The Nordic Asia Podcast

How did India’s landmark Forest Rights Act come into being? And what difference has it made to the lives of historically marginalized forest-dwelling communities? These questions are at the heart of Anand Vaidya’s new monograph Future of the forest: Struggles over land and law in India that we discuss in this episode. Future of the forest offers a compelling account of the making, implementation, and partial unravelling of the Forest Rights Act, and traces the complex ways in which collective action and mobilization have shaped the use and impact of this potentially revolutionary legislation. Anand P. Vaidya is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Reed College. Kenneth Bo Nielsen is an Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo where he also heads the Centre for South Asian Democracy.

Selfies are more than fleeting images—across India, they shape how people imagine themselves, connect with others, and inhabit spaces. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Prof. Xenia Zeiler from the University of Helsinki talks to Prof. Avishek Ray about his co-authored book Digital Expressions of the Self(ie): The Social Life of Selfies in India. This book explores how the digital selfie, unlike traditional photography, turns the lens inward while reconfiguring social identities, gender norms, power relations, and everyday interactions. Drawing on rich, situated examples, it shows how selfies operate as acts of self-making and place-making in contemporary India. At once playful and political, intimate and public, selfies offer a fascinating entry point into the fast-changing cultures of digital media and visual expression. Avishek Ray is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at the National Institute of Technology Silchar, India. His research spans mobility, marginality, and digital culture, with a focus on South Asia. He is the author of The Vagabond in the South Asian Imagination (Routledge, 2022) and co-author of Digital Expressions of the Self(ie): The Social Life of Selfies in India (Routledge, 2024). A Fulbright-Nehru Fellow (2021), he has held visiting fellowships at institutions across Europe, North America, and Asia. Xenia Zeiler is Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research and teaching are situated at the intersection of digital media, culture, and society, specifically as related to India and global Indian communities. Her focus within this wider field of digital culture is video games and gaming research, in India and beyond. She also researches and teaches digital religion, popular culture, cultural heritage, and mediatization processes.

This podcast episode by Alevtina Solovyeva traces Central Asia as the enduring crossroads “between empires,” where caravan routes outlast the borders drawn over them. It opens with the Silk Roads: trade as the region’s original superpower – moving goods, ideas, and identities. The narrative then tracks how Qing–Russian rivalry and the 19th century “Great Game” layered governors, railways, and taxes onto steppe and peoples, then the Soviet period engineered republics, industries, and pipelines while China watched, split, and later recalibrated. Independence for the five Central Asian states after 1991 reset the board: Russia remained the familiar security habit; China re-entered with capital and corridors, culminating in the Belt and Road. Multi-vector tendencies took hold as Turkey, Iran, Japan, Korea, the U.S., and the EU pressed in. The 2022, start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, accelerated internal and external processes concerning Central Asia as a strategic area, as well as a Russia-China partner-rivalry across energy, transport, finance, and soft power. Four platforms – SCO, EAEU, BRICS, and BRI – showcase both cooperation and competition, with BRI as the physical layer that forces choices on routes, rules, and control. Looking to 2025-2030, three stress tests loom: the terms of Power of Siberia-2, corridor races (CKU vs. Kazakh/Middle Corridor routes), and “security creep.” Central Asia has become a focal arena for international actors amid deep shifts in power balances and rules. It is a fast-moving environment with open-ended trajectories, multiple internal and external agents and situational theatres where interests intersect. Dr. Alevtina Solovyeva is the Head of the Centre for Oriental Studies and Mongolian Research Laboratory at the University of Tartu. She specializes in Asian studies, Chinese and Mongolian studies, folklore studies, historical and social anthropology, and social sciences.

