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UID:377@harvard-yenching.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241119T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241119T130000
DTSTAMP:20241029T174534Z
URL:https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/the-analysis-of-neoliberalism-
 and-the-reconfiguration-of-gender-in-political-domain/
SUMMARY:The Analysis of Neoliberalism and the Reconfiguration of Gender in 
 the Thai Political Domain
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored with the Asia Center\n\nMany observers have held t
 hat neoliberalism\, as a class project\, results in the undoing of femi
 nism (Baer 2016). Neoliberalism espouses key ideas of freedom\, self re
 sponsibility\, privatization\, and the free market\, and the consolidati
 on of capitalist power. Thailand’s neoliberal reform caused disparitie
 s between urban and regional provinces. In this “socio-economic mala
 ise”\, capitalists thrived (Khoo 2010: 11). Neoliberalism also intersec
 ts closely with gender ideologies. With an almost twenty percent increa
 se in the proportion of women MPs\, women politicians are now visible in
  the previously male arena. The rhetoric of “superwoman” (ผู
 ้หญิงเก่ง) gained prominence. While neoliberalism reinf
 orces precarity\, it fosters flexibility\, empowerment\, and autonomy for
  some. To understand where these success stories originate\, I employ a 
 qualitative method that involves interviewing Thai women MPs who are in 
 the Committee that oversees activities including children\, young adults\
 , women\, elderly\, people with disabilities\, ethnic groups\, and gende
 r diverse individuals (คณะกรรมาธิการกิจก
 ารเด็ก เยาวชน สตรี ผู้สูง
 อายุ ผู้พิการ กลุ่มชาติพั
 นธุ์ และผู้ที่มีความหลากห
 ลายทางเพศ). It emerges that some women politicians em
 body neoliberal selves (Chen 2013)\, where the central neoliberal princi
 ple involves treating homo economicus as the model of personhood. Th
 eir bodily dispositions align with the pursuit of individual choices\, led
  by entrepreneurial activity in the capitalist commodifying culture\, as 
 is evident in their corporeal capital. I examine the interplay between ne
 oliberalism and Thai women politicians as immanent neoliberal subjects who
  epitomize hegemonic femininity (Baer 2016\; Chen 2013) while simultaneo
 usly working toward political changes. While the literature on neolibe
 ralism and gender focuses on how women may distance themselves from the 
 politics of the collective and the unchanged structural inequalities\, Th
 ai women politicians embody normative femininity (where opulence symboliz
 es their agency) while also working toward mobilizing political change.
CATEGORIES:Visiting Scholar Talks
LOCATION:Common Room (#136)\, 2 Divinity Avenue\, Cambridge\, MA\, United S
 tates
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 ge\, MA\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Common Room (#136):geo:
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