Voices from the Field
Commentary & Opinions
The Critical Asian Studies Commentary Board publishes public-facing, non-peer reviewed essays by scholars of Asian Studies bringing their expertise to bear on contemporary affairs in the Asian region. Essays typically take one of two forms: 1) Commentary pieces that offer a clear and concise perspective on a social, cultural, political, or economic issue of the day; or 2) Notes from the Field that engage topics confronting the field of Asian Studies as a whole, ranging from ongoing research projects, emerging questions, or field experiences, to issues facing researchers and teachers of Asian Studies. Explore recent Commentary Board essays listed below or use the search bar below to search by author or keyword. The Commentary Board is curated and edited by Digital Media Editor Dr. Tristan R. Grunow. Contact him at digital.criticalasianstudies@gmail.com or see more information at the bottom of the page if you are interested in submitting to the Commentary Board.
Read the most recent Commentaries here or view the archive below:
CAS Commentary Board Archive
- October 2024
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August 2024
- Aug 27, 2024 Commentary | Monika, Fragmented Vote Share Or Restored Democracy?: Current Analysis of Indian Democracy Aug 27, 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
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March 2024
- Mar 13, 2024 Notes From the Field | Phil Wetjen, Valley Forge and Yan'an: Common Roots in Revolution Mar 13, 2024
- February 2024
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December 2023
- Dec 6, 2023 Notes from the Field | Johnson Abhishek Minz, Identifying the ‘Precariat’ in India: Exploring Time-Use by the Labour Force Dec 6, 2023
- Dec 3, 2023 From the editor: A response to Chinese social media reports Dec 3, 2023
- November 2023
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October 2023
- Oct 16, 2023 Commentary | Abdillah Noh, The South China Sea as Global Public Good Oct 16, 2023
- Oct 5, 2023 Commentary | Jeremy Garlick, China’s influence-building campaign in the global South: implications for the liberal international order Oct 5, 2023
- August 2023
- June 2023
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May 2023
- May 29, 2023 Commentary | Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, The May 2023 Elections and the Triumph of Thai Youth Social Movements May 29, 2023
- May 7, 2023 Commentary | Karin Zackari, Academics as Critics: New Trends in Thailand May 7, 2023
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January 2023
- Jan 27, 2023 Commentary | Axel Klein, Komeito and the Fallout of the Abe Assassination Jan 27, 2023
- Jan 11, 2023 Commentary | Roshni Kapur, Opposition space in India: Challenges and prospects Jan 11, 2023
- Jan 4, 2023 Commentary | Tom Le, A Japanese Security Sea Change? Let’s See Change First Jan 4, 2023
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December 2022
- Dec 20, 2022 Commentary | Asoka Bandarage, IMF Led Privatization, Land and Resource Grab in Sri Lanka Dec 20, 2022
- Dec 12, 2022 Commentary | Or Porath, Something to Crow About: Why Is the Japanese Football Team Logo a Three-Legged Crow? Dec 12, 2022
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November 2022
- Nov 29, 2022 Notes from the Field | Ruehl Muller, On Laotian socialist realism in the statuescape of Vientiane: a conversation with Maising Chanbouthdy Nov 29, 2022
- Nov 15, 2022 Notes from the Field | Angel M. Villegas-Cruz, Male, U.S. Full History Professor, and China scholar: The recipe to get published in The Journal of Asian Studies, 2000-2020 Nov 15, 2022
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August 2022
- Aug 22, 2022 Commentary | Surachanee Sriyai, Rationalizing Sri Lanka: An Analysis of the 2022 Protest Movement Aug 22, 2022
- Aug 15, 2022 Commentary | Jeppe Mulich, Academic Freedom, Confucius Institutes, and the China Debate in UK Politics Aug 15, 2022
- Aug 8, 2022 Commentary | Tianren Luo, Jingjia Xiao, and Qing Xiao, Shanghai lockdown: towards a cybernetic-biopolitical governance Aug 8, 2022
- Aug 1, 2022 Notes from the Field | Sabine Frühstück and Morgan Pitelka, Response to Diamant & Bender, Where Are All the College Faculty? Aug 1, 2022
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July 2022
- Jul 25, 2022 Commentary | Ryōta Nishino, Beyond Zero-Sum Geopolitics: Asia-Pacific and the Shadows of the Asia-Pacific War Jul 25, 2022
- Jul 13, 2022 Commentary | Levi McLaughlin, A Grudge Against the Unification Church Motivated the Murder of Japan’s Most Prominent Politician Jul 13, 2022
