IRASEC

Aguman Ning Belwan 2026

Bertrand — 2026-03-18T05:14:46Z

2^nd International Multidisciplinary Research Conference
Tarlac State University (Philippines), hybrid format
25 March 2026

As part of the Aguman Ning Belwan 2026 conference, Gabriel Facal will present a plenary talk entitled “Agroecology in Southeast Asia : Harnessing Interdisciplinarity to Study a Strong Driver of Sustainability”.

Tarlac State University (Philippines), hybrid format
25 March 2026

Download the programme :

Unwriting Academia

Bertrand — 2026-01-13T07:17:25Z

5 February 2026, 9h-17h
Room 2B, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei

An event co-organised by the French Center for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC Taipei) and the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC)

5 February 2026, 9h-17h
Room 2B, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei

An event co-organised by the French Center for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC Taipei) and the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC)

Download the programme :

Across the social sciences, scholars are increasingly engaging with creative and multimodal forms of knowledge production. At this workshop, participants will discuss their work with comics, video-making, film programming, artists' residencies, literary ethnography, podcasts, and other inventive approaches to research and writing. These practices open possibilities that exceed the boundaries of traditional academic prose—not only methodologically, but also epistemologically—by offering new ways of apprehending and conveying social experiences. The aim of this workshop is to explore how such alternative forms of writing and representation can meaningfully coexist with, and even enhance, conventional scholarly outputs. Rather than treating creative modalities as add-ons or outreach tools, we seek to understand how they can transform the very processes through which we analyze, interpret, and communicate research. What do these forms allow us to know, sense, or reveal that standard academic texts cannot ? How might multimodal experimentation reshape our analytical practices, ethical commitments, and engagements with wider publics ? By bringing together scholars who are already experimenting with these practices, the workshop invites a collective reflection on the methodological and epistemological contributions of creative research. Our goal is to imagine how a richer plurality of writing modes can deepen our understanding of the social world and broaden the ways we participate in scholarly conversation.

Organisers

Jérémy Jammes, IRASEC
Corrado Neri, CEFC Taipei
Beatrice Zani, CNRS

Speakers

Valentine Boucq
Yin C. Chuang, Taiwan Normal University
Alex Desmules, Tianma Project
Morgan Fraisse-László, French Office in Taipiei (BFT)
Emilie ‘Emy' Garcia
Wafa Ghermani, National Central University (Taiwan)
Jérémy Jammes, IRASEC
James Lee, Academia Sinica
Corrado Neri, CEFC Taipei
Chang Wen-chin, Academia Sinica
Beatrice Zani, CNRS

The Vietnam War: Ethnic minority, Conflicts, and Legitimacy

Bertrand — 2025-12-15T08:54:19Z

We are pleased to announce that the IRASEC website hosts the Saigon Social Sciences Hub (SSSH), an English-speaking group of young researchers in the humanities and social sciences working on Việt Nam. You can find details of the events they organize as well as a history of past conferences.

The next conference will be held at EFEO in Ho Chi Minh City and online via Zoom on Friday, 19 December 2025.
Khang Do, PhD Candidate at University of Leeds (UK), will present his research on the Republic of Vietnam's policies toward ethnic minorities from 1955 to 1975.

For more details about this conference.

Au coeur des détroits : l'évolution des infrastructures et leurs rôles dans les réseaux globaux

Bertrand — 2025-12-09T10:42:00Z

From December 9 to 11, Christine Cabasset attended the conference “Au cœur des détroits. L'évolution des infrastructures et leurs rôles dans les réseaux globaux : ponts, tunnels, câbles et ports” [At the heart of the straits. The evolution of infrastructure and its role in global networks : bridges, tunnels, cables], and ports, organized by the ANR DéCoDé at the Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale in Dunkirk. Her presentation focused on “Quelles gouvernance et sécurisation des détroits d'Ombai et de Wetar ?” [Governance and security of the Ombai and Wetar Straits].

Rights of Nature and Human Rights in Southeast Asia

Bertrand — 2025-11-12T11:15:49Z

Monday, 1st December 2025,
Alumni Association Meeting Room, 12th floor
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Coorganized by the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, and the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL), with the support of Norwegian People's Aid.

Monday, 1^st December 2025, from 9am to 5pm
Alumni Association Meeting Room, 12th floor
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Coorganized by the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, and the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL), with the support of Norwegian People's Aid.

Watch the video of the morning session

Watch the video of the afternoon session

Our planet and humanity are confronting multiple, interconnected ecological crises, from climate change and biodiversity loss to rising levels of pollution. Despite the proliferation of policies, laws, directives, and international treaties intended to protect the environment, the planet's health continues to decline. In this context of faltering environmental governance, one emerging proposal is to embrace a new legal paradigm : the recognition of the rights of nature.

