New publication: Civil society and democratic regression in Southeast Asia
The global regression of democracy is often accompanied by shrinking spaces for civil society actors. These shrinking spaces can also be observed in Southeast Asia and jeopardize the democratic progress of the last three decades. The special issue of the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, edited by Marco Bünte together with Meredith Weiss from the State University of New York, asks how civil societies react to the increased pressure from authoritarian rulers. Six interesting case studies (Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand) show how civil society organizations respond to authoritarian pressures and discuss why they can rarely act as a firewall against democratic backsliding. All articles are available open access on the homepage of the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs.