Rujak Talk Series 01
By Dr. Su Lin Lewis (University of Cambridge, University of California at Berkeley)
Tusday, December 20th, 2011
14:00-16:30 PM
In the Foyer of The Goethe Haus, Jalan Sam Ratulangi 9-15, Menteng, Jakarta.
Free, but please register here by December 16th, 2011, at 16:00.
Seats limited to 30. First registered first served.
In Southeast Asian history, port-cities were key centers for maritime trade and sites where diverse ethnic groups lived and traded side by side. How did these urban communities evolve over time? Did these groups ever interact, or did they exist separately, as one colonial scholar observed, as ‘plural societies’? How were they affected by the colonial experience? This paper looks briefly at the evolution of urban planning in the colonial era, while focusing on venues where diverse ethnic groups contributed to the emergence of a new public sphere – in public spaces, associations, via the press, in schools and in sharing their experiences of modern, popular culture. It focuses largely on Penang, Rangoon, and Bangkok, with some references to Singapore, Batavia/Jakarta and other Indonesian port-cities. The talk argues that in viewing Southeast Asian history through the lens of these ‘cosmopolitan’, or multi-ethnic port-cities, we might come to a more inclusive understanding of the region’s rich and connected history, one which left important legacies for civil society and public culture in the post-colonial and contemporary period.
Dr. Su Lin Lewis finished her Phd at the University of Cambridge in 2010. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California Berkeley.
Mas Marco, apa Rujak Talk series ada videonya yang bisa ditonton online?