This approach challenges the dominant, human-centered view that treats nature primarily as an object, rooted in anthropocentric assumptions of a separation between humans and the rest of the natural world. Instead, the rights of nature movement advances an alternative perspective : one that sees the natural world as an interconnected system of diverse, interdependent forms of life, encompassing the biosphere in its entirety—both human and non-human.

In light of recent progress in debates and decision-making aimed at bringing human rights and the rights of nature closer together, Southeast Asia has witnessed the emergence of several initiatives. While the formal recognition of the “rights of nature” has not yet taken shape at the regional level, multilateral dialogues (ASEAN, OHCHR/ESCAP) are increasingly opening up to these issues. In this respect, the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment (ADER), adopted at the 47^th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025, marks a historic step in integrating environmental rights into ASEAN's human rights framework.

Nevertheless, civil society organizations have voiced serious concerns about the drafting process, citing short public input periods, limited translation, and minimal consultation. Indigenous representation is particularly lacking, despite references to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Also, progress toward formal recognition of the Rights of Nature remains uneven and slowed by institutional inertia and limited inclusivity. Sustained pressure, reform, and meaningful participation—especially from indigenous and grassroots voices—will be essential to transform current momentum into lasting rights recognition.

Challenges thus remain, particularly regarding the drafting of texts and their legal force. Potential advances include stronger recognition of Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs), the establishment of binding mechanisms, and enhanced accountability. These legal and governance efforts can be further enriched by political, geographical, and anthropological perspectives. Against this backdrop, this conference will bring together governance actors, civil society representatives and researchers, to share recent progress and explore future challenges for the development of legislative frameworks linking nature rights and human rights.

Conference Approach and Objectives

This conference will focus on the triptych of conventional human rights, the right to a healthy environment, and the rights of nature—analyzing their interdependence and exploring how development actors can approach these issues from an ecocentric perspective.

The conference will first examine how development policies intersect with the incorporation of the rights of nature into national environmental regulations. Particular attention will be given to the challenges of articulating human rights and the rights of nature in Southeast Asia, especially the “inter-legalities” arising from the coexistence of diverse normative systems and the potential conflicts between these categories of rights. Such conflicts may be analyzed both at a theoretical and normative level—for instance, through questions of hierarchy of norms—and at a practical level, notably in relation to territorial dynamics such as green colonialism or land grabbing, often at the expense of the customary or informal rights of local populations.

Another focus of the conference will explore how the rights of nature are defined and constructed, the actors driving this process, and the legal strategies employed—whether through case law, regulation, or constitutional reform. Particular attention will be given to territorial contexts, especially those marked by conflict, where narratives and power dynamics between actors crystallize into the legal recognition of new rights for natural entities.

Finally, a third axis will address the epistemological generativity of the rights of nature by examining the personality and identity of their objects. The discussions will ask : to what extent does granting rights to a natural entity foster the creation of new ecosystemic, landscape, territorial, and cartographic assemblages, thereby contributing to an ontological transformation of the entity itself ?

Download the poster

Download the programme

One Health ASEAN-France Scientific Conference

Bertrand — 2025-10-30T10:23:24Z

The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Embassy of France in Indonesia, Timor-Leste and to ASEAN, the Indonesian Ministry of Health, and ASEAN, are organizing with the Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) and with the support of the Indonesia National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and of the French Agricultural Research Centre for Sustainable Development (CIRAD), an ASEAN-France One Health Conference on 25-26 November 2025.

Registration required.

This conference aims to support ASEAN and France's efforts in the collective and synergised measures in the prevention, detection and response to communicable and emerging infectious diseases, public health emergencies and pandemics.

This two-day event will bring together stakeholders linked to the One Health approach applied in research, policy, education and country development, with a focus on building synergies between ASEAN, French institutions and other key stakeholders in the region.

The conference serves as a platform for addressing the myriad health challenges detailed below under the One health approach, which integrates the health of humans, animals, plants, and the wider environment. It will highlight how environmental health factors ultimately impact human health, particularly in terms of increased vulnerability to emerging infectious diseases and public health emergencies.

The conference will be organized in four thematic sessions :

One Health Systems (at the Global, Regional and National levels) ;
Planetary Boundaries ;
Climate Change ;
Protected Areas.

As part of Session 4 – Protected Areas (Day 2, afternoon), Gabriel Facal will present, together with Arif Kirdiat (Director of the NGO Sahabat Relawan), a paper entitled “Healthcare in the Kanekes Customary Territory (Banten) : Challenges of Time and Trust.”