In early September 2025, Nepal witnessed an extraordinary week of upheaval that many now refer to as the ‘five-day revolution’. Within the span of a single week, youth-led ‘Gen Z’ protests spread across Kathmandu and other major cities, the prime minister and his government resigned, the army intervened, parliament was dissolved, and Nepal’s new (and first female) interim prime minister was sworn in. The events revealed deep frustrations among young Nepalis with corruption, socioeconomic exclusion, and a lack of political accountability. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Dr. Jeevan Baniya joins host Hanna Geschewski to explore the deeper forces behind this moment. They discuss the grievances that brought young Nepalis to the streets, why these long-standing frustrations erupted now, and how the ‘Gen Z’ protests should be understood in relation to questions of representation and political change. The conversation also considers the diversity within Nepal’s youth movement and the pathways through which young people may shape politics in the aftermath of the uprising. Jeevan Baniya is a political scientist and Deputy Director of the research institute Social Science Baha in Kathmandu, Nepal. Hanna Geschewski is a PhD researcher in Human Geography at the Chr. Michelsen Institute and the University of Bergen in Norway. Her work focuses on migration, displacement and socio-environmental change in the Himalayan region and South Asia.

The Malay world boasts a wealth of diverse cultures. The arrival of Islam in the Malay world during the 12th to 13th centuries permanently transformed the aesthetic landscape, and even European colonisation could not stem this change. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Prof. Julie Yu-Wen Chen from the University of Helsinki talks to Dr. Dzul Afiq bin Zakaria and Dr. Wahyuni Masyidah Binti Md Isa from the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Malaya about the localisation of Islamic arts in Malaysia. They illuminate the core of Islamic arts, which view art as a reflection of their faith. In Islam, there is no fundamental distinction between spiritual and secular art, enabling the qualities of Islamic architecture and arts to rise above mere aesthetics and utility. Dr. Dzul Afiq bin Zakaria, a distinguished scholar and artist, possesses artwork that can be shared with our audience to elucidate the relationship between culture, philosophy, and the arts within the Malay world. Dr. Wahyuni Masyidah Binti Md Isa’s research employs Motion Capture technology to chart and conserve Islamic art. For example, Senaman Melayu Tua is a therapeutic exercise rooted in Malay culture. This exercise harmoniously integrates with both Malay culture and Islam, yielding comprehensive positive effects on the spiritual aspect by fostering inner peace, patience, and self-awareness. Her research utilises technology to visualize the micro-lines embedded within Senaman Melayu Tua. Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies and Asian studies coordinator at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Chen is one of the Editors of the highly-ranked Journal of Chinese Political Science. Formerly, she was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Ethnicity.

Chile holds the distinction of being the first South American nation to forge diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, as well as the first in Latin America to enter into a free trade agreement with China. Despite the nearly 24-hour journey required to travel between the two countries, this considerable distance has not hindered the expanding interactions between them. The presence of various waves of the Chinese diaspora in Chile, while often overlooked, is a real aspect of the country's demographic landscape. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Maria Montt Strabucchi, an Associate Professor at the Institute of History at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile) and Vice President for International Affairs at the same University, discusses the deepening connections between Chile and China and their implications for the development of China-related studies and education within Chile. Maria Montt Strabucchi served as the alternate director of the “Millennium Nucleus Impacts of China in Latin America (ICLAC)” project, which is supported by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development. This initiative provides free online courses in Spanish aimed at enhancing understanding of China and has also developed online investment maps to illustrate China's influence in Chile. Her research interests encompass the portrayal of "China" and "Chineseness," as well as the dynamics of Chinese-Latin American relations, particularly in the context of Chile. Her 2023 publication, “Representation of China in Latin American Literature (1987-2016)” (Liverpool University Press), is available as an open-access resource. Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Since 2023, she has been involved in the EUVIP: The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region, a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe coordination and support action 10107906 (HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03).

Every June, there is a significant cultural event in Malaysia, which is called the Gawai Dayak Festival, highly celebrated to mark the end of the harvest season and give thanks to the Iban agricultural God, Raja Simpulang Gana. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Prof. Julie Yu-Wen Chen from the University of Helsinki talks to Dr. Gregory anak Kiyai, an expert of indigenous ethnic heritage from the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Malaya, about the Iban indigenous people in Malaysia and the meaning of Gawai Dayak for them. In the photograph of this episode, listeners can see an image taken by Dr Gregory anak Kiyai during fieldwork with the Iban community in 2019. There is a group of Lemambang, revered ritual specialists and custodians of Iban customary law, seen here gathered in a longhouse setting. Typically, elderly Iban men, or Lemambang, are deeply knowledgeable in traditional Iban customs and serve as important cultural figures. They are often consulted for their wisdom and lead significant ceremonies and rituals in the longhouse, especially during Gawai Dayak. On the Nordic Asia Podcast website, Dr Gregory anak Kiyai provides an image of the Lemambang, dressed in traditional Iban ceremonial attire known as baju burung (Iban woven jacket), woven using kebat or sungkit techniques. These garments bear sacred motifs inherited from their ancestors. Their headdresses, called lelanjang, are adorned with feathers from the burung ruai (Argusianus Argus), symbolising reverence to the Iban war God, Aki Senggalang Burung. Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies and Asian studies coordinator at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Chen is one of the Editors of the highly-ranked Journal of Chinese Political Science. Formerly, she was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Ethnicity.

