Summer Research in a Special Region

September 03, 2024

• Research
• Faculty News

This summer, SUA Professor Shane Barter conducted fieldwork and in Southeast Asia with support from the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS). IHS is a non-profit organization at George Mason University that supports scholars conducting research promoting tolerance for diversity. SUA's Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) connected Dr. Barter to this opportunity, and encouraged him to apply based on his research interests.

The summer grant supported Dr. Barter's research on territorial autonomy-special forms of self-government for distinctive minority nations. Rejecting the centralized model of nation-states, countries that are home to minority nations should see themselves as multinational states. In cases where minorities resist centralized, uniform rule, territorial autonomy provides a compromise between incorporation and independence, allowing minorities to control their own government within the larger country. Providing minority nations with partial sovereignty, territorial autonomy is an underappreciated political system that can reduce violent conflict and protect minority communities. Dr. Barter's research seeks to better understand what territorial autonomy is and what its dangers are, emphasizing its global scope and different forms. From Quebec in Canada, to Mindanao in the Philippines and Zanzibar in Tanzania, territorial autonomy also links to Indigenous governance (see Greenland n Denmark and Guna Yala in Panama) and authoritarian governance (see Tibet in China and Chechnya in Russia).

The IHS grant helped Dr. Barter to participate in two conferences, network with local scholars, and conduct field research. Dr. Barter spent one month in Indonesia, beginning in Yogyakarta, where he presented his work at the Association for Asian Studies in Asia annual conference (July 9-11). He presented his chapter on autonomy in authoritarian countries on a panel that included SUA alumnus Handrio Nurhan (class of 2015). After this, Dr. Barter conducted fieldwork, since Yogyakarta is a special autonomous region, one excluded from English-language research. Yogyakarta is a unique case, led by a hereditary Sultan that is the governor of an otherwise democratic province. Yogyakarta is known as a Special Region (Daerah Istimewa), with powers related to the monarchy, royal land, and culture. Working with colleagues at Gajah Mada University, Dr. Barter visited royal and government offices, attended cultural events, met with experts, and collected Indonesian-language resources. At the end of July, the International Convention of Asia Scholars annual conference was held in Surabaya, providing another opportunity for Dr. Barter to share his work with local scholars and to attend related panels. Departing Indonesia, Dr. Barter spent a week in Fiji, home to the autonomous island of Rotuma, and was able to meet with scholars from the University of the South Pacific.

This summer research provided opportunities to complete two new book chapters and to refine the ideas in another one. Dr. Barter would like to thank the IHS and Soka's OSR for their help in making this a productive summer!