Akiko Morishita

Program-Specific Researcher, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
-Academic Qualifications: Ph.D. (area studies) Kyoto University 2006
-Research Interests: Politics and Resources in Southeast Asia
My current research interest is politics and resources in Southeast Asia. During this fellowship, I would like to explore the political dynamics of forest exploitation and management in Indonesia and Malaysia from local, national, and global perspectives.

In my Ph.D. dissertation, I explored the local political structures in resource-rich Kalimantan in post-Soeharto Indonesia where decentralization and devolution of power over resources dramatically altered the role and function of local authorities. In my postdoctoral research, I expanded my analysis to center-local relations over natural resources to further deepen expertise in the political dynamics of natural resource exploitation and management in Indonesia. I also conducted comparative research in Sarawak, a resource-rich state in Malaysia, where I examined local political structures and center-local relations between the federal and state governments.

Given my experiences in the study of politics and resources at local and national levels, I would like to explore how global and local dynamics impact the lives of people and the environment in these two countries. I would like to research how international forces, such as foreign and multinational companies, international NGOs, and the governments of consuming countries have played a role in forest exploitation and management and how the relationships between these international actors and people in power and business at the local levels have an impact on social and ecological environment.

-Main Research achievements:

?Morishita, Akiko. 2010. 2009nen Kokkaigiin ni miru Indonesia no Seitouseijika to Seitou no Henka [Changes in Indonesian Political Parties and Politicians after the 2009 General Election]. In 2009nen Indonesia Sosenkyo to Sinseiken no Yukue [The 2009 General Election and the Future of Indonesian Government], edited by Jun Honna and Koichi Kawamura, pp. 94-110. Chiba: Institute of Developing Economies.
?Morishita, Akiko. 2006. Berebut Kuasa di Kalimantan: Pergulatan Ekonomi Politik Bos Lokal di Era Desentralisasi (1998-2004) [Power Struggle in Kalimantan: Local Bosses’ Struggle for Political and Economic Interests in the era of Decentralization (1998-2004)]. In Kelompok Kekerasan dan Bos Lokal di Era Reformasi [Violent Groups and Local Bosses in the Reform Era], edited by Okamoto Masaaki and Abdur Rozaki, pp. 127-149. Yogyakarta: IRE Press.

?Morishita, Akiko. 2011. Prosperous in the Provinces. Inside Indonesia 104. http://www.insideindonesia.org/edition-104-jul-sep-2011/prosperous-in-the-provinces-10041426/
? Morishita, Akiko. 2008. Contesting Power in Indonesia’s Resource-Rich Regions in the Era of Decentralization: New Strategy for the Central Control over the Regions. Indonesia 86: 81-107.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2007. Post-Soeharto jidai no Indonesia kokkai giin: 2004nen sosenkyo go no henka to renzokusei [Sociological analysis of Parliament members in Post-Soeharto Indonesia: Changes and Continuities after the 2004 General Election]. Tonanajia Kenkyu 45(1): 57-97.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2003. Soeharto taisei hokaigo no Indonesia seiji elite: 1999-nen sosenkyo niyoru kokkaigiin toha donoyouna hitotachi ka [Indonesia’s Political Elite after the Fall of Soeharto: The 1999 Elections to the People’s Representative Council]. Tonanajia Kenkyu 41(3): 361-385.

? Morishita, Akiko. 2009. Kalimantan no Shakai, Keizai, Seiji: Naze Minzoku Hunsou ga okitanoka [Society, Economy and Politics in Kalimantan: Why did Communal Violence happened?]. Indonesia Newsletter 69: 2-14.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2009. Politics and Timber in Malaysia. The Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows (July 2009): 1-6.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2008. 2008nen Sosenkyo Kenbun (Sarawak, Sabah) [the 2008 General Election in Malaysia: Sarawak and Sabah]. JAMS News 40: 57-61.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2007. Naze Sarawak to Sabah deha BN ga ‘asshou’ sitanoka [Why could BN win a sweeping victory in Sarawak and Sabah] JAMS Discussion Paper 1: 135-140.
? Morishita, Akiko. 2005. Today’s Local Politics in Indonesia 1998-2004: Who controls the political and economic interests in Kalimantan?, paper presented at the 4th International Symposium of the Jurnal Antropologi Indonesia, University of Indonesia, July 14, 2005.