Epistemologies of Participatory Research on Social Development Programs in Southeast Asia

Bertrand — 2025-10-03T05:19:50Z

The conference was opened by the dean of the Faculty of political science, Chulalongkorn University, Prakorn Siriprakob, and the director of IRASEC, Jérémy Jammes, who gave introductory remarks and recalled the recent history of collaborations between the two institutions, namely a conference on water governance in 2022, a seminar on electoral processes in Southeast Asia in 2023, followed by the signing in 2024 of a MoU between Antoine Petit, president of the CNRS, and the president of the university.
Gabriel Facal, deputy director of IRASEC, then recalled the history of collaborations with the participants, which are very rich and diverse. They concern the doctoral student training SUDSSEA, organized in 2024 partnership with CIDS (University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines), represented at the conference by Simeona Martinez, Maria Dulce Natividad, Eunice Santiago and Vicente Dimalanta. SUDSSEA also involved Mohamad Shohibuddin (Institut Pertianian Bogor, Indonesia) and Malee Sittikriengkrai (Chiang Mai University, Thailand), Jean-Christophe Castella (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, IRD), as speakers. Several conferences were organized with M. Sittikriengkrai, in Chiang Mai University and Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai. Mohamad Shohibuddin (who attended with a young talented colleague, Shela Herlita) and Malee Sittikriengkrai are also partners of the French 3-year project ANR AltLife-SSEA, which was preceded by a workshop at EFEO Chiang Mai and field visits in the surrounding countryside. Serina Rahman (National University of Singapore), who has participated in several editions of the ALTERSEA conferences on social movements in Southeast Asia organized by G. Facal, is a contributor to a special issue on engagement in research, co-coordinated by G. Facal for the journal TRaNS (Cambridge University Press). The partnership with Yulia Sugandi was established recently, as part of plans for collaboration with the Centre for Transdisciplinary and Sustainability Science (CTSS, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia). She is a leading researcher within the centre, bringing with her a wealth of practical experience, accustomed to major international forums and multi-scale approaches. With Jean-Christophe Castella (IRD), moderator of the morning session, was organized a 4-day training session on “Risk management research methods in the Thailand-Laos cross-border zone”, Chiang Rai University. Other researchers participated in these collaborations and could not to attend the conference, but had a major influence on its design : Aj. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Eduardo Tadem, and Mary Racelis.
The presentations focused on various collectives through a variety of approaches : 1) AltDev-CIDS researchers presented four cases in the Philippines : academic, policy-focused and activist research designed to assist people's organization in the urban poor and informal transport sector ; a homeowners association mobilized against forced evictions and demolitions to protect its members' right to housing ; a disaster risk reduction research-action project to document and map flood-prone informal settlements ; as well as the historical struggles for reproductive rights. 2) Y. Sugandi shared her experience in Papua highlands to implement relational science within transdisciplinary research serving as a collaborative learning platform for crafting adaptive solutions. 3) S. Rahman explained how her professional and personal life became intermeshed, when developing a citizen science aimed at fostering community-driven marine conservation ; 4) M. Sohibuddin and S. Herlita traced the intellectual and practical journey of the late Professor Sajogyo, before briefly describing the many activities carried out within the eponymous foundation, based on intense and long-term exchanges with local populations all across the archipelago, for research and training in agricultural techniques and economic empowerment. 5) Lastly, M. Sitthikriengkrai explained the original participatory approach developed in collaboration with C. Vaddhanaputhi, aimed at documenting the local perception of the impacts of dam construction and to amplify the voices of communities at risk.
The research methods discussed include a range of multimodal tools including ethnography, participatory mapping, forum theatre, canvas and art, natural materials at hand, and simple audiovisual resources for community-driven data collection. Research teams also nurtured collaborative environments via workshops, games, peer training, and dialogues to collectively develop situational analyses and community management plans, serving both educational and analytical purposes.
These approaches challenge traditional boundaries between researchers and their contexts, enhancing multispecies interactions and encouraging reflexivity concerning ethical issues in research. With a focus on fair participation, the study day tackled relational imbalances shaped by historical and geopolitical factors, ultimately striving to equalize voices within the research network. The conference has epistemological significance in that it questions the relevance of intellectualized and detached approaches to understanding socio-environmental phenomena. In this regard, participants demonstrated how the mobilization of emotions and commitment to values contributes to the co-construction of knowledge. These dimensions require moral courage, creativity, empathy, reflexivity, and imagination.
At the end of the conference, participants planned to continue collaborating, for example on the theme of participatory mapping, construction tools, and different publication formats, starting with a book that would allow each contributor to develop case study descriptions, provide contextual information, and include biographies. On this basis, a second publication could be developed that would summarize the contributions in a more concise manner and with a tighter comparative common thread. The idea of consolidating a transdisciplinary network and to organize regional transdisciplinary workshops with local participants was also raised. The following day, designed as a closed-door working meeting, aimed to explore these avenues in greater depth.

