Democracy Discourse Series

10/12/2024

The Democracy Discourse Series (DDS) project held its second public forum in collaboration with Faculty of Political Science of Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand last August 23, 2024, with the theme, “Sustaining the pushback against autocratization.”
The founder of the opposition Future Forward Party, Mr. Thanathorn Juanroongruangkit, delivered the keynote address, delving on stories of struggles of key democracy figures in Belarus, the Philippines, Iran, and Thailand, who stood their ground and fought against those who trampled on the fundamental liberties of citizens. He ended his address by quoting the late South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” The address was followed by an animated exchange between Mr. Juanroongruangkit and the Thammasat University students, which reflected on Future Forward Party’s experiences and their to build trust among their members while staying true to the message of reform to sustain people’s support to their goals towards democratization.
The public forum was then followed immediately by final presentations of the Democracy Discourse Fellows in the afternoon until the morning of 24th. Through their presentations, each of the public intellectuals was not only able to share the milestones of their democracy projects, but has also communicated the importance of their advocacy to the larger public. The two-day discussions that followed each public intellectual’s presentation has also surfaced the shared passion of the grantees, not only to constructively critique the projects, but to explore possibilities of future collaboration.
For more information, visit www.democracydiscourse.org

07/08/2024

The Democracy Discourse Series (DDS) project will hold the public forum entitled “Sustaining Pushback Against Autocratization” on August 23, 2024, from 9 AM to 12 NN, at the Thammasat University, Faculty of Political Science, Tha Prachan Campus, Bangkok, Thailand.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit will deliver the keynote address for the event. The public forum will also feature a roundtable discussion among the DDS Public Intellectuals from Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, working on artistic, journalistic, and community engagement projects that seek to intervene in and cultivate democratic spaces and practices in Southeast Asia. The DDS Public Intellectuals include Oya Arriola, Tao Aves, Gang Capati, Kok Hin Ooi, Fahmi Reza, Katrina Stuart Santiago, Peera Songkünnatham, Thum Ping Tjin, and Jason Wee.

About the Keynote Speaker: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit founded the Future Forward Party in October 2018 to campaign against the succession of the military government. The campaign was very well received by the public. The party became the third largest political party in Thailand after the election of 2019. The establishment saw the existence party as a threat. The party was dissolved in 2010, and Thanathorn was banned from politics for 10 years.

Thanathorn believes in equality, democracy and the potential in each and everyone of us to make a different. He left his business life and entered politics with the aim of making Thailand democratic again.

Before he entered politics, he was vice president of Thai Summit Group, a leading Thai manufacturing company headquartered in Samutprakarn. Under his leadership, the company had recorded a revenue of 2.3 billion USD in 2018 and employing more than 20,000 people globally. He spearheaded Thai industries to invest oversea. His effort to globalize the company resulting Thai Summit having factories in Japan, America, Indonesia, India, China, Vietnam and South Africa, and becoming a success example for other Thai manufacturers. He is now fully retired from business.

Thanathorn completed his bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering duel program from Thammasat University and University of Nottingham. He earned three master degrees; MSC in Global Finance from NYU Stern School of Business, Executive Master in Business Law from University of St. Gallen and MA in Political Economy from Chulalongkorn University.

Outside of work, Thanathorn loves to spend his time with family, reading, travel and pursuing outdoor sports and adventures.

To attend the event, please email [email protected]. For more information, visit: www.democracydiscourse.org.

22/03/2024

Leaders from Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, Ooi Kok-hin, Jeremy Lim and Zikri Rahman, discusses DEMO, their project for Democracy Discourse Series:

"We have accumulated nearly 50 hours of interviews involving more than 35 activists, organizers and demonstrators from various backgrounds championing a range of issues. Produce a series of articles, an in-person event, culminating in book to investigate recurring themes, patterns, lessons or guide for future activists. and walking tour to lived experience for younger generation.

We asked them about what led them to activism, their lived experience being a part of protest or behind the scene organizing, their encounters with the state apparatus - including intimidations, interrogations and sometimes criminal charges, and the importance of aftercare, especially affecting the mental health of participants in the younger age group."

