Winter Term 2015/2016

Social and Cultural Anthropology/ Political Science

International Migration, Worldviews and Identities in Indonesia

Mirjam Lücking, Jürgen Rüland

Time/ Place: weekly every Tuesday, 12 PM to 2 PM at Breisacher Tor, Room R 206

Language: English 

Summary: Migration, both historically and contemporarily, has a significant impact on culture and social structures in Indonesia. In the age of globalization, the global cultural flows of people, commodities and ideas are increasingly significant (Appadurai 1990) and often related to practices of imagining a cultural “other” that serves as a reference point for self-identification. Here we find alignments and solidarity as well as imagined cultural boundaries (Gupta & Ferguson 1992). Especially since the end of the Suharto regime in 1998 and the following period of democratization, there have been new orientations towards global reference points in Indonesia. Research in political science, on the other hand, links migration to security issues, economic and political remittances of migrants to their home society and the emergence of transnational social and political spaces. By linking anthropological and political science theories about mobility, worldviews and identity constructions to case studies on labor migration, diaspora communities, tourism and international education we discuss how Indonesians view the world and position themselves in it.

The seminar is part of the preparation for the interdisciplinary student research project funded by the DAAD and jointly conducted the Anthropology and International Realtions Departments of the University of Freiburg, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta and Universitas Hassanuddin, Makassar. The field research exercise is scheduled for summer 2016 in Makassar, Indonesia. All students interested in participating in the project must attend this preparatory seminar.

 

Economics

Governments Breaking Bad - Corruption and Clientelism

Günther Schulze

Time/ Place: Thursday 03 December 2015, 2 PM to 6 PM / Monday 19 December 2015, 2 PM to 4 PM / 08 January - 10 January 2015, 9 AM to 6 PM

Language: English

Additional "Übung" offered by Gerrit Gonschorek. 

 

Political Science

Democracy and Development - A Comparative Asian Perspective

Christian von Lübke

Time/ Place: weekly every Wednesday, 4 PM to 6 PM

Language: English

Summary:  Asia lends itself well to a comparative analysis of political change. Regional political dynamics - ranging from Indonesia's consolidating democracy, over Malaysia and Singapore's electoral authoritarianism, to Thailand's democratic rollback - provide important insights into the relationship between democracy and development. By drawing on the experience of selected Asian countries (Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines), this course will trace historical and institutional underpinnings, explore the characteristics of political agency, and examine regional policies and development outcomes.
During the seminar, students will investigate a range of thematic questions that help to understand the workings of democratic governance and state-society relations - in Asia as well as other developing democracies. The course combines theoretical and empirical perspectives of democratic change and development. The aim is to introduce students to the diversity of the region and, at the same time, encourage a critical awareness of the forces that drive (or constrain) broad policy reforms and socio-economic development. By the end of the seminar, students will have gained a deeper understanding of contemporary Asian politics and current governance/democracy debates.