You are cordially invited to a CSEAS Tonan Talk, a Brown Bag lecture series. The talk is open to the public, and you can bring your lunch bag to the place.The details are as follows.

Title: The Invisible and the Third Hand: Conspiracism and Thai Politics
Speaker: Dr. David Malitz,lecturer at the Martin de Tours School of
Management and Economics, Assumption University, Bangkok

Date: November 4th (Wed.), 12:00 – 14:00, 2015
Place: Tonan-tei (Room No. 201), Inamori Foundation Memorial Building,
Kyoto University

Abstract:
Even a casual observer of Thai politics will note how often conspiracy theories are employed to explain the behavior of political opponents as well as social developments. Far from being limited to fringe audiences, conspiracy theories find also rather commonly their space in what can be described as the country’s mainstream media. Yet, this phenomenon has received relatively little academic attention. This paper attempts to explain this conspiracism as the outcome of a complex interaction between the development of modern Thai political ideas which remain rooted in a moralistic Buddhist worldview, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the structure and historical experiences of Thai society especially during the cold war period.

Bio note:
David Malitz has studied business administration and Japanese studies in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. After briefly working in the private sector, he undertook doctoral research on Japanese-Thai Relations at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, conducting research in Bangkok and Kyoto. Currently he is a lecturer at the Martin de Tours School of Management and Economics, Assumption University, Bangkok.

Moderator: Hau Caroline, CSEAS, Kyoto University