Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Colum Graham

Emily Cassidy @enviroem.bsky.social · 9d

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

5 25 43

Reposted by Colum Graham

Aeon Magazine @aeon.co · 15d

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

1 5 13

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · 16d

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

1 2

Reposted by Colum Graham

Annisa Sabrina Hartoto @sabrinahartoto.bsky.social · 25d

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

1 2 7

Reposted by Colum Graham

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · Aug 1

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

1 7

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · 23d

www.abc.net.au/religion/anu...

Good piece by Nick Cheesman from my old department at ANU @ouranu.bsky.social

Has meritocracy gotten the better of our universities? Why events at ANU are grounds for hope - ABC Religion & Ethics

It’s not every day that the students and staff of a university succeed in forcing a vice-chancellor from office — that’s what happened last week at ANU, but why did change take so long when it was cle...

www.abc.net.au

2 3 5

Reposted by Colum Graham

asiancurrents.bsky.social @asiancurrents.bsky.social · Sep 5

Historians of Southeast Asia (HiSEAs) Network seminar:
‘The Feral Territories of Eastern Bangkok’, Dr Samson Lim (Monash University)
Thu, Sep 11, 2025, 4:00 PM - 5:30pm online via zoom
Register here: www.linkedin.com/events/histo...

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

Login to LinkedIn to keep in touch with people you know, share ideas, and build your career.

www.linkedin.com

1 1

Reposted by Colum Graham

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · Sep 4

Sad news 😔

www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...

Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing

Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.

www.crikey.com.au

8 5

Reposted by Colum Graham

Miles Kenney-Lazar @mklaz.bsky.social · Sep 5

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

1 8 28

Reposted by Colum Graham

Edward Aspinall @edwardaspinall.bsky.social · Sep 2

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

2 24 36

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 29

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

asiancurrents.bsky.social @asiancurrents.bsky.social · Aug 29

🌟 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

1 3

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 26

Maybe of interest: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent

www.journals.uchicago.edu

1 1

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 19

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

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 16

www.bbc.com/indonesia/tr... for reference... Thanks to @postcolsandwich.bsky.social for reminding me of it the other day.

Internet menangisi 'matinya' macan lucu Cisewu - BBC News Indonesia

Sejumlah pengguna media sosial mengungkap rasa sedih setelah macan Cisewu yang menjadi meme lucu dihancurkan.

www.bbc.com

1

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 16

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?

1 1

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 16

The barista says it is me. But I have no reason to be smug... 🤔

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 14

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?

1

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 12

Interesting post on @newmandala.bsky.social www.newmandala.org/instagrammin...

Instagramming colonialism in Surabaya - New Mandala

On what’s lost when the Dutch East Indies is recalled as a time of picturesque sophistication

www.newmandala.org

2

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 11

peasant.blog/2025/07/17/e... A brief post about a new paper, “Failed” Not Futile: Reassessing Nepal’s 1964 Land Reform', by Jacob Rinck in Studies in Nepalese History and Society

Elite land reform in Nepal

For the past few months I have been busy so I did not post much. Sunset in Tarai, 2018. Photo taken by Lakhindra (CC BY-SA 4.0) In aid of getting back into writing for this blog, I thought I may as…

peasant.blog

Reposted by Colum Graham

ANU College of Asia and the Pacific @anu-asiapacific.bsky.social · Aug 6

Join our ANU Indonesia Institute for the 2025 Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture. 🇮🇩

This annual lecture honours the legacies of Tony and Yohanni Johns, who pioneered Indonesian language learning in Australia.

Find out more and register via this link: quicklink.anu.edu.au/708x

Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture 2025

Get tickets on Humanitix - Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture 2025 hosted by ANU Indonesia Institute. Lecture Theatre 1 (HB1), Hedley Bull Building, 130 Garran Rd, Acton ACT 2601, Australia. Tuesday 12th ...

quicklink.anu.edu.au

1 1

Colum Graham @clmgrhm.bsky.social · Aug 11

Horrible typo correction: binnenlands bestuur should read inlands bestuur, or pangreh praja.

Reposted by Colum Graham

tom westland @tomwestland.bsky.social · Aug 1

New working paper from me & some colleagues on East Africa's maize markets from c. 1900 to today, based on a major data collection effort to fill in the long-run history of food prices in one of the world's poorest regions: www.aehnetwork.org/working-pape...

The Political Economy of Maize in East Africa, 1900-2020: How cheap food turned expensive – African Economic History Network

www.aehnetwork.org

3 14 34

Reposted by Colum Graham

Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · Aug 6

Happy to share this new piece in Food Policy documenting the wide policy uptake of the 6 dimensions of food security framework (incl. agency and sustainability).

co-authored with colleagues @williamgmoseley.bsky.social, Paola Termine, & Barbara Burlingame
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

6 18

Reposted by Colum Graham

Juliet Lu (she/her/hers) @profjulietlu.bsky.social · Aug 1

@mklaz.bsky.social Miles Kenney-Lazar's book is out!! 👏🏼
I have to say the cover is one of the coolest I've seen in awhile...

uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/social...

Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos

Since 2008, there has been tremendous public interest in the social and ecological ramifications of the global land rush, a rapid increase of capital investment into land, especially for the establ…

uhpress.hawaii.edu

2 11

Reposted by Colum Graham

Yale University Press @yalepress.bsky.social · Jul 23

In Praise of Floods by James C. Scott was featured in a new review essay from @bostonreview.bsky.social.

What Does It Take to Topple a Dam? - Boston Review

A new politics of rivers is emerging.

www.bostonreview.net

3 7