Porranee Singpliam (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University; HYI Visiting Scholar, 2024-25)
“The analysis of neoliberalism and the reconfiguration of gender in the Thai political domain”
What got you interested in your research topic?
My research interests cover gender/sexuality studies, postfeminist media culture, and Thai studies. I have been researching about genders in various domains in the Thai society, namely, genders and media, local context of postfeminist media in Thailand, and the gendered aspects (and queering) of Buddhism. Genders and politics are something that have always intrigued me given that Thailand has seen an increase in women’s visibility in the political domain since the past decade. In my research about this topic, how genders and politics intersect with one another, I find that the existing literature on women and Thai politics often gear towards the studying of gendered roles and places/spaces or that women politicians are somewhat related to the idea of dynastic politics. It retains the normative binary sexes, when in reality, the society is very diverse, yet, not inclusive.
In this research project, I would like to investigate: what about women who do politics, but without resources? Those who do not come from the dynastic political families, so to say. From my observation, I believe that there are those who are working in the political domain where they are determined to making political changes and bettering the people’s lives. To put simply, the existing literature does not quite satisfy my observation of the realities that gender relations and gender of governance (and vice versa) in Thai politics are now shifting.
So, I devote my time here at HYI to embark on the project by conducting in-depth interviews with women politicians. I’m interested to examine the intersection between gender relations, women politicians, and contemporary work culture under a neoliberal regime. I am also very interested in exploring the same topic with gender diverse individuals and queer individuals who do politics in Thailand, but that will have to be for another project.
Outside of work, where can we find you?
Apart from being at Vanserg quite a lot, you may find me at Chip City in Brattle Square! The white chocolate macadamia is amazing!
What would you want to do most as a career if you were not in academia?
I would like to do politics, actually. I think power relations in Thai society are now shifting, though gradually, to be more inclusive. There is hope there. I would like to work in the ministry of education, for a start. So as to be able to implement a curriculum and pedagogy for early education so that we can see more critical and global mindsets from young individuals. I believe that being a part of the institution, the ministry or the state, will be able to help with that. If politics is not it for me, I would probably work with a foundation, an NGO, perhaps.
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