Colum Graham
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clmgrhm.bsky.social
Colum Graham
@clmgrhm.bsky.social
Postdoctoral fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Agrarian studies, politics, history.
A lot of claims recently about the emergence of "tech feudalism". Regular (garden variety...?) "feudalism" in contemporary times seems overlooked. "Civil oligarchy" may be interlocked with modernization processes, but not all oligarchs are civil or perhaps even see themselves as civilians.
Farm Action's Angela Huffman looks behind the duel at the top of the land-ownership charts to ask what land concentration means for farming. But, just fyi, the US' largest landowner is no longer Bill Gates, it's Stan Kroenke. angelasuehuffman.substack.com/p/forget-bil...
January 31, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Misty morning here
January 27, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Hi @tompepinsky.com from cosmopolitan rural Java where many millions persist in the countryside (often with migratory experiences) and few protest vote against urban chauvinism... 🤔
January 25, 2026 at 12:25 PM
"...the inclination among some senior clergy is to blame a few bad eggs for misbehaviour in the monkhood, rather than organisational failings that permit so-called “mafia monks” to thrive." www.economist.com/asia/2026/01...
www.economist.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:33 PM
January 7, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Back
January 6, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Back in Adelaide briefly. Happy New Year to all!
December 31, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Almost 400 household surveys... Not yet finished. Some elusive larger landholders remain.
December 22, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Colum Graham
My new book, The Division of Rationalized Labor, is now shipping! A brief summary of the argument to follow…
November 26, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Colum Graham
Hi All! The new issue of Journal of Agrarian Change (25:4) is out now with an entirely open access special section on Land and Labour in Indonesia (among other goodies)... please do check it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14710366...
Journal of Agrarian Change: Vol 25, No 4
The Journal of Agrarian Change (JOAC) is an agricultural and rural development journal leading the field of agrarian political economy.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Colum Graham
Cropland area nearly doubled in South America between 2000 and 2019 - the largest relative increase in the world. Soybean production replaced rainforests, grasslands & savannas. earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/14962... As China refuses U.S. soybeans, this puts more pressure on natural ecosystems.
The Spread of Soy in South America
Grasslands, savannas, and dry forests have become popular places to grow soy.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov
September 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Colum Graham
Without peasants, the global economy could not function, and our natural systems would collapse. Life still depends on the peasantry, and we are all affected by the fact that it is today in an acute crisis
The planet, and human social life, depend on peasant farmers | Aeon Essays
Far from being a relic of the past, peasants are vital to feeding the world. They need to be supported, not marginalised
buff.ly
September 23, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Enjoyed this post by Masayuki Yanagisawa and agree with his point about asking big questions. I also like the comparative photo arrangements! newsletter.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/nl-83/yan... @cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Rural Village Study in Vietnam: Finding the Balance between Researching Specific Issues and Asking Big Questions
Masayuki Yanagisawa (Environmental History in Southeast Asia, Vietnamese Studies) In the 1990s, when
newsletter.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp
September 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Colum Graham
My first-ever, single-authored article is out in the Journal of Peasant Studies! Comparing sugar and infrastructure frontiers, it explores how technologies of dispossession shape frontier-making and state power in Indonesia across scale and time.

Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Technologies of dispossession: comparative analysis of frontier-making and state power in Indonesia
This article examines land dispossession in Indonesia through a conjunctural comparison of two frontier regimes: a long-standing commodity frontier in South Sulawesi and a rapidly assembled infrast...
www.tandfonline.com
September 13, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Colum Graham
It’s August, which means a new issue of Mekong Review 🥳

In this issue: young K-pop stans in Myanmar join resistance efforts, the contestation of Indonesia’s history, an interview with Saigon Soul Revival… and more!

Order online: ko-fi.com/s/a3e8a4c60d
August 1, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Reposted by Colum Graham
My first book, Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025), exists in this world!

Check it out at: uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/social...

1/4
September 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Colum Graham
My take on the recent protests in Indonesia

www.newmandala.org/mass-protest...
Mass protest and the two worlds of Indonesian politics - New Mandala
A subculture of opposition survives beyond Jokowi
www.newmandala.org
September 2, 2025 at 5:18 AM
Honoured to have won this award. Thanks to @edwardaspinall.bsky.social for supervising me, my committee members Ben Kerkvliet and Jim Fox for their continuous support over the years, and the ASAA award panel @asiancurrents.bsky.social
🌟 Dr Colum Graham has been awarded the 2024 John Legge Prize for his doctoral thesis about agrarian transitions in Indonesia 🌟

Please join us in congratulating Dr Graham, and Dr Minglei Wang who was recognised with the award of runner-up 👏

Read the press release: asaa.asn.au/news/thesis-...
Thesis about Agrarian Transitions in Indonesia wins the John Legge Prize for 2024 - Asian Studies Association of Australia
The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) is pleased to announce that Dr Colum Graham, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Asian Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, has won…
asaa.asn.au
August 29, 2025 at 3:21 AM
foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/one... Good episode on seed banks and the emergence of seeds as intellectual property. Very much agree on public funding, @adamtooze.bsky.social
The Doomsday Seed Vault
Plus: The economics of Alaska.
foreignpolicy.com
August 19, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Could the origins of macan cisewu's style be from this kind of promotion found in a 1918 edition of Oetoesan Hindia? Or perhaps there are earlier ones? Am I mistaken in seeing the resemblance?
August 16, 2025 at 2:15 AM
In a day interrupted with meetings it is great to briefly escape to microfilm. Wonder if the Gothic typeface for Oetoesan Hindia's masthead points to organicist influences?
August 14, 2025 at 2:56 AM