Fighting for Virtue: Justice and Politics in Thailand - Professor Duncan McCargo

In 'Fighting for Virtue: Justice and Politics in Thailand', Professor Duncan McCargo investigates how Thailand's judges were tasked by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) in 2006 with helping to solve the country's intractable political problems—and what happened next. In this podcast, Professor Duncan McCargo speaks to Dr Aim Sinpeng about the world of Thai judges: how they were recruited, trained, and promoted, and how they were socialised into a conservative world view that emphasized the proximity between the judiciary and the monarchy. About Professor Duncan McCargo: Duncan McCargo (BA MA PhD, London) joined the University of Copenhagen in 2019 as Professor of Political Science and Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. He works at the intersections of comparative and international politics, with a focus on the nature of power. His core questions are: How do entrenched elites retain power in the face of challenges from new political forces? How do challengers to state power undermine the legitimacy of existing regimes? He has worked on these global questions primarily from the perspective of Southeast Asia. Fluent in Thai, Duncan has worked extensively in Thailand, and has also lived in Cambodia, Japan and Singapore. He has published a dozen books and numerous articles on Asian politics. His 2005 Pacific Review article on Thailand’s ‘network monarchy’ has been extremely influential. Duncan’s best-known books are 'The Thaksinization of Thailand' (co-authored, NIAS 2005) and 'Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand' (Cornell 2008), which won the inaugural Bernard Schwartz Book Prize from New York’s Asia Society. His latest book is 'Fighting for Virtue: Justice and Politics in Thailand' (Cornell 2019).