Watch the video of the morning session

Watch the video of the afternoon session

Epistemologies of Participatory Research on Social Development Programs in Southeast Asia

Bertrand — 2025-09-03T07:40:13Z

Free entry on registration : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...

11-12 September 2025
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

Read the report.

This project comprises a one-day academic study day and a half-day writing session (targeting the publishing of a special issue in an academic journal), scheduled for 11-12 September 2025 at Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Political Science. These collective activities are designed to facilitate the building of a network that can be mobilized for other, longer-term projects.
This project comes at a pivotal moment in the history of social development research in Southeast Asia. For several years now, development aid agencies have been undergoing a normative change, promoting greater autonomy and participation within their programmes for populations that had previously been seen simply as ‘recipients' (Elinoff 2021), a process that has been further accelerated since 2021 by the tragedy of the war in Myanmar and the post-Covid era. But recent geopolitical changes, and in particular the suspension of US aid, have brought many development programmes to a halt. Researchers in the region are partly dependent on these programmes, and are also affected by new national policies on higher education and research (Welch & Aziz 2022) that may promote short-term results with economic impact instead of fundamental research with uncertain outcomes. In the Anthropocene era, the climate emergency adds another challenge to participatory approaches, pushing them to embrace an ecological and decolonial viewpoint, some of them adopting a regenerative framework merging human rights with the rights of nature.
These ongoing reconfigurations raise questions about the future of participatory research epistemologies. The aim of this study day is to take stock of the work carried out by teams who have developed a wide range of participatory approaches over several decades in four countries in the region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand), and to outline the prospects for the months and years ahead.

Download the program

Download the poster

Alternative agrarian experiences in Southeast Asia: questioning scales

Bertrand — 2024-05-17T10:41:35Z

As part of the conference “The Future of Sustainability in ASEAN : Agriculture Act”, Gabriel Facal will give a talk entitled “Alternative agrarian experiences in Southeast Asia : questioning scales”. The event is organized as part of the “ASEAN-China norms II” network (following on from IRN ASEAN-China norms I).

A Zoom connection is available : https://zoom.us/j/93115839540?pwd=dmo5eWZHQk5wb1B4ODUvU2dqaHE0UT09

Les arts martiaux du monde malais

Bertrand — 2024-03-14T10:21:52Z

Gabriel Facal présentera les arts martiaux du monde malais à l'occasion du Festival des Auteurs Francophones qui se tiendra à l'Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur le dimanche 24 mars 2024.

Festival des Auteurs Francophones
24 mars 2024, 9h - 18h
Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur,
15 Lorong Gurney KL 54100

Gabriel Facal présentera les arts martiaux du monde malais, à 14h30 dans la salle Bretagne.
Pencak silat – De quelques déclinaisons des arts martiaux malais.
Pencak silat est un terme générique récent qui couvre une multitude de pratiques martiales en Indonésie, Malaisie, Brunei Darussalam, sud de la Thaïlande et sud des Philippines. Nous aborderons leur dimension rituelle et technique et le lien à d'autres pratiques du corps, comme la danse, le théâtre et la musique. Le pencak silat témoigne de processus de sportivisation, d'inscription au sein des curriculums scolaires et de patrimonialisation.

Télécharger le programme.

IRASEC

Aguman Ning Belwan 2026

Unwriting Academia

5 February 2026, 9h-17h Room 2B, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei

An event co-organised by the French Center for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC Taipei) and the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC)

Organisers

Speakers

The Vietnam War: Ethnic minority, Conflicts, and Legitimacy

Au coeur des détroits : l'évolution des infrastructures et leurs rôles dans les réseaux globaux

Rights of Nature and Human Rights in Southeast Asia

Monday, 1st December 2025, from 9am to 5pm Alumni Association Meeting Room, 12th floor Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Coorganized by the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, and the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL), with the support of Norwegian People's Aid.

Conference Approach and Objectives

One Health ASEAN-France Scientific Conference

Epistemologies of Participatory Research on Social Development Programs in Southeast Asia

Epistemologies of Participatory Research on Social Development Programs in Southeast Asia

Alternative agrarian experiences in Southeast Asia: questioning scales

Les arts martiaux du monde malais

Festival des Auteurs Francophones 24 mars 2024, 9h - 18h Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur, 15 Lorong Gurney KL 54100

5 February 2026, 9h-17h
Room 2B, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei

Monday, 1^st December 2025, from 9am to 5pm
Alumni Association Meeting Room, 12th floor
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Festival des Auteurs Francophones
24 mars 2024, 9h - 18h
Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur,
15 Lorong Gurney KL 54100