Learning to Govern: Disipline, ritual, and political networks at an elite Thai school

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My research explores how elite educational institutions create and maintain influential political networks in contemporary Thailand. During my fellowship I will publish an institutional ethnography of Suan Kularb Wittayalai, Thailand's oldest state-administered secondary school and alma mater to seven prime ministers. Drawing on twelve month's fieldwork at the school, as well as extensive historical archival analysis, Learning to Govern: Ritual, Discipline and Political Networks at an Elite Thai school, sheds light on the complex process through which this 'network institution' encourages and consolidates intimate political cliques across the military, bureaucracy, and commercial sectors. Specifically, I show that the dominance of elite networks in the Thai political order is not an expression of traditional patronage models. Rather, such relations have been consciously facilitated by the modern state through the gradual adoption of certain colonial technologies. These technologies include novel mechanisms of surveillance, invented tradition, and disciplinary practices. When integrated with local pedagogic practices, these technologies generate life-long sentiments of fraternal obligation, which are utilized by elite networks to neutralize threats to the prevailing political order. Understanding these institutional practices elucidates and demystifies what some analysts have called Thailand's 'parallel' (Chambers and Napisa, 2020) or 'deep' state (Mérieau, 2016). Exploring themes of colonialism, kinship, violence, and memory, the book is a testament to the unexamined influence of elite schools and the profound impact they have on the lives of their privileged alumni. It will be published by Cornell University Press. During the fellowship, I will also continue to collaborate with civil groups campaigning to reform these colonialist practices in Thai education. In October 2020, the Thai government declared a 'severe state of emergency' when thousands of student protesters took to the streets demanding sweeping reforms. Through artistic workshops and virtual interaction with members of these groups, I will facilitate the co-production of an open access Thai language e-book that uses images, engaging characters, and graphic novel techniques to map the genealogy of Thai educational practices. The project will provide a safe environment for experimentation and discussion of member's experiences of education and ideas for reform that will reach new audiences and allow stakeholders to gain fresh perspectives on a highly topical issue. The project will also provide the basis for a journal article based on the findings and observations that arise from the collaboration. This combination of academic and popular publications, both in Thai and English, makes this project particularly effective in achieving full research impact.I will allocate 25% of my fellowship to disseminating my research to academic and non-academic audiences. As a former broadcast journalist in Thailand, I am well placed to deliver a series of media interventions to engage public interest in my work, which will feature on a major Thai-language national news program, Talking Thailand, and a popular Anglophone podcast produced by the Nordic Asian Institute. I will present my work in lectures and workshops among specialists at Cornell University, National University of Singapore, Leeds University, Thammasat, SOAS. I will also present papers at the American Anthropological Association in November 2023 and the Euroseas Conference in July 2024. Through this combination of impactful publications, knowledge exchange, direct user engagement, and effective dissemination, I will establish myself as a successful researcher working across the anthropologies of power, elites, education, and Southeast Asian studies.