in Indonesia often focus on vote buying, the entrenchment of political dynasties and the misuse of state resources. However, the strategic deployment of unelected interim local government leaders has received comparatively little scholarly attention. This article addresses that gap by offering a new perspective on how the state can shape electoral outcomes through legal but politically motivated appointments. Focusing on the 2024 presidential elections, it argues that the appointment of interim leaders ahead of the polls was politically driven, thereby casting doubt on the central government’s justification that the policy aimed merely to enhance electoral efficiency. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders at both central and local levels, along with content analysis, the article provides a detailed examination of how former president Joko Widodo’s administration utilized the interim leadership policy as a means of extending political influence. This form of strategic electoral manipulation reflects broader patterns of clientelism and signals a growing attempt to test the limits of democratic norms and institutions. As such, the article contributes to the wider discourse on electoral manipulation and democratic backsliding within formally democratic regimes.
• 5. From Nom Banh Chok to the Funan Techo Canal: Action Logic and Strategic Evolution of the Cambodian People’s Party’s Nationalist Mobilization, by Deng Xiaoyun, author see abstract

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  Political elites worldwide have often leveraged nationalism for mobilization. In Cambodia, however, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has, for decades, deliberately avoided engaging in popular anti-Vietnamese nationalism. Instead, it has focused on positive nationalist narratives highlighting its governance achievements and the Khmer shared cultural identity, while occasionally attempting negative nationalism against Thailand. By applying the “topic construction–identity aggregation” model to typical representatives of positive and negative nationalist mobilization of the CPP—the “Eating Nom Banh Chok Together” movement in 2019 and “Supporting the Funan Techo Canal Project” movement in 2024—this article examines the CPP’s mobilization logic and strategies at the micro level. It argues that the CPP’s positive and negative nationalist mobilization share a similar logic mechanism: nationalist topics are constructed and elevated by political elites, implemented through a disciplined state apparatus and internalized by the broader public through mechanisms of identity aggregation. However, the narrative around the Funan Techo Canal suggests that the CPP, which has close ties with Vietnam, has shifted from avoiding Vietnam-related topics to actively initiating anti-Vietnamese topics, an adjustment of the CPP’s nationalist mobilization strategy in response to significant transformations in Cambodia’s political landscape.
• BOOK REVIEWS
• BOOK REVIEW: Children Affected by Armed Conflict in the Borderlands of Myanmar 2021 and Beyond, by Kai Chen, by Su Mon Thazin Aung, author

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• BOOK REVIEW: Ocean Governance and Conflict in the East and South China Sea: Negotiating Natural Resources, Institutions and Power, by Christian Schultheiss, by Bich Tran, author

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• BOOK REVIEW: Contesting Indonesia: Islamist, Separatist, and Communal Violence since 1945, by Kirsten Schulze, by Alexander Arifianto, author

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• BOOK REVIEW: Chasing Archipelagic Dreams: The Expansion of Foreign Influence in Sabah and the End of Empire, 1945-1965, by David R. Saunders, by Farish A Noor, author

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• BOOK REVIEW: Understanding Maritime Security, by Christian Bueger and Timothy Edmunds, by Collin Koh Swee Lean, author

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