IKMAS SEMINAR SERIES NO.2/2015 : INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: THE CHINESE EDUCATION MOVEMENT IN MALAYSIA, 1951-2011

KMAS SEMINAR SERIES NO.2/2015

INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: THE CHINESE EDUCATION MOVEMENT IN MALAYSIA, 

1951-2011

The Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia cordially invites you to the IKMAS Seminar Series  stated as follows:

Presenter  :      Dr. Ang Ming Chee

                              Lund University, Sweden

Title              :     Institutions and Social Mobilization: The Chinese Education Movement in Malaysia, 1951-2011

 Date             :      27 January 2015 (Tuesday)

Venue         :      IKMAS Seminar Room

Time            :      2.00 – 4.00 pm

Abstract:

Utilizing the Chinese education movement—arguably Malaysia’s longest-running social movement—as its case study, this presentation examines the persistence of a minority social movement despite facing considerable constraints imposed by a majority-dominated non-liberal democratic state. Two important players of this movement, the United Chinese School Committees’ Association (Dongzong) and the United Chinese Schoolteachers’ Association (Jiaozong) were established in the backdrop of Malayan nation formation stage during the 1950s. Over the years, both Dongzong and Jiaozong have survived a host of challenges from many quarters, and have endured for six decades while many other movements have long since been disbanded. In this presentation, I will highlight two factors that have been crucial to the movement’s endurance. Firstly, I will examine the unique structured mobilization system within the Chinese education movement that has effectively linked movement communities at the school, local, state, and national levels. These strong links have been important for solidifying the movement’s organizational efforts in facing state-imposed constraints and suppression. Secondly, I will also analyse the roles of the professional and full-time executive branch at the movement headquarters that has developed over time to fulfill the everyday operational needs of the movement.

Biodata:

Ming Chee ANG (Ph.D, National University of Singapore, 2011) is postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre of East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University since 2013. Her main research interests are mobilisation of collective actions and strategies of social resistance in Southeast Asia. She is the author of Institutions and Social Mobilization: The Chinese Education Movement in Malaysia, 1951-2011 (ISEAS Singapore, 2014); “Liveability and Sustainability” in W.T. Woo et al. (eds.) The Penang Paradigm: The Framework for Creating an international and intelligent state (Penang Institute, 2013); “Social Mobilization of the Underdogs: The Damansara Save Our School Movement in Malaysia”, Pacific Affairs 85 (2) June 2012: 313-333. She can be contacted at angmingchee@gmail.com. Her professional website is http://www.ace.lu.se/about-the-centre/staff/ming-chee-ang.