Title: Civic Education and the Ends of Thai LiberalismSubmitted by: Michael Connors, Politics Department, La Trobe University, AustraliaThis paper considers the rise of civil-society discourse in Thailand and the accompanying notions of civic education. It considers the manner in which Thai liberals are attempting to propagate idealized notions of participatory citizenship and how this advances a particular political program of liberal institutional reform. My main argument is that the turn to citizen education by new forces outside of the state apparatus does not reflect a gain for 'democracy' as such, but reflects the entrenchment of a new disciplinary program centred on the construction of a political subject conducive to the security of a liberal order. Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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