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Several nations in South and Southeast Asia gained independence from British colonial control in 1947–48. Each has had its own trajectory since independence. In this post, Martin Smith reflects on Myanmar, and how her path was from the very beginning fraught with instability — leading to the current political centrifugality amidst martial 'democracy', and what hopes lie … Continued

What is the dominant academic narrative about Myanmar, 75 years on from its full independence? Has the tendency to obsess with politics and related developments created an incomplete, impoverished and patchy corpus of knowledge about the country? In this inaugural post marking 'Myanmar @ 75', Michael W. Charney offers a 'planetary reading' of the history of Myanmar. … Continued

The future of Myanmar's borderlands cannot be easily predicted, and it will remain highly contested among factions with intersected interests, writes Abellia Anggi Wardani and Danny Widiatmo _______________________________________________ As Myanmar and China share an extensive land border, cross-border settlements of ethnic minorities are common in the region. Minorities such as the Kachin, Shan, Wa, and Ta’ang all … Continued

Is it possible to reconcile the economic impetus towards a more sustainably powered economy with the equally important requirement for the protection of richly biodiverse, socio-natural communities? Can sustainable energy transition be just? Andrea Pia and Cla Ruzol reflect on a workshop to discuss Chinese-led sustainable energy interventions for Southeast Asia. _______________________________________________ The collaborative workshop "Justice after … Continued

Even though there is an increased understanding that the haze issue is anthropogenic, as the haze season becomes increasingly normalised (more severe one year and less so the other, but taken as a given), society may “forget” that haze is anthropogenic and hence avoidable. This storyline thus may also contribute to absolving governments of responsibility … Continued

  The gig economy has boomed globally since the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Southeast Asia, after a decade or so of rapid growth. The reliance of consumers upon on-demand delivery during lockdowns, and the pivoting of livelihoods for millions of people as a result of economic upheaval, have meant the gig economy is now more … Continued

The commodification effect of gig work on labour contributing to a greater marketisation of labour relations. In India, the state has sanctioned gig and platform work as outside of standard employment, thereby upholding the notion that gig workers function as independent entities who are not entitled to traditional worker rights, writes Khawla Zainab _______________________________________________ This article … Continued

We develop the ontology of "process complexity" and describe how the dynamics of "becoming" can be framed as the emerging, stabilising, and ultimate dissolving of "patterns of relationships." By extending traditional complexity thinking through introducing a "field theory" view, we develop a more nuanced and inclusive perspective of the processual complex world. We show how this leads to the idea of ontological uncertainty. We demonstrate how process complexity resonates with the ontologies of many different schools of thought including quantum gravity, the process philosophers of the Axial Age, and the early modern process philosophers impacted by Darwin's theory of evolution, such as Bergson, Whitehead, and James. The remarkable alignment of these diverse perspectives from science and philosophy adds conviction and depth to the development of process complexity. We conclude by indicating how process complexity influences our approach to policy and management practice.

ABSTRACTThis article argues, using evidence from Georgian London, that historical demographers need to revisit the effects of two inter-related phenomena: the effects of burial fees on interment practices and the ebb and flow of a very considerable 'traffic in corpses'. By the eighteenth century burial space in London was at a premium and there was an active market in the provision of suitable, and affordable, burial grounds. This article is based on the sextons' books of the Westminster parish of St Martin in the Fields. These books are very unusual in recording exported 'certificate' and 'arrears' burials. The 'traffic in corpses' revealed by this source is analysed in some detail and burial fees turn out to be of great importance in understanding local fluctuations in interment practices. A neighbouring parish, St Anne, Soho, was acting as a veritable 'clandestine burial centre' which interred non-parishioners for profit on a huge scale for most of the eighteenth century. The 'commodification' of burial, driven partly by considerations of cost, thus had a major impact on interment practices in the eighteenth-century metropolis. A key finding is that, due to this postmortem flow of corpses, the total number of recorded burials in any one parish may not necessarily have been driven by fluctuations in local mortality rates.