Read more: https://www.democracydiscourse.org/demo-documenting-contemporary-protests-in-malaysia/

06/03/2024

Thum Ping Tjin, of New Naratif, talks about his project for Democracy Discourse Series: "What is Southeast Asian democracy? Every Southeast Asian government ostensibly commits to democracy - but they also reject it as “foreign” or “western” in its inception and practice. This project asks Southeast Asians how we conceive of and practice democracy. It aims to document how Southeast Asians define democracy, how we practice it and fight for it, and how Southeast Asia’s great anti-colonial nationalists and intellectuals - from Aung San to Jose Rizal to Lee Kuan Yew to Sukarno - articulated it as they fought for independence. In so doing, it seeks to build, from the ground up, a framework for understanding what Southeast Asian democracy is. This project aims to produce a) a series of articles on the meaning and practice of Southeast Asian democracy by Southeast Asians; and b) organise a series of trans-national workshops for Southeast Asians to discuss these principles and come together to fight for the issues they care about, providing pathways for Southeast Asians to easily take part in democracy promotion."

Read more:

What is Southeast Asian democracy? Every Southeast Asian government ostensibly commits to democracy – but they also reject it as “foreign” or “western” in its inception and practice. This project asks Southeast Asians how we conceive of and practice democracy. It aims to document how South...

27/01/2024

Oriang artist collective, co-lead by Tao and Calix, talks about their 12-track album of women and q***r musicians that aims to reinforce current definitions of heroism through music, dedicating its efforts to highlighting the struggles and triumphs of those who champion national democratic principles.

“As producers of music, what kind of generation are we raising with our work? Upon whose conscience have we directed our voices? Oriang is keen to emphasize for generations who stand to inherit our struggles that songwriting will not free the oppressed — committed community work under a community’s guidance is the primary work for this. Heroism is also the work of nurturing and not always the valor of running towards the battlefield. The model for heroism is always the example set by the organized masses who receive the brunt of state oppression.”

Read more at: https://www.democracydiscourse.org/oriang-songs-of-resistance/

18/12/2023

WiseOwl talks about the progress of Habilin 2.0 for Democracy Discourse Series:

"With stories from more former youth activists, Habilin aims to spark reflection, evoke a renewed sense of hope, and inspire action among ordinary progressive Filipinos. The project will reclaim the narrative by reframing one of the darkest periods of Philippine history. Through a hope-based approach, the series veers away from fear-based frames that typically characterize stories about Martial Law. It will, instead, focus on stories about how we, as a people, persist and prevail despite seemingly insurmountable challenges."

Read more here: https://www.democracydiscourse.org/habilin-season-2-stories-of-the-little-light-in-all-of-us/

15/11/2023

PAGASAph talks about the insights they have gathered in their conversations with the communities in Metro Manila for their Sining Siyasat project for Democracy Discourse Series: “The germ of the idea for Sining Siyasat had to do with wanting to find footing in this present and navigating differently what has come to be fashionably called ‘a polarized society.’ Used theoretically, ‘polarization’ gives off a sense of objectivity. In reality, given the social segment that speaks of this as crisis, what surfaces is also a sense of an internalized, silenced elitism, one that looks at the masses as a collective that needs to be educated but not heard, blamed and judged and necessarily misunderstood. Solidarity of any kind is untenable given this state of affairs; socio-political change might be completely out of the picture.”

“PAGASAph built itself during the pandemic lockdowns through conversations. It was this that allowed us to speak of what was happening in the poorest communities, to a network that was growing by the day, one that sought to help but also to understand better the state of the nation through the people who are living through the worst of it.”

Read more here: https://www.democracydiscourse.org/sining-siyasat-sobering-conversations-towards-creative-interventions/

19/10/2023

It was a privilege to provide most support for what has been described as a 'journalistic masterpiece'

On Tuesday, October 17 at 5:30pm, the Dart Center, in collaboration with PEN America, will host a conversation with Nobel Peace Prize-winner and press freedo...

15/10/2023

Architects of Diversity (AOD) announces the results gathered from the State of Discrimination Survey 2023 which has collected nationally representative data on how Malaysians experience discrimination. The survey was administered to adults aged 18 and above, with a total of 3,238 respondents. The final report presents the percentage of Malaysians who encountered different types of discrimination in the past 12 months, details about workplace discrimination, public sentiment regarding religious discrimination, and the level of satisfaction with government initiatives aimed at addressing discrimination.

Read more here: democracydiscourse.org/more-than-half-of-malaysians-face-discrimination-with-55-of-them-suffering-in-silence-architects-of-diversity

30/09/2023

Historic declarations, thought-provoking stories, and clear-eyed poems form the latest issue of Sanam Ratsadon: An Archive of Common[er] Feelings, a website where individual feeling becomes shared knowledge through the process of literary translation. Translated, edited, and introduced by Peera Songkünnatham and Tyrell Haberkorn, and illustrated—thanks to DDS’s funding—by Summer Panadd.

Read more here: democracydiscourse.org/thai-political-literature-in-translation-released-under-the-theme-yours-truly-ratsadon