Books by Sophie Lemière
Misplaced Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People is the fruit of a three-year collaboration bet... more Misplaced Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People is the fruit of a three-year collaboration between academics who have chosen Malaysia as their specialty. Defined by its inter-disciplinarity and covering the fields of urban studies, political economy, international relations, political sociology and anthropology, film studies, literature, law and strategic studies, Misplaced Democracy is a path-breaking analysis of Malaysian politics and society during a period of contestation in which many Malaysians seek to re-orient the flow of history which has been going in favour of the ruling party since the country's independence. What is at stake here is the nature of Malaysian democracy itself. Covering topics as diverse as Syariah family law, muslim student activism, connivance militancy, maritime piracy and ownership of Malaysia's corporate sector, Misplaced Democracy seeks to untangle the complexities of contemporary Malaysian politics and society and, through original and unique analyses, tries to unveil the many realities of an emerging democracy embedded in authoritarian practices and rules, describe its ambiguities and its strengths, and contribute to the reinvention of Malaysia.
Peer Reviewed and Working Papers by Sophie Lemière
Journal of Democracy, 2018
This paper looks at the genesis and development of the Jama’ah Islah Malaysia (JIM), a modernist-... more This paper looks at the genesis and development of the Jama’ah Islah Malaysia (JIM), a modernist-reformist Islamist organisation that today has played a vital and visible role in the political landscape of Malaysian politics. Little is known about the early genesis of JIM, and how it began in the 1970s and 1980s as a student-based cadre organisation, created by Malaysian Muslim students studying abroad in Europe and North America. JIM’s roots therefore lie in the Islamic Representative Council (IRC) that was a semi-underground student-cadre movement that was created outside Malaysia, and which aimed to bring about the Islamisation of Malaysian society through the process of social and political mobilisation. Working through the archives of JIM today and interviewing the foundermembers of JIM and the IRC, this paper is the first historical account of the formation and development of IRC and JIM to be published.
Book Chapters by Sophie Lemière
In "Malaysia Religious Norms in the Public Sphere"-Ebook
Proceedings of a conference held at UC B... more In "Malaysia Religious Norms in the Public Sphere"-Ebook
Proceedings of a conference held at UC Berkeley in 2011
This chapter is a short exploration of the relationship between political parties, and more speci... more This chapter is a short exploration of the relationship between political parties, and more specifically UMNO, and gangs through the case study of Pekida. The articulation of this relationship is the central concept of this study: we define it as 'connivance militancy'.
Talks by Sophie Lemière
Interview- Durian Asean Radio- January 2015
Invited by our colleagues Sharaad Kutan on his radio program "I love KL!"
Opinions and Short Pieces by Sophie Lemière
De Khaled Kelkal aux frères Kouachi et plus récemment Khalid Masood, les terroristes amateurs ou ... more De Khaled Kelkal aux frères Kouachi et plus récemment Khalid Masood, les terroristes amateurs ou jihadistes aguerris, ont pour la majorité d’entre eux un passif criminel. En dépit des différences générationnelles, opérationnelles et de la variété des allégeances (Al Quaeda ou Daech) ils sont des petits et grands délinquants qui se sont convertis à, ou ont redécouvert, l’Islam.
Opinion piece on the Low Yat Plaza "non-event".
#Amok #Pekida #Politik #UMNO
Tribune sur l'emprisonnement d'Anwar Ibrahim, p26
(...)The independence of NGOs in the public sphere is questionable in Malaysia. A large number of... more (...)The independence of NGOs in the public sphere is questionable in Malaysia. A large number of NGOs in Malaysia are in fact embodying the interest of political parties, in different aspects; such as diffusing the party’s idea, supporting the party’s idea, supporting and/or getting involved in its public actions, initiating political action such as demonstrations or violence serving the party’s interest. (...)
(...)Pekida’s structure is what distinguishes it from the classification usually conveyed by gang... more (...)Pekida’s structure is what distinguishes it from the classification usually conveyed by gang stereotypes (and stereotypes of mafia) in terms of its organisation, norms and codes; invalidating the idea of universality – without discrediting its strong sense of brotherhood (...)
Reconstructing the history of Pekida and its network’s is a hard task. No historical account of t... more Reconstructing the history of Pekida and its network’s is a hard task. No historical account of the organisation has been found, and every attempt to locate official records has been an arduous mission.....
What if the liberalisation of the public sphere since the Mahathir era paved the way for the emer... more What if the liberalisation of the public sphere since the Mahathir era paved the way for the emergence of civil surrogates of political parties? What if the so-called “civil society” was used as a veil to hide and promote the rise of militants who are in fact sub-contractors of political parties discourse and actions?
This four part article challenges the general conception of Malaysian politics through the exploration of the relationship between opportunist militant groups or gangs, and political parties. Built on 5 years extensive field-research (from 2008 to 2013) that consisted of ethnographic type interviews and observations in peninsular Malaysia, this analysis is premised on the narrative of individuals who claim their membership to gangs affiliated or satellites of the non-governmental organisation Pekida.
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Books by Sophie Lemière
Peer Reviewed and Working Papers by Sophie Lemière
Book Chapters by Sophie Lemière
Proceedings of a conference held at UC Berkeley in 2011
Talks by Sophie Lemière
Opinions and Short Pieces by Sophie Lemière
This four part article challenges the general conception of Malaysian politics through the exploration of the relationship between opportunist militant groups or gangs, and political parties. Built on 5 years extensive field-research (from 2008 to 2013) that consisted of ethnographic type interviews and observations in peninsular Malaysia, this analysis is premised on the narrative of individuals who claim their membership to gangs affiliated or satellites of the non-governmental organisation Pekida.
Proceedings of a conference held at UC Berkeley in 2011
This four part article challenges the general conception of Malaysian politics through the exploration of the relationship between opportunist militant groups or gangs, and political parties. Built on 5 years extensive field-research (from 2008 to 2013) that consisted of ethnographic type interviews and observations in peninsular Malaysia, this analysis is premised on the narrative of individuals who claim their membership to gangs affiliated or satellites of the non-governmental organisation Pekida.