The Future of Democracy in Asia: Taiwan's 2024 Elections and Their Implications Across Asia
February 2, 2024 | 2:00PM - 5:00PM
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In-person
Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility (CCF), South House, 1 Devonshire Place
ABOUT THE EVENT
Taiwan's Presidential election on January 13, 2024, has been widely reported as a major test of democracy, given the tensions at stake with China. At this event, Professor Joseph Wong, who has recently returned from observing the elections in Taiwan, shares his observations regarding the significance of the election for the future of democracy in the region. His keynote address is situated in theoretical innovations that scholars of democracy have been developing in recent years.
Prof. Wong is joined by Prof. Yoonkyung Lee, who will extend the discussion to the context of East Asia more broadly, offering her specialized understanding of these dynamics in Korea and other parts of East Asia. In addition, Dr. Bharat Punjabi will offer an update on these themes from the perspective of his research in South Asia. A final expert, Dr. Irene Poetranto, will present an update on the dynamics with attention to examples from Southeast Asia. Prof. Diana Fu will serve as the moderator.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Joseph Wong is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and serves as the Vice President, International, for the University of Toronto. He was the Ralph and Roz Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy through June 2023. He previously held the Canada Research Chair in Democratization, Health and Development for two full terms, ending 2016. In 2017, Professor Wong was appointed Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost of the University of Toronto, overseeing international student experience. Wong’s research interests are in comparative public policy and political economy.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Yoonkyung Lee is the Interim-Director for the Centre for the Study of Korea at the Asian Institute, Munk School. Professor Lee is the Korean Foundation Chair of Korean Studies, and a Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto. Professor Lee is a political sociologist specializing in labour politics, social movements, political representation, and the political economy of neoliberalism with a regional focus on East Asia. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and was Assistant and Associate Professor in Sociology and Asian and Asian-American Studies at State University of New York-Binghamton (2006-2016) before joining the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto in 2016. She has also been the Director of the Center for the Study of Korea (2019-2022).
Bharat Punjabi is a Course Instructor for the Contemporary Asian Studies and South Asian Studies programs at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, where he teaches courses on Asian cities. His research interests are in water governance, policy in large metropolitan cities, and urban studies.
Irene Poetranto is a Senior Researcher for the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. She has recently completed her PhD in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include Internet governance and the politics of Internet regulation, digital security and identity politics (including gender and intersectionality), as well as countering terrorism, violent extremism, and hate speech online.
(Moderator) Diana Fu is an Associate Professor of Political Science at The University of Toronto and director of the East Asia Seminar Series at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. She is a non-resident fellow at Brookings Institution, a China fellow at the Wilson Center, and a public intellectuals fellow at the National Committee on US-China Relations. Her research examines civil society, popular contention, state control, and authoritarian citizenship in China.
Sponsors: The Asian Institute and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto
Arba Bardhi asian.institute@utoronto.ca
Speakers
Joseph Wong
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto
Professor, Department of Political Science
Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Yoonkyung Lee
Interim Director, Centre for the Study of Korea, Asian Institute
Korea Foundation Chair of Korean Studies
Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
Bharat Punjabi
Course Instructor, Contemporary Asian Studies and South Asian Studies, Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Irene Poetranto
Course Instructor, Contemporary Asian Studies, Asian Institute
Senior Researcher, The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Diana Fu
Co-lead, Changing World Order area of focus, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Director, East Asia Seminar Series, Asian Institute
Associate Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Rachel Silvey
Richard Charles Lee Director, Asian Institute
Professor, Department of Geography & Planning
Ambassador Harry Ho-jen Tseng
Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada