Events

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Gerard McCarthy, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

This talk explores the continuities and transformations between motorcycle taxi drivers and app-based riders in Bangkok over the course of the last decade, both in relation to their labor practices and forms of political participation in street protests. Centering on the years since the beginning of the covid epidemic, which saw both a proliferation of ride-hailing apps in Thailand and a resurgence of political mobilization in its capital, I investigate the collaborations, tensions, and struggles between old-style transportation providers and the new riders. In order to do so, I will focus in particular two aspects: firstly, the adoption, refusal, and mobilization of the concept of informality since the appearance of ride-hailing apps in Thailand as a way to both support and oppose their diffusion over the city; and secondly, how these groups have both played a pivotal role in street protests in the last decades while also continuing to experience conflicts in the streets.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Claudio Sopranzetti is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Central European University and a Quondam Fellows at All Souls College, Oxford University. He is the author of Owners of the Map, winner of the 2019 Margaret Mead Award, and The King of Bangkok, winner of the Thai Notable Book Award 2020.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this webinar has been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the webinar.