- Jul 1, 2022 Notes from the Field | Hannah Osborne, Response to Diamant & Bender, Where Are All the College Faculty? Jul 1, 2022
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June 2022
- Jun 15, 2022 Commentary | William Andrews, Shigenobu Fusako and the Haze of Cultural Memory Jun 15, 2022
- Jun 6, 2022 Commentary | Tatiana Linkhoeva, Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Russo-Japanese War Jun 6, 2022
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May 2022
- May 31, 2022 Notes from the Field | Neil J. Diamant & Shawn Bender, Where Are All the College Faculty? Editorial Inequity in East Asian Studies Journals May 31, 2022
- May 16, 2022 Commentary | Liang Ge and Erika Ningxin Wang, Scapegoating Fandom: Digital Colonialism, Capitalism, and Chinese Party-State Power May 16, 2022
- May 5, 2022 Commentary | Sek Sophal, Scrapping the Submarine Deal? Domestic Politics and Regional Security in Thailand May 5, 2022
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April 2022
- Apr 26, 2022 Commentary | Laura Hein, Thinking about Fights over U.S. History as an American Citizen, an Historian, and an Asianist Apr 26, 2022
- Apr 18, 2022 Notes from the Field | Wong Tian An, Should Southeast Asian Studies exist? Field notes from an interloper Apr 18, 2022
- Apr 5, 2022 Notes from the Field | Jamie J. Zhao and Hongwei Bao, “Queer/ing China”: Theorizing Chinese Genders and Sexualities Through a Transnational Lens Apr 5, 2022
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March 2022
- Mar 23, 2022 Notes from the Field | Akshaya Kumar, Petrocultured Mobility in Bhojpuri Popular Culture Mar 23, 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
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November 2021
- Nov 20, 2021 Commentary | Tharaphi Than, Why Does Area Studies Need Decolonization? Nov 20, 2021
- Nov 4, 2021 Commentary | Debasish Hazarika, “Development” at the Frontiers: The Brewing Hydropolitics of Northeast India Nov 4, 2021
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October 2021
- Oct 12, 2021 Commentary | Paula R. Curtis, Taking the Fight for Japan's History Online Oct 12, 2021
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September 2021
- Sep 29, 2021 Notes From The Field | Shafi Ahmad Khanday, Writing history of/in the Kashmir Valley Sep 29, 2021
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August 2021
- Aug 18, 2021 Commentary | Chulanee Attanayake, Pradeepa Dahanayake, Asanka Guansekara, Sweeping victory, Great Expectations, and Mounting Challenges in Sri Lanka Aug 18, 2021
- Aug 9, 2021 Commentary | Joyshri Pathak, To Think, To Practice: The Promise and Peril of Gender and Women’s Studies in Northeastern India Aug 9, 2021
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July 2021
- Jul 14, 2021 Commentary | Oudom Hean and Sek Sophal, Holding Students Hostage: the Military Scholarship Program and the Decline of American Foreign Policy in Cambodia Jul 14, 2021
- Jul 1, 2021 Commentary | Sek Sophal, New Media Startups Initiatives are a Complement not a Replacement for Independent Media in Cambodia Jul 1, 2021
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June 2021
- Jun 23, 2021 Commentary | Alex Jania, How Should Americans Remember COVID-19?: Lessons from Post-Disaster Memorials in Japan Jun 23, 2021
- Jun 16, 2021 Commentary | Aditya Ranjan Pathak and Anandita Pathak, Learning Culture, Unlearning Stereotypes: Ending Discrimination Towards India’s Northeast Jun 16, 2021
- Jun 9, 2021 Commentary | Raj Verma, Modi and the COVID-19 catastrophe Jun 9, 2021
- Jun 2, 2021 Commentary | Abdillah Noh, ASEAN’s role in the Myanmar Crisis: Averting a “Syrian crisis” problem at its door? Jun 2, 2021
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May 2021
- May 26, 2021 Commentary | Runchao Liu, Digital Mediation and Transnational Flows of Queer Fandom: Ambiguous Queer Performance on Chinese Social Media May 26, 2021
- May 19, 2021 Commentary | Clara Iwasaki, Transpacific Search Party or How to (Not) Find Yu Dafu’s Remains May 19, 2021
- May 12, 2021 Commentary | Mark Bookman and Carolyn S. Stevens, Empathy, Equity, and Empowerment: Lessons to Learn from Disability Studies During a Pandemic in Japan and Australia May 12, 2021
- May 5, 2021 Commentary | Dakila Kim P. Yee, A Trojan Horse: China’s Vaccine Diplomacy and the internal dynamics of the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in the Philippines May 5, 2021
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April 2021
