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Quarterly

Unity in Diversity

Tuesday, 30 August 2022

In August 2017, American far right groups staged a massive demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. Meant to unite the various white nationalist groups in the United States, the rally sparked violent clashes in various parts of the city which left three people dead. Among the casualties was Heather Heyer who died when a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of mostly peaceful counter-protesters. The event in Charlottesville demonstrated the growing influence of the far right — emboldened, no doubt, by Donald Trump's presidential victory a year earlier.

Inequality: Addressing Asia's Great Scourge

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Since the 1980s, the World Bank has been closely associated with the Washington Consensus — a set of policy prescriptions that urged developing countries to deregulate their markets and curb government spending in exchange for development aid. But in early 2016, the Bank's former Chief Economist Francois Bourguignon recommended the exact opposite.

Transitions to Democracy: Options for Myanmar

Sunday, 8 August 2021

This issue of of PRAKSIS, "Transitions to Democracy: Options for Myanmar," is the second of a two-part special edition on the ongoing civic uprising in Myanmar. The first part was released in August to commemorate the 8888 Uprising. It featured articles from Myanmar activists to honor all those who have fought for democracy and to encourage the Burmese people to remain steadfast and never falter from the struggle.

Building the New Normal: A Social Democratic Roadmap (Part II)

Sunday, 4 April 2021

This latest issue of the Socdem Asia Quarterly appears a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic because of its “alarming levels of spread and severity.” Since then, the virus has infected more than 123 million people, and has claimed the lives of nearly 3 million individuals. But apart from its horrific death toll, the social consequences of the disease are also equally catastrophic—devastating even the strongest economies, heightening global inequality and plunging millions of people into ever deepening poverty.

Combatting COVID-19: A Social Democratic Response

Sunday, 14 June 2020

There is a scene in the novel The Plague by French author Albert Camus that would break even the stoutest of hearts.

For nearly six months, a bubonic outbreak had been ravaging the port city of Oran, off the Algerian coast. Though troubled by the death and suffering of the people around him, town physician Dr. Bernard Rieux decided to “steel himself against pity,” believing that it was the only way he could face the “almost unendurable burden of his days.”

Push Back! Against Shrinking Democratic Space

Sunday, 19 April 2020

On 20 November 2019, opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of Future Forward Party (FWP) was stripped of his parliamentary seat by Thailand’s military-backed Constitutional Court. Though intended to harass the country’s budding opposition, Thanathorn and his party comrades exhibited considerable grace and confidence as they hosted a regional conference on the emerging threats to democracy three days later.

Combatting Disinformation: Active Citizenship and Progressive Politics in the Age of Fake News

Saturday, 28 December 2019

When the World Wide Web was finally made public on 6 August 1991, most political pundits greeted this event with excitement enthusiasm, claiming that this new form of virtual technology will be an absolute boon for democracy. The free flow of information, they argued, will not only empower ordinary citizens, but would also undermine ossified bureaucracies and disrupt outmoded forms of administrative practices.

Socdem Asia Secretariat
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Email: secretariat@socdemasia.com
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