New Books at ISEAS Library – Feb 2024

Systemic silencing: activism, memory, and sexual violence in Indonesia / Katharine E. McGregor.  Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, [2023]

Call no: D810 C698M47

“Recognizing and addressing enforced military prostitution in occupied Indonesia.
The system of prostitution imposed and enforced by the Japanese military during its wartime occupation of several countries in East and Southeast Asia is today well-known and uniformly condemned. Transnational activist movements have sought to recognize and redress survivors of this World War II-era system, euphemistically known as “comfort women,” for decades, with a major wave beginning in the 1990s. However, Indonesian survivors, and even the system’s history in Indonesia to begin with, have largely been sidelined, even within the country itself.” — Publisher.

Donated by Ian Storey, Senior Fellow, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

China’s chance to lead: acquiring global influence via infrastructure development and digitalization / Richard W. Carney.  Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2024.

Call no: HF1604 C28

“How is China acquiring global influence? Rather than focusing exclusively on China’s interests, this book considers a vital but overlooked feature – the interests of recipient countries. Richard W. Carney argues that countries in which political leaders rely more heavily on clientelism coupled with greater control over the corporate sector have a higher demand for Chinese infrastructure spending. Through a combination of statistical analyses and case studies, Carney shows that electoral autocracies (in contrast to closed autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies) display these features most prominently and are the most avid recipients.” — Publisher.