Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities Studies

Across Nations, Dignity, and Democracy: Discourses of Power, Resistance, and the Future of Contemporary Thai Politics

Sujitra Wongsumpankul — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This article examines the power relations among nation, human dignity, and democracy in contemporary Thai politics, emphasizing political discourse as a central mechanism through which state legitimacy is constructed, citizenship is hierarchized, and the boundaries of political legitimacy are defined. In the post-coup context and under conditions of incomplete democratization, discourses of nation and dignity are deployed in both protective and exclusionary ways—most notably through the distinction between “loyal citizens” and “dissenters”—with significant implications for political freedom and civic equality. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis alongside the concepts of power/knowledge, hegemony, and the politics of meaning, the article analyzes how discourses of nation and human dignity are produced, mobilized, and contested across political institutions, media, education, and law. The analysis demonstrates that the nation is not merely a cultural identity but a politically constructed concept closely tied to security, morality, and the normalization of unaccountable state power. At the same time, human dignity is interpreted selectively, functioning alternately as a tool of control or a resource for emancipation, depending on actors’ positions within power structures.

The findings indicate that such discursive practices undermine institutional democracy, legitimize unequal exercises of power, and intensify social polarization through a politics of enmity. Nevertheless, the article highlights the persistence of counter-discourses advanced by civil society, social movements, and critical intellectuals that seek to rearticulate nationhood and dignity in human-centered and democratic terms. These discursive struggles suggest that Thailand’s political future is not predetermined by dominant power alone, but remains open to renegotiation through inclusive, rights-based, and participatory democratic imaginaries.

Humanities in the Age of State Technology: Restructuring of Education, Human Values, and the Power of Knowledge in Contemporary China

Pramahawuttichai Sujinjano — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This article examines the role and condition of the humanities within China’s contemporary “technological state,” where state power is increasingly exercised through digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and big data systems, alongside the restructuring of education and the reordering of knowledge hierarchies. It asks a central question: what space and significance do the humanities retain in an environment dominated by technocratic rationality and state-driven efficiency? The article argues that much of the existing scholarship on contemporary China prioritizes STEM, innovation, and digital economy, while paying insufficient attention to the humanities and the politics of knowledge (power/knowledge) within the education system. As a result, the humanities are often framed as ideological instruments or soft power resources for cultivating compliant citizens, rather than as critical spaces for ethical reflection and social critique. Through an analysis of education policies, the STEM-first paradigm, and the development of Digital Humanities, this article demonstrates that the humanities in China have not been eliminated but repositioned under state supervision. Discourses of morality, Chinese identity, and Confucian revival play a central role in redefining the humanities’ function, placing them in an ambivalent position between serving state objectives and enabling symbolic negotiation of power.

The article proposes an analytical framework that moves beyond a simple control–resistance dichotomy, emphasizing instead adaptation, negotiation, and embedded critique. It concludes that, despite structural constraints, the humanities remain a crucial site for questioning human values, the meaning of progress, and the limits of state power in an era where technology and governance are increasingly intertwined.

The Unheard Voices: Structural Violence, Memory, and Civilian Resistance in Contemporary Myanmar Society

Pitug Punjaidee — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This article examines contemporary Myanmar through the lens of political humanities, focusing on the interconnections between structural violence, memory, and civilian resistance under military rule. It introduces the concept of “voices that are not counted,” referring to civilian voices that are systematically marginalized within political institutions, legal frameworks, and official public memory. Although these voices are silenced or rendered invisible by the state, they persist and re-emerge as forms of bottom-up political engagement. The article argues that violence in Myanmar should not be understood solely as direct physical repression, but as a form of structural violence embedded in state institutions, laws, and political culture. Such normalization of violence continuously undermines human dignity by depriving civilians of voice, agency, and the ability to define the meaning of their own lived experiences. At the same time, the article highlights memory as a crucial political terrain. State efforts to erase or control memories of past violence are challenged by community-based memories articulated through storytelling, art, alternative media, and civilian networks. These memories function as a form of moral resistance, preventing injustice from being silenced or forgotten. Furthermore, the article reframes civilian resistance in Myanmar not merely as confrontation with state power, but as a process of meaning-making. Civilians are not passive victims of structural violence; rather, they act as social agents who negotiate, resist, and reimagine political possibilities through everyday practices. By foregrounding civilian voices and memories, this study positions Myanmar as a critical case for understanding contemporary political humanities, particularly debates on power, violence, memory, and human dignity.