In the Philippines, rice serves as a fundamental component of the diet, typically accompanying most meals as either white or brown rice. It is also a key ingredient in various snacks and desserts. Consequently, the Philippines ranks among the top countries globally in rice per capita consumption, alongside nations like China and India. However, the majority of rice produced are modern varieties, which are intended for mass consumption, and differs from traditional varieties. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Julie Yu-Wen Chen, a Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Helsinki, engages in a discussion with Floper Gershwin Manuel about traditional rice in the Philippines and the initiatives aimed at its preservation. Floper Gershwin Manuel is currently a PhD student at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand taking up PhD in Sociology and Anthropology. His research interests include heritage and museum studies, rural and agricultural communities, cultural mapping, and gender and youth in agriculture and heritage work. Floper is also a Faculty at the Department of Social Sciences in Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. He has served as Head for the university’s Center for Central Luzon Studies, which also manages the CLSU Agricultural Museum. Prior to working at CLSU, Floper has worked at the Philippine Rice Research Institute, where he worked on projects related to the Rice Science Museum and other studies related to rice and culture. Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies and Asian studies coordinator at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Chen is one of the Editors of the highly-ranked Journal of Chinese Political Science. Formerly, she was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Ethnicity.

My village, my kampung. The term kampung is a Malay word, referring to a "village hamlet" or "urban informal settlement." As rapid urbanization takes place both regionally and globally, the designation of kampung accrued a negative connotation associated with impoverishment and obsolescence. However, commencing in the mid-2010s, a countermovement aimed at the revitalization of kampung emerged in Indonesia, involving locals, activists, and scholars. In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Prof. Julie Yu-Wen Chen from the University of Helsinki talks to Prof. Melani Budianta from the Cultural Commission of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences about the practice of cultural studies within the Asian context, with a specific emphasis on her native Indonesia, where her dual role as an academic and activist in Kampung “commoning” has constituted a significant odyssey in the construction of knowledge. The term “commoning” refers to a collective reservoir of resources intended for community sharing in the kampung context. Professor Budianta has shared her experiences in her works titled Smart Kampung: Doing Cultural Studies in the Global South and Lumbung Commoning: Reflections on Kampung Network Research/Activism. Julie Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies and Asian studies coordinator at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Since 2023, she has been involved in the EUVIP: The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region, a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe coordination and support action 10107906 (HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03).

What does the 'rule of law' really mean in China? How does it shape the country’s politics, both at home and on the world stage? And why should it matter to the rest of us when universal norms are being challenged? Dr. Tabita Rosendal from the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University, talks to Dr. Martin Lavicka, a scholar of Chinese studies, about his latest project on the rule of law in the Chinese context. Dr. Martin Lavicka is a visiting research fellow at the Department of History and the Centre of East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University. Martin is the PI of the project CLAW: Chinese Conceptualisation of the Rule of Law: Challenges for the International Legal Order. Martin’s research has been supported by the OP JAC Project “MSCA Fellowships at Palacký University II.” CZ.02.01.01/00/22_010/0006945 at Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. Episode producer: Julia Olsson Links: ResearchGate profile AcademiaEdu profile Martin’s latest article “Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics: A Contested Landscape” The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the following academic partners: Asia Centre, University of Tartu (Estonia) Asian studies, University of Helsinki (Finland) Centre for Asian Studies, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (Sweden) Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku (Finland) Norwegian Network for Asian Studies This podcast was recorded in May 2025 in the wonderful podcast studio at Altitude, Collab Arena in The Loop.