- Apr 28, 2021 Commentary | Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Unlikely Allies: The Colonial Model of Military-Dominated Pseudo-Democracy in Myanmar and Thailand Apr 28, 2021
- Apr 12, 2021 Commentary | Meryl Burgess, Africa-Chinese dilemmas and Africa-Asian dreams: time for new partnerships? Apr 12, 2021
- Apr 5, 2021 Commentary | Surachanee Sriyai, "Welcome to the Clubhouse?:" The Digital Ailments of Democratization in Thailand Apr 5, 2021
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March 2021
- Mar 29, 2021 Commentary | Michael Wert, Historical Positivism, Ideology, and Nationalism in the Ramseyer Case Mar 29, 2021
- Mar 22, 2021 Commentary | Ryo Morimoto, Ethnographic Lettering: “Pursed Lips: A Call to Suspend Damage in the Age of Decommissioning” Mar 22, 2021
- Mar 15, 2021 Commentary | Kaitlyn Ugoretz, Fearful Resonances: Critiquing Arlington and American Civil Religion through the Yasukuni Problem Mar 15, 2021
- Mar 8, 2021 Commentary | Pavin Chachavalpongpun, “Above Politics”?: Rolling Back into Absolutely Monarchy in Thailand with King Vajiralongkorn Mar 8, 2021
- Mar 1, 2021 Commentary | Jeongmin Kim, When A Base Leaves: Seeing Military Withdrawal from Local Labor Perspectives Mar 1, 2021
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February 2021
- Feb 22, 2021 Commentary | Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, Myanmar: Why the Military Took Over Feb 22, 2021
- Feb 15, 2021 Commentary | Marissa J. Smith, “Quality, not Apology! Resign!": COVID-19 Response Exposes Issues of Governance in Mongolia Feb 15, 2021
- Feb 8, 2021 Commentary | Alvin Y.H. Cheung, Hong Kong: The End of Delusion Feb 8, 2021
- Feb 1, 2021 Commentary | Warren A. Stanislaus, The Great Reset: Afro-Japanese Pasts, Futures & Digital Scholarship in Asian Studies Feb 1, 2021
- Feb 1, 2021 Commentary | Kavita Daiya, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Transnational Dialogue: Reframing South Asian Textile Arts Feb 1, 2021
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January 2021
- Jan 20, 2021 Commentary | Nick Kapur, When Revolutions Fail Jan 20, 2021
- December 2020
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September 2020
- Sep 21, 2020 2020.12: Asantha Senevirathna, Sino-Indian Rivalry and the Port of Colombo: Geopolitical Implications for Sri Lanka Sep 21, 2020
- Sep 20, 2020 2020.11: Nicholas Witkowski, Challenging the Erasure of Low-/Outcaste Agency in South Asian Historiography: Constructing a Guerrilla Hermeneutics of the Dharmaśāstra Sep 20, 2020
- Sep 20, 2020 2020.10: Julia M. Lau, Pandemic Politics, Progress, and Pain: Southeast Asia’s Covid-19 Fight Sep 20, 2020
- Sep 17, 2020 2020.9: Ankushi Mitra, Into the Corona Bomb: The Making of a Migration Crisis in South Asia Sep 17, 2020
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July 2020
- Jul 13, 2020 2020.8: Shruti Sharma, COVID-19 and Cricket: Playing with the Contagion and/of Caste Jul 13, 2020
- June 2020
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May 2020
- May 28, 2020 2020.6: Peter Van Ness, Loser-in-Chief Donald J. Trump May 28, 2020
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March 2020
- Mar 6, 2020 2020.5: Myungji Yang, Reflections on Studying Far-Right Activism in South Korea Mar 6, 2020
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February 2020
- Feb 14, 2020 2020.4: Wenjing Liu, The Implications of Dating Websites for Leftover Women in China Feb 14, 2020
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January 2020
- Jan 31, 2020 2020.3: JR Sumana and Lewlyn LR Rodrigues, Solid Waste Disposal Habits of Urban India: Behavior Change or Changing Behavior? Jan 31, 2020
- Jan 21, 2020 2020.2: Asoka Bandarage, The Controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact and Sri Lanka Jan 21, 2020
- Jan 6, 2020 2020.1: Nicolas El Haik-Wagner, Selling Baguettes and Marketing Romanticism in Contemporary China Jan 6, 2020
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December 2019
- Dec 25, 2019 2019.26: Jamie Zhao, Queer TV China as an Area of Critical Scholarly Inquiry in the 2010s Dec 25, 2019
- Dec 8, 2019 2019.25: Johanna O. Zulueta: The Aging Other: Older Migrants in Today’s Japan Dec 8, 2019
- Dec 3, 2019 2019.24: Ben Whaley: What I Write About When I Write About Gaming Dec 3, 2019
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November 2019
- Nov 19, 2019 2019.23: Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, When a Movement Stops Moving: The Okara Peasant Struggle Twenty Years On Nov 19, 2019
- Nov 6, 2019 2019.22: Thomas Patton: The Ethnographer and the Charlatan Nov 6, 2019
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October 2019