Religion, Identity, and the Fragile Democratic Landscape: Mass Politics in Post-Transition Bangladesh

Anjali Kirinthanon — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This article examines the interplay between religion, identity, and mass politics in post-transition Bangladesh, arguing that contemporary political dynamics extend beyond institutional competition among political parties to encompass deeper struggles embedded in social structures, cultural norms, and religious identities. The article advances the concept of “fragile democracy” to describe a political order that formally retains democratic institutions while lacking the structural conditions necessary for fair competition, political freedoms, and effective human rights protection. It demonstrates that networks of religious leaders, mosques, and madrasas function as critical infrastructures of mass politics, capable of transforming economic and social grievances into organized political action. Simultaneously, the construction of binary narratives—pitting secular elites against religious masses—has intensified social polarization and eroded political tolerance. The article further analyzes the implications of religion-based mass politics for political freedoms, electoral legitimacy, and human rights, with particular attention to religious minorities and women. In conclusion, it proposes an integrated analytical framework linking religion, identity, and state power to better understand democratic fragility in South Asian Muslim societies and offers forward-looking insights for strengthening democratic resilience amid structural vulnerabilities.

A Book Review of The Geography of the Peace

Juan Miguel Palero — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This book review dissects the 1944 posthumous work of American political scientist Nicholas J. Spykman entitled The Geography of the Peace. Setting an optimistic view of the end of the Second World War, Spykman sparked renewed interest in reformulating the prevailing geopolitical formula by revisiting and critiquing Sir Harold Mackinder’s Heartland Theory, which was proven outdated and idealistic upon the onset of the war. To correct these oversights, Spykman proposed a more pragmatic and all-encompassing approach in geopolitical interactions by recalibrating Mackinder’s theory by integrating a more littoral-oriented area, termed the “rimland,” and introducing air power into the nexus of fundamental geopolitical factors, which provided a more all-encompassing viewpoint needed to expound on immediate geopolitical and defense analysis. The book, on the other hand, has suffered from methodological and conceptual flaws, as well as authorial questioning, which casts a cloud of doubt over the veracity of the presented information. Ultimately, Spykman’s book presented a quality of healthy skepticism and interrogation of the insularity of both the United States of America and its European counterparts to a certain extent when it comes to girdling geopolitics and global collective security. It places the question of intention and forthrightness at the heart of the present-day analysis of post-war American foreign policy, apropos of the national sovereignty of nations within the Asian, African, and Latin American regions.

A Book Review of The Japanese Community in Cebu, 1900-1945

Juan Miguel Palero — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

This book review presents a thorough dissection and critical interrogation of Jose Eleazar Bersales and Taihei Okada’s 2023 work, The Japanese Community in Cebu, 1900-1945, which is construed as a trailblazing historiographical account of the Japanese diaspora in the Philippines. Using archival research as its principal methodology, Bersales and Okada have upheld the fact that many Japanese settled in Cebu Province during the American colonial period for commercial purposes. From there, it opened up a veritable crucible, in the form of commercial-industrial establishments, which offered a new perspective as to how the Japanese settlers had acclimatized in their new environment that inevitably spurred or benefited the Cebuanos, in addition to narrating how the same societal setup was disturbed and eventually ruined by the eruption of the Second World War. Ultimately, it is expected for a trailblazing work to have built-in shortcomings, be it in the conceptual or technical side; however, Bersales and Okada’s book is a prominent addition to the literature, tackling not just the local history of Cebu or the history of the Japanese diaspora in the country but also the Japanese settlers in pre-Second World War Southeast Asia, which will serve as the backbone for future research.

Critiquing Norman D. Palmer's The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek

Juan Miguel Palero — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0700

As we assess, or reassess, the life of Chiang Kai-shek, it can be certainly regarded as one of the controversial and polemical topics modern history has to offer. However, subscribing to a very polarized perspective about his life is rather a prevalent yet equally perilous intellectual practice. Consequently, this article review dissects the 1948 journal article of American political scientist Norman D. Palmer entitled The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang’s early life and his rise to power, as Palmer has expressed, demands a thorough re-reading in an attempt to move the usual optics about him and view Chiang’s thirst for power and political prestige from the lens of his formative years as a person and as a member of the Kuomintang Party under Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Palmer also intended to make the study of Chiang’s life as neutral as possible, devoid of anything extremely prejudicial to one side. The article, on the other hand, has suffered from numerous methodological, conceptual, and semantic flaws, which casts a cloud of doubt over the veracity of the presented information. But despite such shortcomings, Palmer’s article presented a proper, relatively impartial, re-narration of the early life of Chiang Kai-shek, which ultimately determined his life and decisions after claiming the mantle of the Kuomintang’s leader in 1927.