- Oct 15, 2019 2019.21: Francis L. F. Lee: On Radicalization in the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement in Hong Kong Oct 15, 2019
- Oct 7, 2019 2019.20: Delfi Chinnappan: Digitally Mediated Hijra Identity: The Case of the 6 Pack Band Oct 7, 2019
- September 2019
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August 2019
- Aug 16, 2019 2019.17: Understanding what is Happening in Xinjiang: An Interview with Sean Roberts Aug 16, 2019
- July 2019
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June 2019
- Jun 27, 2019 2019.14: Jahnu Bharadwaj, "Archival Research as Fieldwork: Reflections on a Small Government Archive in Assam" Jun 27, 2019
- Jun 5, 2019 2019.13: Wayne E. Arnold, "Japan Field Research on Henry Miller" Jun 5, 2019
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May 2019
- May 16, 2019 2019.12: Asoka Bandarage, "The Easter Attacks and Geopolitical Conflict in Sri Lanka" May 16, 2019
- May 9, 2019 2019.11: Samuel H. Bass, "Notes on Encountering Slavery Skepticism in Mongolia" May 9, 2019
- May 4, 2019 2019.10: Abdillah Noh, Malaysia One Year After: An Interview with Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar May 4, 2019
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April 2019
- Apr 23, 2019 2019.9: The Future of the Mekong River: An Interview with Brian Eyler Apr 23, 2019
- Apr 23, 2019 2019.8: Moss Roberts, "Rethinking U.S. Sinophobia" Apr 23, 2019
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March 2019
- Mar 31, 2019 2019.7: Gareth Porter, "How the U.S. Navy Sold the Vietnam War" Mar 31, 2019
- Mar 31, 2019 2019.6: Dave Paulson, "Livestream in the Context of Ethnographic Fieldwork: A New Media Literacy" Mar 31, 2019
- Mar 15, 2019 2019.5: James D. Seymour, "Hong Kong Nears Its Half Way Point" Mar 15, 2019
- Mar 15, 2019 2019.4: Amanda Lanzillo, "Archival Research as Fieldwork: Reflections on Small and Under-utilized Indian Archives" Mar 15, 2019
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February 2019
- Feb 15, 2019 2019.3: Richard Kagan, A Review of Sophie McIntyre’s Imagining Taiwan: The Role of Art in Taiwan’s Quest for Identity (1987-2010). Brill Press, 2018. Feb 15, 2019
- Feb 14, 2019 2019.2: Sergei O. Kurbanov, "The Trump-Kim Summit: A Win-Win Lottery or Step Forward?" Feb 14, 2019
- Feb 10, 2019 2019.1: Asoka Bandarage, "The Demise of Sri Lanka's Independence" Feb 10, 2019
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December 2018
- Dec 10, 2018 Moss Roberts, Korean Conundrums Dec 10, 2018
Information for CAS Commentary Board Contributors
Critical Asian Studies is committed to critiquing the status quo, challenging received scholarly narratives, and confronting the field of Asian Studies as a whole. On the Commentary Baord, we are excited to publish Op-Eds and Commentary pieces that offer a critical perspective on contemporary affairs in the Asian region, photographic essays, letters to the editor, and other original material that reflects the aspirations and goals set forth in our Statement of Purpose. Please see below for additional details on types of essays and formatting guidelines:
Notes from the Field
These short pieces, typically between 1,500 and 5,000 words, describe an aspect of the author’s ongoing research project. This typically will be a small part of a much larger project, and describe contingent findings, emerging questions, or field experiences.
Commentaries
A commentary is a learned opinion piece that may or may not be footnoted and evidence-based. The author will offer a clear and concise perspective on a social, cultural, political, or economic issue of the day, one which speaks to larger questions. Commentaries usually are between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
Formatting
All Commentary Board contributions should be styled like Op-Eds or editorial essays rather than research articles, making strong arguments in clear, concise language. Essays do not need a lengthy literature or historiographical review, and should avoid footnotes. References to recent news stories are encouraged, and should be linked to original sources.
Publication Process
After submission, all Commentary Board essays are reviewed by Digital Media Editor Dr. Tristan R. Grunow. Selected essays will be undergo copy-editing prior to publication. Commentary Board pieces are not formally peer-reviewed. Upon publication, a DOI will be issued for all contributions.
For further inquiries or to submit an essay for consideration, please email CAS Commentary Board editor Dr. Tristan R. Grunow at digital.criticalasianstudies@gmail.com or fill out the form below: